Niagara Boxing Legend Ryan Baulk
Niagara Boxing Legend Ryan Baulk is surrounded by Boom Boom Mancini and Gerry Cooney at the recent Niagara Legends boxing card.
Like father, like son.
One year after his father, John Robertson, was inducted into the Niagara Boxing Legends, Ryan Baulk received the same honour in early June.
Baulk’s grandfather, Jack Robertson, boxed in the army but it was his father who was the major influence on his boxing career.
“I ended up taking it really seriously once my dad started coaching. It was knowing that someone cared about me in the ring. I went there just to work out and get in shape but then I started sparring and I got the bug,” he said. “Then I realized I was good at it and I got to travel the world because of boxing.”
His father was preparing him to be a fighter long before he stepped into the ring.
“He taught me at a young age. We would always play fight and when I got into sparring it was second nature. I think that is why I did so well.”
Boxing would always be on the television at home and father and son would analyze each fight afterwards.
Baulk began boxing in Grade 6 at the St. Catharines Boxing Club and stuck with it for a year or two before deciding the sport wasn’t for him at that juncture in his life.
“I started taking off in the sport when I was 18 and I boxed from 18 until 25 or 26.”
His boxing resume began with a novice (10 fights or less) provincial title and then five Ontario silver medals at the senior open level followed by four appearances at the nationals at middleweight, winning a bronze medal and placing in the top five number of times.
His nemesis every year at senior provincials was Steve Rolls, who eventually turned pro and once fought multiple world champion Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin at Madison Square Gardens.
“I used to be his sparring partner when he turned pro and he and I would go back and forth at provincials. We fought three times and the one time that I was beating him, he ended up getting a thumb in my eye, closing my eye and they ended up having to call the fight. I was winning on points and I would probably have won the gold medal.”
The highlight of his career came at senior nationals where he rallied from a huge deficit to defeat former Canadian junior champion, Brody Blair, who was making his first appearance as a senior.
“He was a big name out of Nova Scotia and I think it was the biggest comeback in nationals’ history. I was down by 14 or 15 points and it was kind of unheard of to come back. I knew I only had one round and it was non-stop. His head was going back and forth and it was like an out-of-body experience. On paper he was better than me but I had no quit and ended up beating him.”
Baulk got to fight in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the United Sates while touring with the St. Catharines Boxing Club. He decided to end his career at age 26 after fighting on a card against Team Ireland.
“I ended up fracturing the guy’s jaw and breaking his nose and I ended up looking at it as some day that might happen to me. I had a little boy at the time and it was my time to get out of it. I wanted to be a teacher and I knew I had to choose a different path.”
He is still a huge fan of boxing and watches plenty of boxing live and on TV.
Boxing has always been a passion for him.
“My favourite thing about it is it’s a chess match and a mental game. You use the same weapons, your hands, but you have to out-smart the opponent. I love that you get to be someone different. People see me as such a happy go lucky guy but once in the ring I got to be someone different. Once that bell goes, I had to out-smart and out-work that person for those three rounds. I loved the atmosphere and boxing is a pretty tight community. It is like a family.”
The 38-year-old St. Catharines resident is a Grade 3 teacher at Connaught Public School, where he coaches soccer and basketball. This year, he led the boys basketball team all the way to the District School Board of Niagara championship night.
“It had been since I had been at the school that we had won a championship. It has been almost 25 years.”
Also inducted into the Niagara Boxing Legends as part of the Year of the Young Guns were Ray Napper, Jr., Steven Wilcox, Ryan Rannelli, Daniel Ryan, Scottie Paul and Stephen Ryan.
