Joey Sandulo was 14 when he started boxing and became the Canadian national flyweight champion less than two years later, in 1947, making him Canada’s youngest-ever national boxing champion. This earned him a trip to the 1948 London Olympics at the age of only 17, where he lost his first-round bout against Maung Myo Thant of Myanmar by decision, despite a protest from the Canadian team. He retired from active competition in 1951 – after losing only five of his 75 bouts – and then made a name for himself as a coach, training numerous amateur boxers including Ian Clyde and, briefly, Lennox Lewis. He also refereed and held numerous roles as an administrator, particularly with his Ottawa-based Beaver Boxing Club, in addition to coaching for the Canadian national team at several World Championships. By career he worked with the Canadian Armed Forces as a cartographer, retiring in the late 1980s as a Sergeant Major, and competed in biathlon with the military. He was inducted into the Ottawa Sport and Boxing Ontario Halls of Fame in 1982 and 2005 respectively.
Canada