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Vernon fight card honours Hall of Fame boxing official

Ian Gibson Tribute night will feature boxers from a number of out-of-town clubs Saturday, Aug. 20
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Vernon’s Ian Gibson (centre), B.C. Boxing Hall of Fame member, will be honoured by the Vernon Boxing Club which hosts the first Ian Gibson Tribute fight card Saturday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Vernon Recreation Centre auditorium. A longtime official with the Vernon club, Gibson died in 2020 at the age of 85. (Morning Star - file photo)

Elizabeth Gibson promised to send her late dad out with a bang.

What better way to honour a man who devoted more than half his life to the sport of boxing than naming a fight card after him.

The Vernon Boxing Club is set to host the first Ian Gibson Tribute card Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Vernon Recreation Centre auditorium.

“We’re proud of dad’s legacy and this event will bring boxing back to Vernon,” said Elizabeth.

It will be the first fight card in Vernon in nearly a decade.

Born in Kirkconnel, Scotland, Ian spent 40 years volunteering for Boxing B.C. and was the organization’s head official for a number of years. He worked all over Canada at various competitions and no matter where he went, Gibson spread his Scottish charm, his dry sense of humour and being a stickler of rule.

Arriving in Vernon in 1975, Gibson was also a fixture in the local soccer ranks. He died in December 2020 at the age of 85.

Gibson and longtime friend and Vernon Boxing Club coach, the late Don MacDonald, lit the Olympic Torch on the flame’s relay through Vernon in 2010, and the pair were inducted into the Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame on the same day in 2013.

Gibson was enshrined in the B.C. Boxing Hall of Fame a year earlier.

Current Vernon Boxing Club coach Brian Jones hopes the Ian Gibson Tribute card becomes an annual event.

“We have several out-of-town clubs coming,” said Jones. “We are planning to have 10-to-12 bouts, max.”

Advance tickets are on sale at the club, located beneath the Priest Valley Gymnasium on 35th Avenue, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-8 p.m., and through some club members. You can call Jones at 250-545-8853 and leave a message with your details.

Advance tickets are first come, first served.

Tickets will also be available at the door on fight night. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the fights begin at 7 p.m.

The card comes hours after Gibson’s Celebration of Life, which will also be at the Vernon Rec Centre in the Creekside Conference Room. The Celebration of Life begins at 11:30 a.m.

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roger@vernonmorningstar.com

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Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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