There’s no do-overs in boxing. No instant replays. Even rematches, the very best of them, rarely capture the fire of the initial bout. Tonight in St. Patrick’s School auditorium in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with the Verrazano Bridge a twinkling arc away, is no different. Winners go to Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn on April 1st and 2nd; the losers go home without any gold, or for that matter, silver around their necks.
Yet the New York Daily News Golden Gloves tournament has always been about survival of the fittest—about making young men and women into champions.
And there seems no gym that produces more of them this tournament season than Atlas Cops N Kids, under the tutelage of star trainer, Sosa. Two of the most explosive bouts of the evening starred two of his fighters.
The first bout had heavyweight open contender Nkosi Solomon going to work against Stephen Kimon (Gym X). Looking strikingly like reigning world heavyweight WBC champ Deontay Wilder and possessing much of the height of “The Bronze Bomber,” Solomon also showed some of the champ’s strength, eight counting Kimon late in the bout after a steady assault of headshots that both young men traded. Ultimately Solomon’s hand was raised, and deservedly so, for outworking his man.
Mr. Solomon says that after trying sports like volleyball, basketball, and wrestling, he finally came to boxing after seeing Golden Gloves champ Chris “B-hop” Colbert one day come to Sheepshead Bay High School with boxing gloves. One thing led to another, and Solomon soon followed Colbert into the Flatbush gym, now a stable of great young fighters. In 2013, Solomon won the Gloves as a 201-novice but lost in the semis last year his first time at 201-open. This year he is looking to fight that loss.
“I didn’t use my height as much as I could. But for my performance, I had a lot of heart—I gave it my all—I did my best.
“I go in there with a headstrong spirit. I always feel like I got the fight in the bag. I didn’t expect to go out there to get an eight count or doing anything spectacular. I just went out there to work, to do my best, just like my coach told me to do.”
Solomon’s teammate at Atlas Cops N Kids Richardson “Africa” Hitchins did his best as well as he closed the show tonight in the most devastating and impressive fashion against Cesar Francis (Fight Factory BC). Not to take anything away from the young man at the other end of Hitchins’ hands tonight—after all he made it to the semifinals of the New York Daily News Golden Gloves—but tonight he was thoroughly outclassed, a testament to “Africa” ’s remarkable skills. At some points in the fight it didn’t seem fair that Francis even be in the ring with the 17-year-old from Atlas Cops N Kids, as Hitchins unleashed blow after blow of effective aggression directly into Francis’s face.
“I kept thinking, ‘I am the greatest,’ so I can’t lose to someone like that. So I went in there and did my thing.”
When I ask him if this is the best we will see of “Africa,” he says come the finals at the Barclay’s against Michael Hughes who beat Christian Bermudez (Atlas Cops N Kids) tonight that he may not look pretty because according to him, Hughes is an ugly fighter, but he will do whatever it takes to win.
As far as Hughes (John’s Gym), he was effective tonight in keeping bruising and always dangerous Christian Bermudez (Atlas Cops N Kids) away from him. Bermudez did get in some shots, however, especially in the second round, but Hughes solved him much before the final bell.
“I thought I out-boxed him. By the second or third round, just swept him. He was trying to keep me close but he didn’t know how to get to me to keep me close. And when he got me close, I’m comfortable fighting inside or outside. I kinda have awkward, springy movement because I used to do Taekwondo since I was a little kid. I naturally hop, so when he would get close, I hopped in and out. I had him confused.”
One thing that’s not confusing—the folks from Atlas Cops N Kids mean business. But then again, so does Michael Hughes.
– Ryan Agius / @RyanJAgius
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