Judges steal gold from Kikino fighter

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Kikino Metis Settlement boxer Rocky Whitford, 15, won the silver medal in the Canadian Junior Championships held in Montreal from April 15 to 17. In the opening round of the tournament Whitford drew a bye. In the second round Whitford stopped Ryan Allen of Prince Edward Island in the first round with a left hook to the body. That win advanced him to the gold medal fight.

It was the first national tournament for the young Alberta boxer, who said he was very happy with the results, but Team Alberta coach Kai Yip and Lac La Biche Boxing Club coach Ken Scullion both thought Whitford deserved the gold medal in the 48 kg class.

Yip has national coaching credentials in the Canadian Olympic program and pulled no punches in his assessment of the fight.

"Rocky was robbed," said Yip when contacted at his Lethbridge, Alta. home. "It was a bad decision."

Whitford fought Edwin Romero, the defending Canadian junior champion from Montreal. Romero won the first round 4-2 on the computer scoring system. Scullion, who flew down to work Whitford's corner for the tournament, told his fighter to open it up in the second, and Whitford swarmed all over the Quebec fighter to take a 5-4 lead. Whitford also dominated the final round, according to Scullion and Yip, but the judges didn't see it that way, giving Romero three points for a 5-7 win.

"I thought the third round was Rocky's best, and the gold was his," Scullion said.

"I thought we had that guy from Quebec beat six ways from Sunday," Yip said. "Rocky's a tough kid, he moved, he jabbed, I don't think the guy (Romero) should have scored any blows on him in the third."

The loss of the gold medal in a hometown decision also cost the Alberta team first place in the tournament. Had Whitford won the gold medal, Alberta would have edged out Quebec by one point in team rankings in the tournament. As it was, the second place finish for Alberta's seven member junior boxing team was the best showing for the province in six or seven years.

"Our whole team was strong," said Yip.