Bucket lists vary from person to person.
While one person may have exotic travels on their to-do list, another could want to feel the exhilaration of sky diving, or something like that.
For Tyler Chambers, it was boxing.
“It was just a bucket list thing to be honest,” explained the 33-year-old father of two young girls.
“I always loved competition and in my opinion, that is one of the highest levels of competition, going mano a mano.”
Of course, fighting is nothing new for the 33-year-old who grew up and still lives in Langley.
Chambers played junior B hockey with the Abbotsford Pilots, junior A with the Chilliwack Chiefs and then major junior with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He did play one game with the WHL and the Vancouver Giants.
“I would keep guys honest,” Chambers said with a chuckle.
In 36 career major junior games, the six-foot-two, 230-pounder managed to fit in 21 majors on his fight card.
A fight is a fight, but a hockey fight is much different than a boxing bout.
“Boxing is way more strategy, way more to think about,” Chambers explained. “And definitely way more conditioning and planning. (In boxing) you are preparing for a fight whereas in hockey, a fight can just happen.”
It is also different chucking knuckles while on the ice compared to on stable ground in the ring.
But Chambers isn’t doing this to make money or advance his career.
He already has a couple of jobs, one of which is as co-owner of Impact Hockey Development, where he serves as the head off-ice instructor. He also teaches inline skating at local hockey schools and works with the Yale Hockey Academy.
With Impact Hockey, he is the head off-ice instructor.
Chambers trains as much as he can, under the tutelage of Port Kells Boxing Club coaches Al Harper and Chris McGill. And his corner-man, Ralph Robson, used to train his dad, Leon, back when the elder Chambers boxed.
Juggling work, family and training can be demanding, with Chambers admitting he has even lied to his wife on occasion in order to get to the gym.
“At least I am not in the bar, I always tell her,” he said with a laugh, adding that he was grateful for such a great support system.
Chambers fights to no-decision
Chambers was back in the ring on Sunday (May 28) as part of the Jim Gallagher Memorial Amateur Boxing Show at the Cloverdale Legion Auditorium.
Chambers was scheduled to be the feature bout but his opponent was in a car accident prior to the bout. A last-second replacement fight was found with Chambers going up against Sumas Boxing Club’s Thomas Kippes in an exhibition match.
The pair delivered a spirited bout with neither boxing backing down. In the end, the judges ruled the fight a no-decision.