A pair of Guelph boxers have their eyes set on national glory.
Lisandro Garcia Rebelo and Mathew Bentley are representing Ontario at the Elite National Championships in Sarnia Nov. 19-23.
One is a veteran, and is focused on the journey rather than the destination. The other is a 15-year-old prodigy with aspirations to box at the Olympic Games in 2028.
The younger Rebelo got into boxing about three years ago.
“I had a (punching) bag in my house, hitting it in the back. I was not that good,” he said. “My dad’s friend brought me into boxing. That’s when I started.”
The accolades have poured in over such a short time. Rebelo is the top ranked amateur boxer in Canada for his weight class (52 kilograms) and age.
“Lisandro is the Messi in boxing, or Ronaldo,” said Sebastian Corrales, coach and the owner of DC Boxing, where both Rebelo and Bentley train.
“This guy, he has something, like it’s not common to see it. The speed he has is incredible. I think he’s going to be a future Olympian.”
To qualify for nationals, he knocked off two boxers – one by unanimous decision and the other by referee stoppage – and has an 11-fight winning streak going. He competed in the 52 kg Junior C male open category.
“It felt so great, coming off an injury,” Rebelo said, alluding to breaking his arm while sparring about a year ago.
“The first time back in the ring, off one year. It felt amazing just to get the win.”
He recently moved to Guelph from Toronto, and spends three nights a week training at DC.
Rebelo models his game after his favourite boxer Floyd Mayweather – “I like Floyd’s defence, and his IQ,” he said. “He’s a very smart boxer.” – and has his eyes set on qualifying for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
“My goal is to be a professional boxer at age 18-19.”
Bentley, one of Rebelo’s coaches at the gym and first-time Golden Gloves provincial champion, keeps quite the busy schedule.
He works 12-hour shifts at AWC Manufacturing as a welder fitter, and trains three times a week.
This will be his second time heading to nationals. He won silver at the Golden Gloves competition in 2022, and qualified for the Canadian competition.
His first fight at provincials ended in a referee stoppage. He won the 80 kg elite male open finals by a unanimous decision.
“It’s huge (to win provincials),” he said. “We just had a baby (a year ago), me and my partner (and fellow DC coach) Bernice.
“The amount of work and everything, just combined with working full time, looking after the baby, training and all the stress on top of that. It was a lot, but a surreal experience because everything came together at once and we were able to get the job done. It felt really good.”
Bentley, 33, began boxing as a teen but fell out of it to put more focus on his other passion, race car driving.
He got back into boxing six years ago after a health scare and hasn’t left the gym since.
“(I) just like the atmosphere of being in the gym, and the friendships you build, and also the relieving of stress,” he said. “It’s just really good for the health and mentally, right? Everything’s so good for your body, your health, your mentality, everything’s great. That’s the thing that appeals to me the most.
“Competing and winning, that’s the cherry on top.”
He said if an opportunity to compete internationally comes up, he wouldn’t turn it down.
For now, he is appreciating the journey rather than keeping focused on a particular destination.
“If I end up going pro, I end up going pro,” Bentley said. “Right now, I’m not really 100 per cent sure which way I’m going to take. I like to live day-by-day and take things as they come, try not to worry too much for the future.”
The academy is hosting a fundraiser sparring event on Nov. 10 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at its location at 199 Victoria Rd. S.
Tickets are $20 at the door and will support Bentley, so he can take time off work to focus on training in the final two weeks ahead of nationals.
