Ralph Hosack

One of five siblings, Ralph Hosack spent his early years in Edmonton, but moved to Barrhead, Alberta by the 1950s where his parents operated a dry-cleaning business. There, he joined the Barrhead Boxing Club where he soon found success in the sport, winning his first Golden Gloves competition in 1951 and provincial titles in the middleweight class in the following years. In 1956, Hosack was the Canadian middleweight champion and was later selected for the Canadian Olympic boxing team to compete in Melbourne, Australia. Alongside Walter Kozak, Hosack was one of two Edmonton-based boxers to be named to the delegation.

Lauded by newspapers as “one of Canada’s most outstanding amateur boxers”, Hosack, a southpaw, was seen as one of the country’s best hopes for a medal, but ultimately lost in the first round to eventual gold medallist Gennady Shatkov of the Soviet Union. He later remarked that he had slightly sprained his ankle during the bout, and that the differing styles of boxing taught in Europe could have played a part in his defeat. Hosack later returned to Edmonton, where he worked as a railway worker and lived with his two children and wife. He contemplated a comeback in 1958, but eventually ended up retiring from the sport for good, owing to commitments from his career as a firefighter. He later rose to the position of investigator for the Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, and moved to Stony Plain, Alberta following his retirement.