A New Orr hopes to Thrill New England Fans
By Stephen Tobey (Feb 26, 2008)
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REVERE, Mass. – In the late 1960s and early ’70s Bobby Orr became one of Boston’s most beloved professional athletes.
Now, almost four decades later, another Canadian with the same last name is looking to make an impression with New England fight fans.
Donald Orr, a member of the 2000 Canadian Olympic team, recently moved from Las Vegas to South Boston and will fight for the first time in New England on April 12, when he faced George Gonzalez in a middleweight bout on a Rich Cappiello-promoted card at The Roxy in Boston.
“I pray that I get to meet [Bobby Orr] someday,” said the 31-year-old native of Victoria, British Columbia, who is no relation to the legendary former Boston Bruins defenseman. “I hope he can come to one of my fights.”
As an amateur, he had more than 200 fights and earned his spot in the Sydney Olympics after defeating Jerson Ravelo in an Olympic qualifier. He was stopped on cuts in his first bout in the Olympics.
With limited opportunities to advance his career in the Western part of Canada, Orr moved to Las Vegas to turn professional.
“Especially on the West Coast [of Canada], there’s not much,” Orr said. “Most of the boxing is on the East Coast, especially Montreal. The only person I knew in the U.S. was Richard Steele. I came down to his gym in Las Vegas.”
Orr is 11-0, with five knockouts. One thing he’d like to do in his upcoming fights is improve his knockout ratio.
“I can’t be too disappointed with 11-0,” he said. “I’ve had everyone hurt, but I keep taking my foot off the gas pedal.”
Eight of Orr’s 11 fights were in Las Vegas. The other three were in Colwood, Canada, Sacramento and Santa Ynez, Calif.
“It was always the same crowd,” Orr said. “I was always fighting Mexican fighters in front of their crowds.”
Though Orr was born and raised in Canada, his family is Irish. His grandfather was born in Ireland before settling in North America. His accent is part Canadian (like SCTV’s Bob and Doug McKenzie) and part Irish. One of the things that attracted Orr to the Boston area was its Irish boxing community.
“It was a logical move for me,” he said.
A.matchmaker in Texas, Jeff Zimmerman, connected Orr with Dan Kelly, a manager in the Boston area. Kelly helped Orr sign with Cappiello.
“My friend Dan Kelly brought someone to the table worth listening to,” Cappiello said. “He was training out [West] with Top Rank; now he’s in South Boston.”
Said Orr “[Top Rank] was great to me, but I was the new guy with them. I was just fighting six-round fights and I’m ready for bigger challenges.”
One of the challenges Orr hopes he can face is John Duddy.
“John Duddy is a fantastic boxer and I’m really looking forward to having that chance,” Orr said. “I have nothing but respect for him and for Andy Lee, but I’d like to be known as the best boxer with shamrocks on my trunks.”
The main event on April 12 will be a featherweight bout between Dat Nguyen of Hawaii and Robert Daluz. In mid-May, Cappiello will be promoting an ESPN2 card in Boston featuring Hartford, Conn. junior featherweight Mike Oliver in an International Boxing Federation title eliminator.
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