More than 50 amateur boxers will hit the ring Saturday night for the first fights of the 2024 Eastern Pennsylvania Golden Gloves tournament.
For the first time in decades, Lancaster’s boxers will be part of that group.
The Central Pennsylvania Golden Gloves, the longtime passion and project of coach Barry Stumpf of Finefrock & Stumpf Golden Gloves Center, has been merged with the eastern event.
Dan Mullarkey, who owns the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves franchise, said of last year’s central organizers: “The guys that had it gave it up.”
So, the 23 boxers from five of Lancaster’s gyms and programs who registered for the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves will head not to Scranton or Lebanon or to downtown Lancaster, but to Upper Darby and Mullarkey’s Must Fight Boxing Club.
They all have the same goal: Get a fight and win it.
Alaak Deu (8-5) is an open class boxer and Golden Gloves veteran who trains at Lancaster City Boxing Academy and fights at 125 pounds, one of the most stacked weights nationally. But, as of Thursday, he wasn’t scheduled to fight until the eastern championships on April 6.
With such a long gap between registration and stepping into the ring, Deu and many other of the boxers who are in his shoes could be tempted to slack. Instead, all the boxers interviewed said they were committed to training for a fight, if and when one happened.
“It’s easy to stay motivated because I want to win … dominate when I get the chance,” Deu said.
“You gotta bring it all, everything you’ve got, everything you’ve trained for over the years,” said 10-year-old Brielle Herr (1-1) of Ground Zero Boxing Club.
The young athlete fights at 100 pounds and is coming off her first win.
“It makes me happy to come here and train every day,” she said. “Like, after a hard day at school — let everything out.”
Daily training, the sheer discipline it takes to box competitively, is something the Lancaster boxers share. It sets them apart.
For instance, while the boxing program is open to all students at Bench Mark, only the “most committed” of the program’s Boxing Division boxers were registered for the Golden Gloves, said coach Wilfredo Rosario Jr.
Getting to tournament competition “defines growth,” Rosario said. “You gotta skill up.”
Bench Mark is relatively new to the boxing tournament scene. Rosario has had his coaches book for two years and registered the gym with USA Boxing in 2023. It was in part to let the kids compete.
“They wanted it,” Rosario said. “We’re gonna make it happen.”
The Golden Gloves is a USA Boxing-sanctioned event.
Training includes both hard-core physical conditioning and learning the techniques that will earn a win.
Malik Bergman (0-2) has been at Jinji’s Boxing Club, he said, “every day, grinding.”
The 203-pound novice is prepping for his first tournament. He said he feels good, especially about getting his cardio up after his last fight.
A Warwick graduate, he participated in multiple contact sports in high school, but said: “Boxing is way more fun. Probably the funnest thing I’ve ever done.
“It’s not the funnest thing gettin’ hit. That’s the point — get better, get faster.”
Trenton Dunning (6-1) is 29 and trains at Finefrock & Stumpf. Last year, he brought home the 132-pound, sub-novice, regional championship. With another year of work under his belt, he said he’s improved.
“I got a better understanding of style and how to execute it,” he said. “I’m a short guy. Gotta find a way to get inside.”
Training and experience don’t always beat down the nerves that come with waiting for a fight.
“You always get kind of nervous before you get in there,” Dunning said. “Once that bell goes, it kind of fades away.”
Bergman was more blunt.
“You can be nervous,” he said, “but as you walk up the stairs — ‘Oh crap, I’m doing this now.’ — Nerves go away.”
The span from registering to climbing into the ring is often a nerve-wracking time full of questions. Boxers get matched and someone drops out. There’s no match at the easterns, so the first qualifier is a state or regional event.
The whole time the boxers go to the gym, hit the heavy bag, hit the speed bag, work the pads, run, watch their diet and train like the fight’s tomorrow.
And they are grateful for the opportunity.
Finefrock & Stumpf’s Christian De Jesus (7-3) went open for this year’s Golden Gloves. At 16, the 119-pounder, who fought last year but didn’t go all the way, is thankful to be fighting again this year.
“I’m thankful to my coaches and family and to be able to come to the gym every day,” he said.
Ranked No. 5 in USA Boxing’s 145-pound Junior Male division, Roel Carresquillo (7-5) could talk smack.
Instead he said he’s “thankful for my gym (Ground Zero) and family, and God.”
He doesn’t exactly pray, he said, just talks to God at least once a day to say “how grateful I am.”
De Jesus sent a “shoutout to my division, wish them the best of luck.” Because without them, he pointed out, there would be no fights.
“This is what I want,” said 175-pound Emmanuel Pentz (5-0), who also trains at Finefrock & Stumpf. “Let’s get it on. That’s why we’re here.”
Saturday is the first of four qualifying events leading to the eastern championship on April 6. As of Friday evening, five boxers from Lancaster were on Saturday night’s card.
The state championship is scheduled for April 13 in Wexford.
