Dad's old boxing gloves propel Canadian to medal glory

A chance finding as a curious boy of a battered pair of his father's old boxing gloves piqued Thomas Blumenfeld's interest in the sport.

Fast forward and the Canadian defeated Ghana's Jessie Lartey in their light-welterweight semi-final clash today at the Commonwealth Games on Australia's Gold Coast.

It guarantees Blumenfeld, now 20, at least a silver medal and the prospect of gold when he faces Namibia's Jonas Jonas in Saturday's final.

Reflecting on how he began the long journey to a Commonwealth medal, Blumenfeld said: "My dad had always talked about how he used to be a boxer and loved the sport. "When I was eight years old I was going around the house and I found a pair of gloves. "I said to him, 'I want to box.'"
"It could have been anything, it could have been playing ping-pong or tennis, and I would have been like, 'I want do that.'
"He was the inspiration for my sport, my dad."