Sudburian coaching Olympic boxing hopefuls

It's been a busy couple of months for Top Glove Boxing Academy owner Gordon Apolloni.

On top of his regular duties of running a boxing gym, he has been travelling all over the place in a coaching role with the Canadian national boxing team, as the athletes attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Apolloni is more than familiar with the rigors of Olympic qualification, and the competition itself, as he was at the Games in Atlanta 20 years ago and would like nothing more than to make another trip to one of the sport's biggest stages.

“I definitely want to go again, it's a great chance to showcase our country's program,” said Apolloni. “There's politics involved though and we have to qualify a certain number of athletes for us to get funding to send everyone down.”

The Canadian team has currently qualified three athletes for the games, Arthur Biyarslanov from Toronto, Mandy Bujold from Coburg and Arienne Fortin from Montreal. 

Fortin and Bujold will each be competing on the women's side while Biyarslanov is waiting to see if any more teammates will be joining him in Rio to wear the country's colours.

Regardless of how many athletes qualify, Apolloni says the Canadian program is progressing at a great rate, as evidenced by his latest trip to the Elite Women's Championships in Kazakhstan last month.

“This was the best our team has done at this level in a long time,” said Apolloni.

“We had eight consecutive wins from our 10 boxers and Sara Kali (another Montreal boxer) won a bronze in the women's 64 kg. We're really starting to show what we can do on the world stage.”

There won't be much downtime for Apolloni, who returned from Kazakhstan on May 28, as he will head to Azerbaijan on June 11 for the Elite Men's Olympic qualifiers.

“There's five (qualifying) spots available in each weight division,” said Apolloni. “We've got five guys competing in the 81kg division so I feel good about our chances to qualify a few more guys.”

As far as those who have already qualified, Apolloni says he's confident they're going to put on a great performance in Brazil come August.

“This is Mandy's (Bujold) last year so I think that will be some extra motivation for her and the team to go out there and perform their best,” said Apolloni.

Jet-setting around the globe is part of the business for the coach of a national team, but Apolloni's Sudbury business is in good hands while he's off training the country's Olympic hopefuls.

“We've got a great staff at Top Glove, everyone over there does a great job and they really keep things running smooth when I'm not there,” said Apolloni.

The club will be hosting an Ontario vs. Quebec boxing showcase on July 9 at the Steelworkers Hall. Check back with Sudbury.com for more on the event, and visit Top Glove on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/418721764830192/?fref=nf)