Wyatt Sanford, 25, is a Canadian amateur boxer who competes in the 63.5 kg weight category (welterweight). At the 2023 Pan American Games, Sanford earned gold in the 63.5kg weight class, making him the current Pan American Games champion. He’s also qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Wyatt Sanford Qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics
Wyatt Sanford has secured his place as a participant for Canada at the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. He achieved this by winning his semi-final bout at the Pan American Games, where he won on the judges’ scorecards. The joy and excitement surrounding this accomplishment were Sanford received on Facebook posts made on the Sanford Boys Boxing and Boxing Canada pages.
In the 63.5-kilogram weight division, Sanford earned a total of 5 match points after all the judges collectively agreed that he outperformed his Brazilian opponent, Yuri Falcao dos Reis, in the second and third rounds. However, four out of the five judges scored the first round in favor of dos Reis.
Sanford is thrilled to be representing his hometown of Kennetcook at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“I’m coming home to Kennetcook (Nova Scotia). I will have that ticket, and I will have that medal, and I will be coming down to the little local coffee shop.” He further added, “It’s me in the ring, but it’s for the whole community. Without my hometown, I wouldn’t be where I’m at, and I always fight with them on my side.”
In an article by Caela Fenton on Olympic.ca, he stated.
Wyatt Sanford’s Date of Birth, Family, and Early Life
Wyatt Sanford, also known as “Sandman,” was born on November 3, 1998, in Kennetcook, Nova Scotia. He currently lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His height is 173 centimeters (5 feet 8 inches), and he weighs 63.5 kilograms (140 pounds). Sanford is a part of the INS Québec (National Training Centre) club.
Sanford completed his high school education a year earlier than most students and has started pursuing a double major in Criminology and Psychology at St. Mary’s University. In his early days, he aspired to become a police officer after his boxing career. Sanford enjoys staying physically active, engaging in fishing or other outdoor activities with his brother Odds.
Wyatt Sanford is a Happily Married Man
Wyatt Sanford is married to Pamela Ware, a Canadian Olympic diver. They became engaged on August 22, 2023. Pamela Ware was born on February 12, 1993, in Greenfield Park, Quebec. She is from Montreal, Quebec. Her height is 1.61 meters (5 feet 3 inches), and she weighs 52 kilograms (115 pounds). Her coach was Aaron Dziver.
Pamela Ware and her older sister, Carol Ann, who was a former national team member, were introduced to diving at a public pool by their father, Patrick. When they were children, after performing front and back flips off the diving board, they were given the contact information for a diving club in Brossard, Quebec.
Apart from diving, Ware loves to cook and plans to attend cooking school after retiring from competitive diving. Pamela Ware made her debut at the World Aquatics Championships in 2013, winning bronze medals in both the individual and synchronized 3-meter springboard events.
In her first Olympic debut at Rio 2016, Ware finished seventh in the individual 3-meter event and narrowly missed the podium in the 3-meter synchronized event, placing fourth with Jennifer Abel. Ware also competed in the 2020 Olympics. In the 3-meter springboard event, she aborted her dive and landed feet first, earning a score of zero and eliminating her from the finals. She stated that she avoided injury by aborting the dive after being out of rhythm.
In 2023, she won a silver medal in the 3-meter springboard and a bronze medal in the 3-meter synchronized event at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup in Montreal.
Wyatt Sanford Started his Career at an early age
Sanford’s passion for boxing began when he was 11 years old, with his best friend to a boxing club. Since then, he has been deeply devoted to the sport.
In 2012, He was named the Canadian Youth National Champion, a title he held for four consecutive years from 2012 to 2015. This early success paved the way for his future achievements in the sport.
In 2015, he won the “King of the Ring” competition, securing a gold medal. This accomplishment marked an important milestone in his amateur boxing career and showed his potential as an up-and-coming talent in the sport.
In 2017, He moved from Nova Scotia to Montreal to join the national high-performance training group. That year, he achieved several tournament victories, winning the Ringside World Championship and Haringey Cup.
In 2018, he won his first senior national title in the 64kg weight class and was victorious in dual matches against Poland and Puerto Rico.
In 2019, Sanford competed in his first AIBA World Championships, making it to the round of 16 before losing to the eventual World Champion Andrey Zamkovoy of Russia. He also won the 69kg weight class at the Canadian Olympic Qualifier.
Wyatt Recent years and Olympics
In 2020, during his first Olympic appearance in Tokyo, Sanford was eliminated in the Round of 32.
In June 2021, Sanford was selected to be part of Canada’s 2020 Olympic team. He qualified as the highest-ranked boxer from the Americas region who had not yet secured a spot.
In 2022, at the Pan American Championships held in Ecuador, Sanford competed in a lower weight category of 63.5 kg, where he won a bronze medal. In May 2022, Sanford was named to Canada’s team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and he won a bronze medal at that event.
In 2023, Sanford won the gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago by unanimous decision from the judges. After his victory, he noted that he needed to win a gold medal to keep up with his wife, Pamela Ware, who won two medals at those games.
“Getting the gold medal is a huge accomplishment; super happy. I needed at least one to keep up. Super proud of her; she did amazing. Just overall great performance from both of us at the Pan Am Games.”
He said of the couples’ medals.