Saturday, December 15, 2012

STEVE VENUTI and the Eighties

LOOKING BACK TO 1979 and 1980: by brian zelley





From May 1979, there would be various changes in the Nanaimo boxing club.
As the club had finished it's first Bathtub Capital Golden Gloves and 
tournament there would be a change in training locations from the downtown
to Harewood.  There would also be some new faces that would add to the
history of boxing in Nanaimo over the years.

One name of interest for a few years was a boxer by the name of 
STEVE VENUTI.  As is usual for junior boxers, Venuti's first big test
came at the 1979 Bronze Gloves that had been won by various boxers
from Nanaimo over the years such as Mike Lazare and Ken Stant in 
the Sixties for the old Newcastle Boxing club which served as a 
launching pad for the Nanaimo Boxing Club in 1971.  
travel to Langley to participate with Venuti and Bohm winning titles
and opening the door for later open class competition.  Venuti followed
his bronze gloves up in quick fashion with another one of those

In 1980, Venuti along with other club mates Ron Williams
and Lyle Jack would take part in the action at the 1980 Emerald Gloves. 
In time, the name Steve Venuti would fade away from the black and white pages of 
the local newspapers, but for a brief time in the late Seventies and early Eighties.  He would be an excellent junior boxer.

Tragedy takes a twist in the wrong direction
* The tragic death of Steve Venuti as documented in 
"Tailgate Talk" with the heading:
"Northern Vancouver Island Man Fatally Injured In Holberg".
Steve was crushed in a logging accident.

Some other names in the eighties:                                                               PETE SEGIE..LYLE JACK..CODY REDFORD...                     ROMAN GRIMARD...