Flinn recounts days spent with Bonners boxing club

Wandering through the 50-year-old newspapers each week at the Herald, I come upon boxing stories and Jack Flinn, among other recognizable names in Boundary County.

I would find myself eager to see how Jack Flinn and the Bonners Ferry Jaycee Boxing Club did the next week in their matches, as I skimmed through for history stories.

I was a huge boxing fan in the 1990s and as a former boxing fan I thought these stories warranted some recognition in the day and age of the new style fighting, ultimate fighting.

Flinn, a Boundary County native, was happy to share with me his memories, which were good times for him.

He even has a journal of great photographs and stories about his boxing days .

Flinn, with a twinkle in his eye, shared stories of his days as a 15-year-old natural athlete. He was known at Bonners Ferry High School for how fast he could run. In track, he won the 100 and 75 yard dash, and broad jump.

There was only one problem, Flinn admits. He didn’t have the best grades.  Because of this he was not allowed to continue to participate in high school sports, but that didn’t stop him.

Flinn decided to join the Bonners Ferry Boxing Club sponsored by the Jaycees.

This was not a high school sponsored sport so he was able to participate despite his grades. He loved boxing.

He had a career record of 15 wins, three of those by technical knock out, three losses and one exhibition fight, spanning from 1960-1964.

At the time Flinn started boxing a black man from New York held the heavy weight boxing championship of the world, Floyd Patterson.

A a scrappy 125 pounds Flinn boxed his heart out against tough competition in the weight class. His first fight was a lost.

Although he lost his very first match in March 1960, it was by split decision. It didn’t discourage him from moving forward..

“We were both so tired we could barely stand up at the end of the fight,” said Flinn.

The fight took place in Bonners Ferry as many did.  The ring would be set up in what used to be the high school by Kootenai River Inn inside the gymnasium and people could come and watch the excitement live.

Flinn’s second fight brought his first TKO win and black eye.

A couple fights stand out in Flinn’s mind.

The first one was versus Roland Lawrence at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane. Lawrence was a young black man.Flinn knew that the heavy weight champion of the world was also a black man. Flinn said this made him a bit uneasy and he was worried about the fight.

That wasn’t the only worry. Lawrence was 17 and Flinn was 15. But they both weighed 125 pounds.

All the worrying was for not. The win came to Flinn by unanimous decision. He was happy to find out that Lawrence was as nice a fellow as he and not any tougher.

Another standout fight for Flinn was the Inland Empire Boxing tournament held in the Spokane Coliseum in March 1961. Flinn was already enrolled in the 125-pound weight class, but he was overweight.

He topped the scales  a quarter of a pound heavy.

 This was a problem that would eliminate him from the tournament. As one of the best coaches, Flinn said Tom Lefevbre had an idea.

“He had me running up and down the fire escape stairs for an hour, spitting the entire time as I ran,” said Flinn.

It was a grueling plan that worked. After an hour, Flinn weighed in at 124 3/4 pounds.

He fought the next day and won by unanimous decision. He graciously brought the championship trophy by the Herald office to share with me.

The entire Bonners Ferry Boxing Club did well at this tournament. They brought home the novice trophy from Spokane, the first time Spokane had to give up this trophy.

I do miss the days of boxing at its best and the masters. I was even lucky enough to meet two of the best, Oscar De la Hoya and Evander Holyfield back in the 1990s.

Fighting has changed and ultimate fighting continues to become more popular throughout this new generation.

I do hope young people today can look back and remember boxing how it was.

There was nothing better than good, fair boxing match with my favorite referee, Mills Lane, who I also met once.

I think Mike Tyson led us into the ultimate fighting era and since the ear biting match seen around the world in 1997, boxing has not been the same.