Pennsylvania's respected Golden Gloves tradition renews Saturday night in Monroeville

Twenty-six amateur boxers will meet at Pro Sports Center in Monroeville at 7 p.m. Saturday night to compete at the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves Finals, a competition that decides who will compete for a national championship in Tennessee in May.

Throughout the history of the Golden Gloves tournament, Pennsylvania has been one of the strongest states. Fighters from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and several other areas have made a name for themselves fighting on the national stage.

Last year, Beaver Falls native Kiante Irving became the first boxer in 22 years from Western Pennsylvania to win a national Golden Gloves championship as he secured the 165-pound title.

Philadelphia native Atif Oberlton captured the 178-pound title, earning his second national Golden Gloves championship in three years, as the pair led Team PA to a second-place finish.

“It’s one of the best states in the country when it comes to boxing, amateur and pro level,” Golden Gloves Western Pennsylvania matchmaker and Team Pennsylvania coach Derek Gionta said. “A lot of that is attributed overall tradition of Philadelphia boxing. The last two years, they have won a team trophy at nationals, but PA every year, I would say PA is top 5 of all the Golden Gloves fighters. It just has a long tradition of Golden Gloves fighters.”

Eastern Pennsylvania has turned in dominating performances — and with the number of great boxers who have come from Philadelphia — it was somewhat of an expectation. But the western region has definitely had some talented boxers in the past as well and in recent years the competition has somewhat evened out.

This year will be no different.

Thirteen fights will take place Saturday night at three different levels, Sub-Novice, where competitors have three of fewer career fights; Novice, where boxers have between four and nine fights; and Open, where boxers have 10 or more fights.

While the Open Division boxers will be vying for a chance to move onto the national tournament and compete for a title, this will be the last stop for the Sub-Novice and Novice boxers.

Although the Golden Gloves does not have tournaments past the state level for those two divisions, the boxers are able to gain valuable experience by competing at a well-known state level tournament.

“These guys are newer to boxing, whether they have been in the gym for a while or not,” Gionta said. “It’s great experience to fight on a stage like this and to fight someone from Western or central PA.”

The Open Division returns two state champions to represent the Western Pennsylvania team.

Jerome Baxter (141 pounds) and Teddy Mrkonja (132), both from Gold Medal Boxing, will look to defend their titles when they take on Eastern PA representatives Quadir Albright and D’Andre Hudson, respectively.

Danny Bodish (123), representing Stay off the Streets, is looking to take advantage of his third appearance at the state tournament and advance to the national tournament.

“This is his third year in the tournament and the last two years, he has been in two very competitive fights,” Gionta said. “He came up just a hair short, but I think this is a good year for him to kind of break through.”

Maria Antunez from Erie Boxing Academy is also a name from the Western Pennsylvania team to keep an eye on. She was a runner-up at the national tournament in 2017 and will be taking on Jacklyn McTamney from Bozy’s Gym.