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06-26-2012, 06:47 PM | #1 |
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RIP Ralph Hollett
A great champion and a legend are being used to describe former Canadian championship boxer Ralph Hollett who lost a lengthy battle with cancer and an inoperable brain tumour on June 14, 2012. He was 59.
Longtime friend Mickey MacDonald described the Halifax fighter as “a champion in and outside the ring.” “He was a great champion and he fought hard for the fans of Nova Scotia,” MacDonald, a Halifax entrepreneur and chair of the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority, said Friday afternoon. “He’s one of those legends in the boxing community. “He represented Nova Scotia very professionally and he always came to fight. “Ralph had that tough guy image but he was an all-around good guy. There was a softer side to him. He openly talked about his love for his family. They were his greatest accomplishments. He will be missed.” Hollett, a black belt in Karate, Uechi Ryu and Jui Jitsu, started out as a kickboxer and won a Canadian kickboxing championship. But Hollett made a name for himself when he entered pro boxing at age 25. “Ralph and I started boxing around the same time in the early ’70s,” MacDonald recalled. “Ralph was a Fairview boy who started out in karate but found a calling in boxing. He trained very, very hard all the time. He didn’t take it lightly in his training. Ralph was always training.” In a boxing career that spanned from 1977 to 1983, he earned a 19-10-1 record under trainer Tom McCluskey, and the Canadian middleweight title, which he won in Jan. 1980 and June 1981. (McCluskey, husband to Halifax regional councillor Gloria McCluskey, passed away in February at age 87) “Ralph Hollett was a great champion and a positive influence on sport in Nova Scotia,” said Jamie Ferguson, CEO of Sport Nova Scotia, said. “I think his legacy was inspiring more Nova Scotians to take part in sport and we think that’s very important.” MacDonald believes Hollett’s success in the ring are worthy of a spot in the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame. MacDonald submitted a nomination this year to have Hollett inducted. He expects Hollett to be enshrined soon. “I thought he was in the hall of fame and when I found out he wasn’t, we put in an application to see if we can get him in there,” MacDonald said. “They have (the application) so hopefully next year he will get in the hall of fame because he deserves to be.” After Hollett's fighting career ended, he eventually went on to work for Nova Scotia's Department of Justice and later worked for the department at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside. Friends and family rallied around the legendary sports figure after his diagnosis in 2010. MacDonald held a fundraiser at Palooka’s Boxing Club in Hollett’s honour later that same year. Hollett is survived by father Ralph, daughter Sara, sons Roger, Clinton and Angelo, common-law wife Lisa Novelli, three sisters, two brothers and a large circle of extended family and friends. A family and public visitation will be held at J. A. Snow Funeral Home on Lacewood Dr. in Clayton Park on Tuesday. Memorial service will take place Wednesday, 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. With Patricia Brooks Arenburg Hollett
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jofre |
06-27-2012, 12:05 PM | #2 |
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I saw his last fight with Alex Hilton at the Forum in Montreal. It was SRO. Fighter with a lot of heart.
R.I.P. Cap
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06-28-2012, 01:03 PM | #3 |
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rip
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06-28-2012, 01:04 PM | #4 |
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Rip
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07-13-2012, 04:51 PM | #5 |
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Tough fighter who always gave you a tough fight. Rest in Peace
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