Monroe
Fighters to Rejoin Detroit Golden Gloves For nearly fifty years the boxing clubs in Monroe County have crossed state borders to fight in the Toledo (Ohio) Golden Gloves but that changes next year, Sportssummary has learned. Boxers from Joe’s Boxing Club and the Arthur Lesow Community Center (ALCC), both located in the city of Monroe in the southeast corner of the state, will travel north instead of south to compete in the Metropolitan Detroit Golden Gloves starting with the 2010 tournament. It is believed that the Detroit franchise allowed fighters from the Monroe clubs to compete in Toledo instead of Detroit because of Monroe's proximity to the Ohio city and because of the large number of fighters that Detroit had in the 50s and 60s the few Monroe fighters were not as needed. That has changed today. Dr. William Barr, President of the Detroit area franchise of the Golden Gloves, confirmed that the two clubs’ fighters will once again compete in-state. He intends, he said, to send letters informing the effected parties after next months national tournament in Salt Lake City. Boxers from the two clubs located in the Monroe area have fought in Toledo instead of Detroit franchise Golden Gloves competition for half a decade on what has been essentially a gentleman’s agreement according to coaches and officials Sportssummary spoke with and not because of any official action by the national franchise. What that means, according to Golden Gloves V.P. Dave Packer, is that Monroe fighters are still part of the Metro Detroit franchise and must compete within the franchise unless permission is given otherwise by Barr. Any dispute between the two franchises would have to be addressed by the national body's Territorial Committee. Joe’s Boxing Coach Todd Riggs told Sportssummary last week that he had received unofficial word of the change earlier this month, from Metro Detroit Golden Gloves tournament director Rene Muniz. Riggs said he also heard from Toledo Golden Gloves’ Sandy Campbell who reportedly said that Joe’s Boxing fighters would continue to compete in Toledo. As for Riggs, he doesn’t care one way or the other. “We’ll fight anywhere,” Riggs said. Repeated
calls to Sandy Campbell for comment went unreturned. |