Plum trio set to represent Boyce Gym in Golden Gloves bouts

Salvatore “Dom” Sheffo started sparring with his uncle a little over a year ago.

“We would hit pads for fun,” said Sheffo, 17, a senior at Plum High School.

The former Mustangs wrestler took the relaxed sparring sessions and turned it up a notch in August as he began training for a future in boxing with Penn Hills native and youth-boxer-turned-trainer Ryan Flora.

“I’ve loved watching MMA, and I really enjoyed watching the Creed movies, and my dad was a big fan of Rocky,” Sheffo said. “Boxing has been around.”

Now, six months later, he’s ready to step in the ring for the first time. He and seven other fighters from Boyce Gym, including fellow Plum students Anthony Carlisano and Johnny Trujillo, will kick off the Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves boxing season Saturday as part of an eight-bout card at Gloria’s Gym in Monroeville Mall. Doors open at 5 p.m., and bouts start at 6.

“Ryan has really been putting me through it,” said Sheffo, who will fight in the 128-pound sub novice division. “He’s a great teacher and a great coach. Since he is early in his coaching, we have really grown together. I feel I am ready to go Saturday. I am excited.”

Saturday’s bouts in Monroeville are a part of a wider-ranging Golden Gloves season in the Western Pennsylvania District through the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League leading up to the western finals April 9 at Pro Sports Center on MacBeth Drive in Monroeville.

Additional Golden Gloves cards over the next several weeks will be at the Millvale Community Center (March 5), DuBois Country Club (March 19), Wolfpack Boxing Club in Carnegie (March 26) and Northway Christian Community Church in Wexford (April 2).

Division brackets contain up to six fighters. A few of them have just two fighters who will advance directly to the April 9 finals.

In all, nine fighters from Boyce will fight in the 2022 Golden Gloves.

“I have really gotten to know a lot of the fighters here, and we really support each other through our training,” Sheffo said. “It’s really cool that we are all going to be competing in this tournament.”

Three fighters from Ray Schafer Boxing in Sharpsburg, under the training eye of former Boyce boxer Jose Caraballo, will have Golden Gloves bouts on the March 5 card in Millvale.

Carlisano, 17, will be in the 147-pound sub novice division. He has one fight under his belt, a victory just last month in an exhibition at the Omni William Penn in Pittsburgh.

“I won that one, and I am looking to compete more and more,” said Carlisano, a senior at Plum who trains at Boyce four or five days a week. “Being a part of Golden Gloves is a great opportunity, just competing in front of all those people and seeing how far I can go. I get to do what I love. I love competing. Win or lose, it keeps me motivated. But I hope to do a lot of winning.”

The youngest of the trio of Plum students has the most fight experience.

Trujillo, 14, will fight Saturday for the fifth time since making his debut last June in West Virginia, just six months after starting his training at Boyce. He will fight in the 106-pound intermediate division.

The eighth grader is 1-3 with the victory coming in his first fight. He is looking forward to getting back in the win column.

“I hope to trust my experience from my other fights,” said Trujillo concerning Saturday’s fight. “The first time, I was pretty nervous, but I knew what to expect the next time, and it got better.”

This year marks the 99th year of Golden Gloves boxing since the first tournaments were organized by Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward in 1923.

Ward’s initial concept for a Chicago citywide event expanded to every state hosting tournaments, culminating in the national tournament.

For Pennsylvania, the state finals (novice and open classes) are set for April 30 in Philadelphia.

Nationals for fighters who compete in the Open division is Aug. 15-20 in Tulsa, Okla.

Flora, like many of the other trainers getting fighters ready for Golden Gloves bouts, is excited to see what will come out of the next several weeks of competition.

He saw the Golden Gloves from the competitive side, and, he said, he loves to give back and pass along his knowledge.

“I get satisfaction out of it because I come in here (Boyce Gym) and look to give 100% every time, and they want to reciprocate that effort,” Flora said. “And that’s the only way it works. I am fortunate that I have three young men who work hard every time they are in the gym. They don’t complain, and they do everything I ask.”

For ticket information for Saturday’s show at the Monroeville Mall, call 412-576-9285.

Visit WPAL.org for information on the other Western Pennsylvania District Golden Gloves cards.