Lowry puts controversy behind in comeback bid (see in the Province)

Steve Lowry could have lied.

The 36-year-old Vancouver Astoria Club super lightweight, who is making his return to the ring after an eight-year hiatus as part of the Rumble at the Rock VII undercard, could have easily flown past a question about his loss at the 1999 Canadian nationals in a sweaty gymnasium in Campbell River.

Lowry had been hyped in B.C. as a contender for a spot at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and he had pummelled Regina’s Dana Laframboise so thoroughly in the national quarterfinals only to lose the decision that then provincial team coach Scotty Jackson, a veteran of more than 30 years in the game at that point, called it, “probably the worst decision I’ve seen in my life . . . a guy chases another guy around the ring and beats the tar our of him and loses?”

It was a lifetime ago, though, wasn’t it? He could have bobbed and weave past that question, but he stood there and took it.

There’s something endearing about honesty, isn’t there?

“Yeah, I do wonder what would have happened had the scoring been different,” said Lowry, a 5-foot-5, 133-pound Williams Lake native. “People were talking Olympics. It would have been nice. What else can I say? It would have been nice.

“I really don’t regret anything. I came to fight. I gave it my all.

“Is it the most disappointing loss? Yeah . . . one of them. I’ve had some disappointments, but that was one of the bigger ones.”

He did continue in the ring and even turned pro in 2000. He fought six times, amassing a 4-1-1 record. The last bout was July 13, 2002, when he was knocked out in the second round of a scheduled four-round right with Rafael Ortiz at the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Wash. His daughter, Isabella, was on the way, and he decided he needed to focus on being a father rather than a prize fighter.

She lives in Calgary now with her mother and Lowry remains in her life, visiting every few months.

“After her mother and I separated, I didn’t go back into boxing,” said Lowry, who’s a construction safety officer and first aid attendant by day. “I was coaching, I was still active in it, but I figured it was too late for me.”

He was working with some youngsters at the Astoria club a few months back when one of the more accomplished boxers needed someone to train against. There was no one else around, Lowry said, so he grabbed some gear and sparred for the first time in years.

Standing there, in the middle of the ring, he felt he could still punch, still move, still compete. Lowry, who had taken up running marathons, wanted to get back at it and contacted the Rumble organizers. They put him up against Will Williams, 23, an Oregon native who comes into Saturday with a 2-1 record.

He insists that he doesn’t know where the boxing is going to go next. There’s a sincerity that makes him believable. And easy to root for.

“I’m going to go and I’m going to fight on Saturday and if something comes of it, then great,” said Lowry.

“I’m not making any big plans. I’m 36. It is what it is.

“I want to go in there and see if I can still do this.”

sewen@theprovince.com