The saying goes lightning doesn’t strike twice, but somehow the magic created in last night’s New York Daily News Golden Gloves Finals’ action was matched and then surpassed tonight at the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.
His first year in the tournament, the impressive 17-year-old Ismael Villarreal (John’s Gym) has been hacking his opponents in half with body-splitting blows that no man should have to suffer. He has punched for ten weeks with bad intentions and tonight against challenger Joel Padilla (D’Awesome BC) Villarreal delivered six minutes of telephone booth style thrashing. Padilla, sadly, had to bear the brunt of his Villarreal’s brutal excellence.
“I have been boxing 8 years. Fighting amateur five years. I was confident this tournament. I have more power than the other novices and since I’ve been boxing 8 years, I’m a little different than the other amateurs.”
Villarreal explains that next year he goes open and that will be his last year in the amateurs. He is determined to turn pro soon after.
That leads me to another fighter who many feel should have left the amateur ranks a long time ago: the incomparable, the unconquerable, and the often unbelievable Christina Cruz—a fighter so feared that legend has it when fighters learn she is in their weight class, they leave the Daily News offices before ever signing up for the tournament. At 32-years of age, the Hells Kitchen native won her ninth Golden Gloves tonight in impressive fashion, salsa’ing all around her opponent, shifting her body weight on angles to gain leverage to the body and then explode upstairs in an ever-changing flow of punishment.
Not to take anything away from her opponent Misato Kamegawa (Atlas Cops N Kids) who hung in there and touched Cruz from time to time, but she could do only so much against Cruz.
Possibly the most anticipated fight of the night came at 132 lb-open class. Banger James Wilkins (Atlas Cops N Kids) and slick and technical Titus Williams (Freeport PAL) faced off.
Both fighters won gold in 2013: Wilkins at 123-novice and Williams at 132-lb open, the division he still fights in.
Man, did these two young men display what it means to be champions, giving everything to the fans by leaving everything in that ring. The Staten Island native Wilking ripped right hands and hooks into the head guard of Williams all fight long, while the matador and slick ring general Williams exchanged when Wilkins forced the action but also took center of the ring to rip combos with blazing hand speed that Wilkins couldn’t account for.
The second round Wilkins took control with effective aggressiveness and even into the third round, he made sure Williams felt his power, which was considerable and constant. But the thing that usually decides such a close fight is how a fighter closes the show in the final ten seconds, and tonight it looked like Williams, in addition to his combos, his jab, and his counterpunching, stepped on the gas a little more than Wilkins to finish the round and the fight.
“Back on top, baby. He came to fight. But I won the battle and I knew this was gonna be a war. He felt stronger—not stronger than me—but he felt stronger than before and whenever I sparred him, so I knew he put his work in training camp. I put in work too. I feel like I’m back on top. And I feel blessed, man. The judges didn’t rob me. They saw it the same way we saw it. I just feel good. My family is here, my friends. It feels amazing, man. I feel really back on top!
“I lost last year—first round—and now I’m back in my spot. I told you I’m the best 132. As long as I stay amateur, I’ll be the best 132. I’ll make sure of it.”
But in the very next moment, Williams tells me he’s gone for the pros. He’s 25-years- old, not getting younger, he admits, and it’s time to get the money that the pro game offers to provide for his family.
Closing the show to win his fourth Golden Gloves title was Olympic hopeful Brian Ceballo (NYAC), a stable mate and sparring partner of this year’s champ at 165lb-open Chordale Booker. Tonight the 21-year-old Ceballo fought a game Gledwin Ortiz (Worldwide BC).
It really wasn’t till the 3rd round that Ceballo showed the crowd just how good he is.
His trainer Robert Pagan explained: “By the third round, I was little upset with him because he was head hunting. So I lit a fire under him. I started to yell at him and get real serious. Like, ‘You’re gonna have a problem with me after this fight.’ So I told him you had to go to the body and the head. And that was the game plan—that was the pattern he needed to follow to win the fight.”
Ceballo heeded his coach’s instruction to a T. And let all of Brooklyn know how special young fighters like him can be.
– Ryan Agius / @RyanJAgius
Leave a Reply