Edited to show James Thorne was winner in fight of the night
In what’s becoming an annual matchup of Canadian Olympic hopefuls, Nova Scotia’s Wyatt Sanford defeated Brandon Leaman of Kilbride in a split decision Friday in the featured match of ‘Fight Night at the Legion,” the TRC Boxing Club’s dinner show at the Royal Canadian Legion in Pleasantville.
It was the third straight year the two have met at the TRC event, with Sanford now holding a 2-1 edge in the unofficial series.
The 155-pound Sanford, 19, is a four-time Canadian youth champion who boxers out of the Citadel club in Halifax, although the Kennetcook, N.S., native recently moved to Montreal to train with the senior national team as he continues towards his goal of making Canada’s Olympic boxing team in 2020.
The 23-year-old Leaman, who boxes out of Rock Athletics in Mount Pearl, has also been chasing the Olympic dream. A two-time silver medallist at Canadian elite championships, the 142-pound Leaman lost in the final of the 2015 Canadian Olympic trials to Pan-American champion Arthur Biyarslanov, who would go on to become Canada’s only male boxer at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.
The Sanford-Leaman bout was among seven on a card that entertained a packed house. It was one of four that resulted in split decisions, including the selection as fight of the night, an energetic, entertaining meeting between 171-pounders James Thorne of TRC and Mitch Lahey of the C.B.S. Boxing Club, with Thorne coming out the winner.
Other results from Friday
• Riley Yetman (90), TRC vs Nicholas Billard (95), TRC — No decision because of the age of the boxers
• Carter Butler (98), C.B.S. def. Brandon Sumnmers, TRC 3-0
• Noah Squires (136), TRC def. Jacob Callahan (134), TRC 2-1
• Josh Stares (161), Rock Athletics def. Jimmy Yetman (161), Rock Athletics 3-0
• Muhammad Mansour (144), Foley’s Academy of MA def. Nick Callahan (146), TRC 2-1
