Tom Daly required a standing eight count after the St. Albert referee and judge was floored when Boxing Canada announcement its 2018 hall of fame class.
“I was blown out of the water really,” said Daly, who was honoured with distinction at the April 1 ceremony in Edmonton. “I was shocked. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this.”
Daly, 72, started officiating in 1973 and the number of bouts enforcing the rules “would definitely be over a thousand” at the international, national, provincial and club levels.
“It’s great that all the volunteering I’ve done over the years was noticed,” Daly said.
The greatest driving force for Daly is helping others less fortunate.
“In most of the cases I would say you have two kinds of people in boxing, you have low income and no income, so I always felt that you’re doing something that’s giving something to underprivileged kids and that's the opportunity to develop and hopefully keep them on the right side of the tracks,” said the retired heavy duty automotive mechanic.
Daly, a proud Irishman, grew up in Dunboyne and got his first taste of the sweet science at the age of nine. The last of more than 200 amateur bouts – including representing Ireland against English internationally – for the light welterweight at 139 pounds was a victory in Cork the week before arriving in Toronto in 1969.
So, did Daly win more than he lost?
“I didn’t keep records,” said the Irish titleholder when he was 16. “I should’ve won a senior title but I got a cut eye. There was no head gear then, so in the first round I got a cut eye and they stopped it and the other guy got the decision.”
In Toronto, Daly spent time at the Clairlea Boxing Club as a coach and was a member on the committee that formed Boxing Ontario.
A shortage of officials in Toronto prompted Daly to enter the ring as a referee and his first bout was in Cabbagetown.
“At the time Dennis Bradley, who was an international referee and judge, was the guy who encouraged me,” Daly said. “I started doing it; I really enjoyed it.
“It’s like going to work. As long as there are more good days than bad, then you’re OK.
“The big thing is if you can’t take a bit of criticism don’t be a referee, just be a judge.”
The primary role of the referee, according to Daly, “is to protect the weaker boxer” as well as apply the rules.
“If the bout needs to be stopped or he needs an eight count or whatever, you protect him if it’s a bit of a mismatch or something like that,” said Daly, who has attended a variety of clinics and presentations on concussions.
“An eight count is giving you a chance to assess him and see how he responds,” he added. “The safety of the athletes is the most important job you have really."
Officiating was another alternative to remain active in the sport Daly loves.
“As a coach you’re looking at five nights a week at least to be coach and to be a boxer it was the same thing so that’s why I didn’t want to box in Canada. The commitment and training is huge if you want to be successful and to me there is only one way to be a boxer and that’s to be a success at it, otherwise you’re kind of a punch bag and you don’t want to be where you’re taking too many hits,” said Daly, noting the hardest part about officiating “is probably the time commitment,” especially with a family of four as his bride of 43 years, Roberta (they met in Toronto and moved to St. Albert in 1980), shouldered the load when Daly was in boxing assignments.
Under the watchful eye of Bradley, Daly quickly advanced to a Level 4 referee and judge through the officiating program and in 1975 was selected to attend the pre-Olympic tournament in Montreal as a trainee judge.
In 1991, Daly achieved his Level 5B as a continental referee and judge and after participating in the 1998 pre-Pan American Games in Winnipeg was promoted to a 5A referee and judge, which provided opportunities to work high-level international events like 1999 Olympic Trials and 2007 world championships.
Daly also travelled the world as a referee and judge at multi-nation tournaments in Russia, Finland, England, Ireland, Ecuador, Jamaica and the United States.
Within Canada, Daly has worked multiple national championships, Canada Winter Games, provincial championships, dual-match competitions and numerous club cards.
Among the many highlights for Daly was returning to Ireland with the Canadian boxing team.
“I sang in the National Stadium (in Dublin), that is where all the main tournaments take place in Ireland,” Daly said. “But one of my greatest achievements was training Roland Labbe (the past-president of Boxing Alberta with strong ties to Boxing Canada) who did the London Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in Australia and a number of others.
“Being able to mentor him was a huge factor in me showing commitment to the program, developing younger officials.”
Daly was also a member-at-large of for Boxing Canada and held many positions with Boxing Alberta, including president, chief official and director.
The grandfather of 10 remains is still a key contributor to Boxing Alberta as an official while assisting in the development of junior officials.
“I said I was retiring two years ago,” Daly joked. “Even on an international scale I could've been on the rotation list until I was 72 but I took myself off that rotation list when I was 65 because it opened the door for a younger guy.
"And I was the first guy to ever do it too, to step down, because most of the other guys stayed there for as long as they can.
'But as long as I can stay healthy I don't mind helping out on the local scene but I'm not doing anything at the national level any more.”
As for mixed martial arts, Daly is not a big fan and described it as a “disgrace,” noting in the United Sates, “they give a prominent footballer two years for dog fighting so how can they allow this with humans, with the kneeing and elbowing, but people pay money to see it and that's the bottom line. It's incredible that in civilized society that is what motivates people to go see it.
“However, membership in amateur boxing has gone up but it's gone up between the 20 to 30 age group because the most important component of mixed martial arts is the fists and if you know how to deliver it it's very, very important. The fist is to me by far the strongest component of the mixed martial arts.”
Meanwhile, Daly’s lofty status as a hall-of-famer hasn’t been a life-altering experience so far.
“People ask me, ‘Do you feel any different?’ I’ve said no. I’m still the same.”
