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South Surrey boxer takes silver in the ring

Darcy Hinds takes aim at Pan-Am Games’ spot after performance at Canadian Amateur Boxing Championships
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A black-eyed Darcy Hinds shows off his silver medal from nationals.

A loss in the final at the Canadian Amateur Boxing Championships in Mississauga, Ont. wasn’t the result Darcy Hinds was expecting.

But it’s still a very positive outcome, one that he plans on taking advantage of.

Hinds lost a decision to Clovis Drolet of Quebec in the gold-medal match of the middleweight (75 kg.) division, a three-round bout he thought he had won.

“I kicked some butt,” said the South Surrey resident. “I thought I was winning, my corner thought I was winning. He (Drolet) had a big right hand, and is a strong guy.

“I stayed away from his right hand, kept jabbing at him. I thought I had won.”

In addition to the gold medal, Hinds lost a shot at receiving funding as a (federal government) carded athlete – roughly $20,000 a year to cover expenses, money which would have gone a long way towards helping him reach his ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil.

With local sponsors such as Steve Nash Fitness (Morgan Crossing) and Bikram’s Yoga in White Rock, Hinds still receives some support. And aside from the extra funding, a silver medal at nationals is “almost as good as gold.”

“I’m on the B team, which means I will probably be at the (2015) Pan Am Games in Toronto,” he explained. “It’s not 100 per cent, but quite possible.

“And a medal – gold, silver or bronze – would probably be enough to get you into the Olympics.”

Hinds, a member of the Queensborough Boxing Club in New Westminster, was one of six boxers in the middleweight class in Mississauga.

He received a first-round bye before taking on Marco Capobianco of Ontario in the semifinals, a one-sided match he easily won.

“I destroyed him, I knocked him down in the first round. I dominated him,” said Hinds. “I did get tired in the third round and fell, because I didn’t eat enough prior to the match. I just ran out of fuel.”

A five-time provincial champion, a Western Canadian champion and a bronze and silver medalist at nationals, he has won roughly 90 per cent of approximately 100 amateur fights.

He will be at the Golden Gloves Nov. 29 in Cloverdale, and expects to be in a couple of international tournaments in the United States. Leading up to the Pan Am Games, his agenda is “to just stay busy.”

His years as an amateur athlete has taught him combining work with training is difficult, and puts him at a disadvantage against opponents who are able to secure funding to dedicate themselves full-time to the sport.

He receives “tons of work” in the film stunt industry; he was a stunt double on the TV show Arrow, playing a boxer.

“I need to not have to work,” Hinds said. “I need to just train.”