Roberts thinking of hanging up the gloves

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A left hook, right, left hook combo that sent Troy Roberts reeling may spell the end of what could have been a promising boxing career for the heavyweight fighter.

Roberts, a gentle West Coast Indian fisherman from Campbell River, B.C., was decked by American Rupert Thomas at a June 12, winner take all boxing tourney at Edmonton's Mayfield Inn. The knock-out punch came early in the second round. The defeat dropped Roberts' fight record to 8-4 and upped Thomas to an 8-1-1 standing.

Not looking for excuses, but Roberts has said that his time spent in training for bouts is very restricted. Being a seasoned fisherman takes up most of his time. Now it looks like Roberts is thinking about cutting bait on his boxing career.

After the knock out, Roberts said he was planning on speaking with his wife about retiring from the fight game.

"It's too bad," said boxing referee Billy Warwick. "He could have done quite well if he were able to put in the time."

He acknowledged the difficulty for Roberts, who isn't able to devote more time and training to a profession which demands just that.

Roberts was on the under card of one of the most anticipated fights of the year, a $25,000 tournament at the Mayfield Inn between favored Manny Sobral, 23-0, and Tony (Bad Boy) Badea, 18-2-1. The decision, along with the Canadian junior-middleweight crown, went to Sobral when the pummeled Badea decided not to pursue the fight beyond the 11th round.

In other bouts, veteran middleweight Ronnie Pasek, 6-5-2, pounded out a deserving win over Robbie Stowell, 5-11 with a unanimous decision, and 17 year-old Mario Lechowski won a unanimous decision over Torrance Brown, thus improving to 2-1.