Congrats to Rick Soucé

ENTRY 417



COACH RICK SOUCÉ HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

Congratulations to my former coach Rick Soucé. Next month he will be inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame.

Photo credit: Brampton Guardian

Richard began boxing at the Champion Boxing Gym in Brampton as an amateur, but began his career as a professional boxer in 1986.
He has had 22 professional bouts in the super lightweight division, with opponents such as Hector Camacho in 1988. 
During his time as a professional, he has had 22 bouts and had won 15 of them.

Rick retired from professional boxing in 1992 after losing a decision to Andy Wong in Orillia.
Since then, Richard has gone into a new career but he did not forget about boxing.
Since 2011 he has been coaching and mentoring a new breed of young boxers at his boxing gym, Stockyards Boxing and Fitness. 

A Young Richard Soucé at Champion Boxing Club

I had the pleasure of training with Richard at Stockyards Gym. 
Although he is no longer my coach, we are still good friends. He is one of the nicest people you could meet.

If anyone deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it is him.
Congratulations, Richard, on your accomplishment. You are one step closer to the Canadian Hall of Fame.

The Inductee Ceremony will be held at the Rose Theatre on May 15.










TRAINING FOR HAMILTON CONTINUES: LAST WEEK

This is it. The last week of training until my bout in Hamilton on Saturday.

I sparred last Wednesday, Sunday, and will probably on Monday.
I may even go in early Friday morning as well. 
Work is preventing me from training the rest of the week, so I need to get in as much as possible.
My coaches and I have been working on a lot, and there has been a lot of improvement.

After Saturday, training camp for the Bronze Gloves will begin, but I still have a bout in Kingston just before that.

It will be very busy for me, but this is the real test.
This is the time for me to prove myself to my coaches and to myself. To make all the hard work over the past couple of months to pay off.

This is the time for the referee to raise my arm at the and of the bout.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec, 2017 Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

April 28 Prep and Stockyards Gets Iced

ENTRY 416

GETTING READY: JUST TWO WEEKS LEFT

It is approaching fast. Two weeks from now.
My first official bout for 2018. 
I will be in Hamilton for a card at Steeltown Boxing Club near Upper Ottawa Street and Stone Church Road.

I have been working very hard with the coaches and doing some personal training sessions with them.
My opponent has not had any bouts so this will be his first. That does not mean anything. I have learned to never underestimate your opponent. You have to be ready for anything.

For those who want to come out to the card in Hamilton, here is the address:

My coaches and I have also accepted the third bout versus Jack Chisamore in Kingston on May 31.

I will have more on the card in Kingston as it gets closer.

Please be aware that there will be no blog entries on competition days. Therefore, there will be no entry on April 28.
The results of my bout will be posted the following week or in a special entry a few days later. 

STOCKYARDS GETS ICED

The Stockyards card that was scheduled to happen on Saturday evening had been canceled to due inclement weather. Freezing rain and a flash freeze in Southern Ontario had caused dangerous traveling conditions.
That was the first time I can remember that Stockyards had canceled one of their shows for any reason. 
One of the guys from my team was scheduled to be on the card and I was supposed to video record for Metropolis TV. 
Due to scheduling conflicts, we could not cover the last two. This would have been our first Stockyards coverage of the year.

It was unfortunate but both Stockyards Boxing coaches and Boxing Ontario officials decided that it was better to be safe.

The next Stockyards boxing card is scheduled for June 9. 
It is unlikely there will be an ice storm to ruin it.



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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec, 2017 Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

It Looks Like A Busy Bout Schedule For 'The Brick'

ENTRY 415



FOUR BOUTS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO MONTHS

It looks like a busy couple of months coming up. 
After about four months of nothing, I have four possible bouts coming up between now and the beginning of June.

I have a bout confirmed at the Steeltown Boxing Club on April 28. 

On May 31, I have the planned trilogy bout with Jack Chisamore in Kingston.

That same weekend, the Bronze Gloves is scheduled. That is June 1 to the 3.

Also, I just found out that there also may be a bout on June 7 at the CBC  building.

That is a lot of ring time over a short period.

However, I had never been offered so much competition before with any coach. 
That being said, I do deserve it. I have been working very hard and I have improved a lot just over the last few months.

We have been working on some new and special moves, and starting next week we are going to be putting together a 'game plan'. 

Hopefully with more sparring as well.

Wednesday sparring was rather difficult for me.
I was trying to work on all the things I had been practicing with the coach.
As I mentioned before, there is a big difference practicing with the coach and working on the same thing in sparring.
That is one of the annoyances of sparring. You work all week with the coaches on something and then try to apply it in sparring, but you don't get the chance. 
Pisses me right off to hell.
However, I still have time to work on what I need to do.

Coach wants me to be below 180 lbs. for my bout in Hamilton.

I am a bit over that right now, so my trainer wants me on a no-carb diet for the rest of the month.

Really.

I said to him, "Do you have any idea how difficult that is?"

He said, "Yes. I'm on one myself."

Oh, okay. Well, that didn't work out as planned.
I guess I'm going on a no-carb diet.


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--Paul 'The Brick' Brec, 2017 Golden Gloves Silver Medalist