Braddock Koch stands in the Thomas Settee Boxing Club as he prepares to begin the Red Wolf Boxing Club for competitive boxing. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Return to the Ring

Boxing coach bringing 50 years into new competitive club

Dec 8, 2021 | 5:00 PM

Braddock Koch is returning to the boxing ring as he prepares to open up P.A.’s only competitive club.

After recovering from heart surgery Koch began thinking of getting involved with boxing once again.

“I thought why not one last kick at the can,” he told paNOW. “Why not do this for as long as I can do it because I don’t know how long that will be.”

Koch, who was in retirement from the sport after 50 years in the ring, said Cole Ahenakew and Ian Abbott approached him saying they wanted Koch to train them.

He agreed to do something he said he would never do, train a professional boxer in Ahenakew. Koch said Abbott also aspires to turn pro.

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“To recognize I might have a little bit of knowledge I can pass on I appreciate that,” he said.

Koch explained since he agreed to train the two men, he may as well open the club to anyone who wants to do the same and thus the Red Wolf Boxing Club was born. They will operate out of the Thomas Settee Boxing Club, which will continue to offer classes to those who want to learn the sport. He invites people to go through the program at the Thomas Settee Boxing Club to learn the basics and somewhere down the road if people want to compete to give Red Wolf a call.

“In any boxing club probably 98 per cent of the people who participate are in it for the fitness, to get in shape, you know for their various sports,” he said.

“The actual boxers like Cole Ahenakew who’s now had seven bouts, Ian who’s had a few bouts there are very few because it’s a tough sport, it’s a hard game.”

So far, including Ahenakew and Abbott, Koch said he has six boxers who want to compete and be a part of the Red Wolf Boxing Club. They will be preparing for the provincial championships held in January 2022 in Regina.

He explained amateur boxing requires a lot of dedication and focus adding it’s a ton of work for a tiny drop of reward.

“You win some close ones, and you lose some close ones. It goes with the territory but the kid who’s put in all that work and all that effort to see it taken away from him it just can be heartbreaking,” he said.

People who have faced hardship and dealt with difficult circumstances he said make great boxers. You train as a team, but you fight in the ring alone.

Koch began boxing when he was just 10 years old when he had his first bout. He competed for nine seasons and had his last fight when he was 20 years old. Koch moved to Prince Albert when he was 27 years old from B.C. and began coaching three years later and did so for over 30 years until he retired. He has been involved in the sport one way or another for 54 years.

“I want people to understand this is a cooperative effort between Red Wolf Boxing Club, Bob Tichkowsky with the Thomas Settee Boxing Club and Blake Edwards with his fitness and junior boxing training,” he said.

“I came back for the kids. It’s always been about the kids for me, and I find my whole interest in it has been rekindled, recharged. I probably needed all those years off.”

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12