Two bullets and
a second chance

Ex-criminal boxer survives a shooting and
fights his way to professional redemption

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Sylvera “Sly” Louis

Age: 26

Occupation: Boxer

Bio: This affable South Central bruiser first started boxing as a kid with the Champions Boxing Club out in East-End Montreal. A powerhouse of a pugilist, at age 19 everything nevertheless went to shit for our boy after he “choked” during a bout he was heavily favoured to win, a fight that could have seen him competing in the Canadian national championships. “So ashamed” and humiliated by his performance, young Sly immediately abandoned boxing to pursue a career in “drinkin’ and partyin’” instead, selling dope “and anything else I could do to get by.” Busted for trafficking soon afterwards, Sly tried to go straight “but it was so hard.” Finally, after taking two bullets one night “at a club on St-Laurent my brother and I were involved in,” Sly realized he “was at the crossroads. I had to get back into boxing. It was the only thing that had ever been meaningful to me.” Today he’s not just the co-owner/founder of the Underdog Boxing Gym at 9 Ste-Catherine E. (underdoggym.com), but Canada’s Heavyweight Champion, last year being crowned both Boxer of the Year and Rookie of the Year by Boxing Canada.

Something that makes getting busted a less miserable experience: Money. “If you have money, getting arrested isn’t so bad because you can always keep paying your lawyer to continue pushing things back until the prosecutor gets tired of you. After enough time, your crimes seem less important because if you’ve stayed out of trouble, it looks like your offence really was just a one-time thing. So I only got a slap on the wrist, house arrest for six months where I had to be in from 10 p.m-7 a.m. every night. Without money though, you go to jail.”

On getting shot: “Late one Friday night, all these guys wanted to come into our club [while they were closing up]. So I told them to leave, and even though I love fighting, I was bluffing because there were too many of them and I would have taken a beating. But I end up fighting anyway and one of them pulls out this tiny gun, a .22, and shoots me in the shin, not saying a word, just shooting me. But I’d been drinking so, like, I didn’t even really feel it, just this burning sensation, right? So now I’m mad that they fuckin’ shot me and I keep on after them until I get shot again by another guy, right in my forearm. And this time it’s with a super big shiny gun, a .45, and it really, really hurts. The doctors said I could forget about sports after that—my arm would never bend again.”

Something the current Canadian Heavyweight Boxing Champion is setting up: A non-profit organization to help wayward teens find themselves. “At the Underdog Gym, I’m already working with kids through an organization called En Marge 12–17, teaching them how to box and stuff. I’ve been through a lot of the things these kids are going through now, and I know what helped me get out of that life. You just need to work hard. I really think I can inspire these kids to help themselves out.”

Last book read: Revolutionary Suicide, by Huey Newton.

Musical preferences: K’naan, Q-Tip.

Words of wisdom: “La fin justifie les moyens.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net