Main Street Gym Golden Gloves

Pictured from left to right are, Thomas Mottinger, Russell Griffith, Jordan Brown, Gavin Brown, Brendan Narranjo,, Markese Hines, James (Matt) McMurdo, and Corey Moore

Golden Gloves Tournament Starts

Across the country and in cities like New York, Dallas, Cincinnati and many more, the oldest, most popular boxing tournament in the history of the sport has begun, the 2017 Golden Gloves.

Started back in 1923, the Golden Gloves began when a sports editor of the Chicago Tribune wanted to have a citywide tournament to find the best amateur boxers in the city. In 1927 Chicago challenged New York City in a competition and soon cities across the nation were holding Golden Glove Tournaments.

Eventually it got more organized and boundaries were drawn to hold city championships, regional championships and finally the National Golden Gloves Championships.

The names of Golden Glove Champions are a list of the who’s who of boxing, including, Joe Louis ,Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Thomas Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Marvin Hagler and many more.

The Washington D.C. Golden Gloves got under way last week at the Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD., and will have bouts each Saturday evening until the Championships.
This year, Main St Gym of Salisbury has eight boxers entered in the event. There are three basic divisions. They are junior, novices, and open class. Only Novices and Open Class advance to the Regional Championships and only Open Class are qualified to advance to the National Championships. 

Last Saturday, two of Main St. Gym’s boxers were entered. Brendan Naranjo walked away with the 2017 132lb Junior Championship, and in Novice Division, Markese Hines got a solid win to advance in this week's competition.

Competing this Saturday, February 25, will be the brothers, Jordan and Gavin Brown of Delmar, and Russell Griffith of Salisbury. Waiting for their division to start are Salisbury’s Corey Moore in the 152lb Open division, James Mathew McMurdo, a Prince St School teacher, and super heavyweight in the Novice division and Thomas Mottinger, who who last year’s Regional Novice Golden Glove , is fighting this year in the open class heavyweight division.