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Blair advances to boxing semifinals

January 13, 2012

Pictou County’s Brody Blair moved a step closer to his Olympic aspiration Thursday afternoon.

The 20-year-old Blair recorded a third-round stoppage of Alberta’s Dwayne Orubar in his first action at the Canadian senior elite boxing championships in Membertou, Cape Breton.

Blair, the defending champion in the 75 kg division and the Pan Am Games bronze medallist, will compete in the semifinals on Friday.

Should he win his next two fights he would avoid next month’s Canadian final selection event and advance directly to Olympic zone qualifying in Brazil in May.

“I can’t look past these next two fights,” Blair, a two-time national champ, said after his victory. “But the Olympics is definitely my goal.

“I saw the guy from Manitoba (Brandt Butt) I’m going to fight in the semifinals and it’s going to be a good fight.”

Provincial team coach Wayne Gordon said Blair was impressive.

“Brody was leading throughout the fight,” he said. “The guy (Orubar) was a determined, strong guy, but the boxing skills were on our side.

“The longer the fight went the more advantage there was because the other guy had to take greater risks. We knew that and Brody caught him with a good left hook and a straight right hand and dropped him on his backside.”

The news was not as good for Lower Sackville’s Joey Laviolette, who lost a 15-13 upset to Quebec’s David Gauthier at 56 kg.

Laviolette will have to defeat this weekend’s eventual winner at the boxoffs next month to reclaim his title and move on to Brazil.

“We’re not happy,” said Gordon. “It was a real awkward fight. We’re disappointed, but Joey is a strong guy and we have the opportunity to come back through the box-offs.”

Laviolette, a four-time national champion, had defeated Gauthier twice before, but both verdicts were close.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult fight,” Gordon said.

Nova Scotia’s Steve Lalancette, Custio Clayton and Stephanie Walker were due up in the late draw.

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