On April 25, five remarkable athletes and coaches will become the first members of Orillia’s Sports Hall of Fame – including Walter Henry.

Henry’s boxing career began more than 70 years ago. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Ireland, Henry’s family moved to Orillia when he was a young man.

“I remember the train coming into Orillia and I thought uh-oh. It looked so small compared to Belfast and some of the bigger cities I’d lived in and I said I’m not going to be staying here.”

That was 57 years ago and now he has a trophy case filled with gold, silver and bronze in an Orillia basement.

Nobody could have predicted all these titles back when Henry first stepped into the ring.

“I lost my first three fights so the first win was in my fourth fight and it was a first round stoppage. I cut the guy’s eye. When I got back to the club everyone was congratulating me, I liked being a winner.”

In more than 400 career fights, Henry lost just 18 times.

Henry is one of the most decorated champions in boxing history – a former British Commonwealth Champion, Golden Gloves winner and decade-long flyweight titleholder in Canada.

He’s rubbed shoulders with U.S. Presidents, civil rights leaders, Olympians and the man he calls the greatest boxer of all time – Muhammad Ali.

In 1964, Henry made history becoming the first Orillian ever to compete at the Olympics. He did it again in 1968.

Before that, the scrappy Irishman brought home bronze from the Pan Am Games in 1967, it was Canada’s first boxing medal in history.