Calgary fighters thankful to enter ring under safe conditions after Ultra Boxing event cancelled

Fighters with Ultra White Collar Boxing will have another chance to get into the ring after the club was suspended by Boxing Alberta. (Supplied/Ultra White Collar Boxing)

A group of Calgary fighters are thankful to be able to enter the ring under a properly sanctioned event this weekend after the organization they were training under was suspended by Boxing Alberta for two years due to safety concerns.

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Calgary's Southpaw Family Fitness & Boxing Gym is now stepping up to help host several beginner fighters on Saturday night following the last-minute cancellation of a Nov. 24 event organized by Ultra White Collar Boxing.

Boxing Alberta confirmed to CTV News that it cited several safety concerns and suspended Ultra White Collar Boxing, but that the organization was still attempting to sell tickets to its planned event at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino.

The news comes just a week after an MMA fighter tragically died at an Ultra MMA event hosted on the Enoch Cree First Nation.

"We had learned that at one of their previous shows sanctioned by Boxing Alberta, they did not follow the rules set out by Boxing Alberta and it put our athletes' health and safety at risk," read the statement from Boxing Alberta president, Jessica Sparrow.

"Boxing Alberta initially accepted a sanction in Calgary for Nov. 24, but this sanction was revoked as part of their suspension on Oct. 29."

Despite being suspended by Boxing Alberta, Ultra still went on to inform its fighters in an email of a last-minute venue change for its event to the Rajveer Banquet Hall.

The event was subsequently cancelled just hours before it was set to take place.

The Calgary Combative Sports Commission (CCSC) noted that there was a subsequent attempt to rebrand the Ultra event as a kickboxing card, under the authority of WAKO Canada. The commission challenged that effort and WAKO voluntarily withdrew its sanction.

"The commission is aware of allegations that Ultra Boxing attempted to hold the scheduled bouts in Calgary anyway, without oversight from any combat sports regulatory body," said CCSC executive director, TJ Madigan.

"Unsanctioned, underground, or illegal combat sports events are highly dangerous. The commission takes these situations extremely seriously and is currently reviewing the available information before determining the next steps."

CTV News has contacted Ultra Events Canada several times and has yet to receive a statement as to why it was still attempting to sell tickets to its event and why its fighters were only informed of the event's cancellation at the very last minute.

'Didn't do their homework': Calgary fighter

A Calgary boxer, who was set to fight on Nov. 24, said the organization lied to them about what was going on.

"They were well aware there was no proper sanction in place. The staff at Ultra knew for weeks exactly what was going on. Their claim that they care for their fighters was definitely proven false," said Ben Emino.

Emino had originally fought in an Ultra Boxing event in June which he said went off 'without a hitch,' but he noted irregularities when it came to prioritizing fighter safety.

"From my understanding, one of the doctors who attended those fights didn't have proper qualifications and he was actually a psychologist.

"Ultra didn't do their homework."

Emino said the organization is ignoring the issue, hoping it will go away, but he's glad he was able to connect with the CCSC.

"I'm so grateful for our coaches at Amplified Athletics who recognized this as well and that we can still fight at another event because these people actually want to make sure you go home to your family safe."

Even following the event's cancellation, Emino was shocked to see that tickets were still on sale and that he had yet to be refunded. His co-workers had purchased a table for the event, which cost $1,200.

"My understanding is that they're starting to give people back what they paid for the events, but many of us still haven't received our booking fees. It seems like the only goal they had was a pay day."

'I could have lost my boxing career'

Fighters training under Ultra White Collar Boxing, like Dylan Siemens, were surprised to learn that they themselves could have also been suspended should the Nov. 24 event have taken place.

"We did some digging for all of us members that were underneath this fighting card and we found out from Boxing Alberta that not only could it be longer than 60 days, but it could also be a two-year ban, up to a lifetime ban," he said.

"I could have lost my boxing career if I hadn't found out this information. It's a personal dream of mine to pursue boxing and because I'm 29 years old, I don't have a lot of time to get this done, so that would have set me back huge."

Jared Velasquez, a boxing trainer and owner of Amplified Athletics, was training upward of 40 fighters for the Ultra event.

He notes that mistakes were made with this event and that there's no way it could have taken place without the right sanctions.

"It unfortunately put us into a position where I wasn't able to coach a corner, and then we were looking for options," Velasquez said.

"I know the guys have a lot of frustrations with what they feel has been a lack of clarity and communication, but that kind of puts us in this position right now where the sanctions didn't seem to go through, and that put Ultra in a position to terminate this event."

Velasquez went on to say that he was thankfully compensated by Ultra for the several weeks of training he organized for his athletes, but that ultimately their safety was his top priority.

"It's of the utmost importance for us to be able to have trust and reliability into sanctioning bodies and commissions that will end up taking care of the athletes, especially athletes that have no prior experience.

"It goes a long way to have trust in a sanctioning body and to know that there's insurance behind you, regardless of what is happening."

As it pertains to fighter safety, Alberta's Minister of Sport & Tourism Joseph Schow says his team is aware of concerns and ensuring such events are properly sanctioned alongside its partner organizations.

"We continue to engage with municipalities and municipal combative sports commissions to provide support and share best practices to enhance the safety of all athletes," Schow said in a statement to CTV News.

Southpaw Gym steps up to host fights for Ultra boxers

The Ultra Boxing fighters won't need to hang up their gloves due to the cancellation of the unsanctioned event thanks to some effort from a Calgary gym.

Warren Grenier, the general manager of Southpaw Family Fitness & Boxing Gym, has helped set up a properly sanctioned event on Saturday for Calgary fighters who originally lost that opportunity with Ultra White Collar Boxing.

The event will take place at Southpaw Gym, 3130 Glenmore Ct. S.E., with the bell ringing at 6:30 p.m. for the first card of fights.

"I'm a big advocate of making sure that people, if they're training for these programs, they're getting the benefit of what they've spent all this time doing," Grenier said.

"So, Southpaw stepped up with many other gyms and offered the athletes an option to compete this coming weekend, on Saturday night here in what we call Chump-to-Champ. A very similar concept or idea, but it's run much safer. It's run by coaches that are specialized coaches in boxing."

It means fighters like Emino and Siemens will now be able to enter the ring safely in an event that is properly sanctioned by Boxing Alberta.

"Safety is the number one thing we're all here for, this is a combat sport so it's our utmost concern. It's the first thing we talk about with our athletes and if you don't take care of them there's numerous things that can happen to them during their career," Grenier said.

"We've now added on a number of these guys from that show just to make sure that they're able to compete. They're probably close to 15 fights in total, so it's going to be a really fun night."

Tickets can be purchased at the door and funds will be raised for a local church.

Anyone who shows up with $75 and a brand-new basketball, football or soccer ball for donation can come sit at a table and watch the event.