Peguis First Nation boxing club punching above its weight

Vernon Cook says his boxing career started with a sandwich.

"I lived in the West End [of Winnipeg], and there was a corner store, and my future coach … was actually at the sub store I kept going for sandwiches and he asked me, 'Hey, you look pretty big — would you want to try boxing?'" said Cook.

Boxing "helped me a lot to stay out of trouble.… In the early mid-'90s there was a lot of gangs in Winnipeg, and that kept me out of trouble a lot."

Now Cook is passing along his skills to the next generation of Indigenous fighters at Red Warrior Boxing club in Peguis First Nation, in Manitoba's Interlake region.

He offers several classes at the club, including youth boxing and a women-only boxing class. He also just started a class for people in the community's addictions treatment program. 

When Cook was in amateur boxing, he fought as a heavyweight, but even at 6'2 and over 200 pounds, he was often the smallest guy in the ring. 

The sport took Cook around the world and taught him some valuable life lessons. 

"Dedication pays off — that's the main thing, but also you learn respect.… There's a ton of things that come with boxing," he told CBC in an interview on Monday, ahead of Wednesday's National Indigenous Peoples Day.

"It just pushes you to the limit. It's the ultimate sport." 

A little over a year ago, Cook started training the Bear brothers, both of whom are already competing as amateur boxers. 

"The Bear brothers — wow, they're something else," said Cook.

"They're hard workers, they dedicated themselves to the sport, they respect it.… They're the perfect students," he said.

"I believe [boxing] kept them out of trouble and kept them striving for something else, and you see a lot of hard work they're doing." 

Wymen Bear