Local boxer punches way to Italian victory

 Standing at 6-7, it’s easy to see why his friends have taken to calling him “Big B.”

Justin Bonhomme, a local heavyweight boxer who has a spot on the national B team, recently represented Sudbury overseas and battled his way to victory in Italy.

Canadian boxers from both Quebec and Ontario laced up their gloves against their European counterparts on the trip.

Bonhomme, along with Amber Konikow and Dan Kataquapit, represented the ONTC Top Glove Boxing Academy from Sudbury. The boxers left home June 9 and returned June 17.

This was Bonhomme’s fourth time flying to Italy to put in some work in the ring.

“It’s always nice to get off the plane, and know you’ve just flown somewhere for competition in a sport,” he said. “It’s a real sign of accomplishment. You know it’s your participation in the sport that got you there. It makes you feel confident about your progress.”

On the first day in Italy, the Canadian boxers rested and tried to shake off any signs of jet lag.
The second day it was back to business as usual.

“Morning run, early at seven, then we trained in the afternoon,” Bonhomme said.

Within the week-long trip, the boxers were supposed to fight dual matches, meaning they’d fight the same opponent twice.

For Bonhomme, it didn’t happen that way.

“The guy that I fought first, I beat him and then he didn’t want to box me the second day.”

Bonhomme won the first match by a majority decision. Two of the three judges gave the fight to him, the third judge called it a draw. “He was a lot shorter than I was,” he said. “He was not an aggressive fighter, I really had to push the fight. He was trying to do mostly counter-punching. He was trying to fight a safe fight. If he was getting hurt, he would spit out his mouth guard.”

This allows the boxer a break to get it put back in.

“He had heard that I was a big puncher, so the whole fight he was fighting like he was against a big puncher.

Counter-punching, moving a lot, keeping his hands up high and just fighting a defensive fight.”

Fighting a counter-puncher threw the local boxer off his game plan — he is usually the counter-puncher. Although, it didn’t affect the big man enough to deter him from a win.

“I was there to win. I was forced to fight an aggressive fight and I did. I was a bully in there, because I had to be.”

As far as being a bully, Bonhomme said it was highly evident in the clinch.

“We would get into clinches, and if I could get one hand free I would start hitting him. Any chance I would get to hit him or get a point I would take it, even if it was borderline.”

Normally, boxers wait for the referee to break up the clinch, but Bonhomme wasn’t having any of that, he said.
“I would just punch my way out of the clinch.”

Italy is known as a hard place to get a win in any match, according to Bonhomme.

“It’s hard to win in Italy because they like to give a lot of draws. If a match is close they will sooner call it a draw than choose a winner.”

The pugilist said his record in Italy is around 2-4-1.

“If you want to win, you really have to win.”

Bonhomme did just that, although he admitted his opponent was a “skilled boxer.”

Italy sent in a professional boxer for the second fight with “Big B,” which turned into an exhibition.

“There’s no winner, it was a demonstration,” he said about boxing the pro. “It’s like open sparring for the public to watch.”

Including Bonhomme, Canada sent over six boxers in total.

In addition to his club-mates, Konikow and Kataquapit, Bonhomme was joined by Brandon Cook from Oshawa, Michael Gadbois from St. Hyacinth, Que., and Dave Reginbald from Montreal, Que.

World bronze-medalist Konikow was forced to fight an exhibition with a male opponent, because there was no one for her to fight.

“The exhibition with a man was so much fun,” Konikow said. “We had total respect for each other. It was great to show that a man and a woman can box each other with respect, skill and good sportsmanship.”

Bonhomme said Konikow was outweighed by roughly 20 pounds, but it didn’t affect her.

“It goes to show how controlled boxing can be,” Bonhomme said. “It’s not just a fight in there, it’s a sport.”

Soon Bonhomme will be making another trip out of town. Since February, the ring giant has been on Canada’s B team, meaning he is the alternate choice if the current heavyweight on the national team is injured.

“It’s like being a back-up goalie, I’m his replacement,” he said.

He earned his position when he was awarded gold at the final selection camp, in Edmonton, for the back-up squad.
Bonhomme will be attending a mandatory training camp, coming up Aug. 12 to 21 in Ottawa, for the world championships.

The ONTC Top Glove Boxing Academy will be hosting an amateur boxing event tonight, to kick-off the 37th annual Italian Festival at the Caruso Club. In a tradition started in 2001, boxers from ONTC will knock gloves with boxers from Italy.