Tag: Amateur Boxing

Flash From the Past: Tommy Ocera the Cherry Point’s Two-Fisted Dynamite Boxer!

Tommy Ocera, Cherry Point’s 135 pound two-fisted dynamite boxer, was a stand-out amateur boxer in the past, and who also served as a Marine, with the 2nd Marine Air Division wing at Cherry Point, in North Carolina.  Ocera’s amateur boxing record over a three-year span shows an impressive 20 wins, three losses, with two of those fights ending by split decisions. Tommy was very proud of serving with the Marines and had often reflected back to his time spent in Cherry Point.  He spoke with great honor and pride, just as he did whenever he spoke about his years when boxing in the amateurs. One of his many proud relatives Ken Theissen, told us, “When Tommy took my brothers and me into his small boxing gym in the basement of his catering hall,  he would tell us of the great life’s Read more [...]

2018 Eastern Elite Qualifier & Regional Open Championships has Largest Turnout in USA Boxing History

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Oct. 8, 2018) -- The 2018 Eastern Elite Qualifier & Regional Open Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. will begin tonight with the largest turnout in USA Boxing national tournament history. After check-in and general weigh-in, a total of 834 boxers and 550 boxers will take part in the weeklong national tournament at the Chattanooga Convention Center. "We have seen our national tournaments continually grow each event," stated USA Boxing Executive Director Mike McAtee. "Since 2017, USA Boxing has been providing extra opportunities with our regional qualifying tournaments for all boxers, aged 8-40, to step onto the national stage and box the best in the nation." This marks the second year the Eastern Elite Qualifier & Regional Open has been held in Chattanooga, Read more [...]

USA vs. Germany Duels to take place in Chattanooga alongside Eastern Qualifier

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (September 17, 2018) -- Two of the world's top amateur boxing powerhouses will meet in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for two separate duels taking place Saturday, October 6 and Friday, Oct. 12, at the Chattanooga Convention Center.  The duels will feature some of the top male and female elite boxers from both the United States and Germany, as they prepare for the lead up to the Olympics in 2020. The two events will take place alongside this year's Eastern Elite Qualifier & Regional Open Championships, which is expected to have more than 650 boxers, aged 8-40, compete from Oct. 8-13. "We are excited to host the German Federation, as they have hosted us numerous times for training camps over the past two years," said USA Boxing High Performance Director Matt Johnson. Read more [...]

Shakur Stevenson’s Olympic Finale Destined to Add Another Chapter to the Storied USA – Cuba Olympic Boxing Rivalry – by Julie Goldsticker/USA Boxing

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (AUGUST 19, 2016) -  It has been 20 years since the United States and Cuba have met in a boxing gold medal bout at the Olympic Games. Yet, another chapter will be added to the long history of epic match-ups between the top two medal producers in Olympic boxing on Saturday. Junior and Youth World Champion and Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.) and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba will meet at Riocentro Pavilion 6 in Rio de Janeiro for the greatest prize in Olympic boxing. One of the most highly anticipated match-ups of the 2016 Olympic Games, the bantamweight finale features two highly skilled, intelligent boxers battling it out for Olympic gold. Stevenson had not even been born the last time an American boxer faced Read more [...]

Team USA Goes Undefeated on Day Two fo the Americas Olympics Qualifier

Julie Goldsticker report:  BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (MARCH 13, 2016) - Bantamweight Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.), middleweight Charles Conwell (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) and heavyweight Cam F. Awesome (Lenexa, Kansas) all scored definitive preliminary round victories on Sunday at the Americas Olympic Qualifier in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The wins advance all three to the quarterfinal round in the Olympic qualifying event at the Ferial la Rural de Palermo.   Fresh off being named AIBA January/February Boxer of the Month, Stevenson stepped in to the ring for his first bout of the Americas Olympic Qualifier. The first U.S. boxer to compete in Sunday's action, Stevenson faced off with Colombia's Luis David Vargas in a bantamweight preliminary bout. The 18-year-old started quickly in the match, Read more [...]

“Yeah, I Was in the Gloves” By Bernie McCoy

Even after all these years, the thing that I remember most vividly about that night was the boxing robe. It wasn't the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, but it was in the top ten. It was an almost black-red color, the color that cherries have when they're displayed on a fruit stand. On the back of the robe, in white script, was the legend "Salem Crescent". Those two words were enough for anyone who knew anything about Golden Gloves boxing in New York I was in the corner of a boxing ring in the gym at St Thomas Aquinas School, almost at the end of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. It was the first round of the Golden Gloves a long time ago. It was a time before headgear, it was a time before two minute rounds for first time boxers or as they were known in the Gloves, sub-novice fighters. If Read more [...]