It’s Monday night; it is still cold outside, the second day of March. We’re inside St. Finbar’s Church auditorium in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn for another night of New York Daily News Golden Gloves action.
In a division that is proving to be the roughest around, the gentlemen of the 141-open class bring a lot of hype into the ring and more often than not deliver on that promise.
No one does it better than the cool and collected Michael Hughes (John’s Gym).
But tonight the only danger Hughes will face is front of him: the hard-hitting and relentless Erick Rosales (K2 BC). Rosales made it to the Gloves’s semifinals last year at 141-open, only to lose to teammate, Waris Aminy. Despite a formidable appointment, Hughes is so relaxed in that ring that he may have flat-lined a few times. Yet he is picking his man off with astonishing regularity and accuracy. Rosales is getting Hughes’s check hook all night and being picked off despite constant pressure.
“I knew who he was. I sparred in the same gym as him and I’ve seen him work. So I knew he was gonna come with a lot of pressure and try to hurt me with power. So that’s why I was trying to stick and move a bit. At the same time I knew I didn’t stick and move to the best of my ability. I know I can do a lot better. Next time I’m gonna try to be a little more elusive or a little more aggressive, depending on the fighter.”
Now that he’s gotten past a tough opponent, I ask Michael Hughes if he’s thinking about who’s next in his division.
“The top four left—everyone’s a beast. I’m not even looking to the Barclay’s Center right now. If you look too far ahead you might miss what’s right in front of you. My next fight is the semis, and that can be my next and last.”
Another impressive 141-open class fighter tonight is a young man who goes by the name of Africa, although his name on the bout sheet is Richardson Hitchins.
Africa makes his Golden Gloves debut this year but don’t let his tender age of 17 steer you wrong. This is a young man who already has 4 national championships to his name and over 80 amateur fights.
As I’m leaving the auditorium his trainer asks me, “So whattya think of Africa?”
“I think he’s great…terrific counter puncher, real sharp,” I say.
“Wait till he grows into his body,” he says, “He’s young still,” and smiles like he has a delicious secret that he really still didn’t tell.
After his sure victory over Elvorn Thompson (Ardon Sweet Science), the young man who fights out of Atlas Cops N Kids had this to say about his division:
“I ain’t paying none of the other fighters any mind because I know they aren’t on my level. But I’m not gonna underestimate anybody. I’m gonna prepare for all four fighters left. I’m gonna treat them like they are the best at the Nationals—not like they are just New York fighters, but fighters that are the best in the country.”
And a fighter who knows all about the Nationals and what it takes to win the Golden Gloves is Hitchins’s teammate at Atlas Cops N Kids, Christian Bermudez.
In Bermudez’s fight against Hughes’s teammate at John’s Gym, Dashawn Johns, Bermudez was clearly not the explosive, bouncing fighter that can take your head off at any moment.
“I rate my performance a C-. I was sluggish. I couldn’t move the way I wanted to.”
Bermudez complained of stiffness in his legs and said if he fought Johns fresh, “It wouldn’t have been as close as it was today. I have too much experience, and I would have straight out-boxed him.”
One thing’s for sure, for the next round of 141-open, every fighter better be at his best.
– Ryan Agius / @RyanJAgius
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