Amateur hour

Portland Boxing Club gears up for their annual tournament

By Bob Margolis

First fight each night is at 7p.m. Tickets are $10.00 each.

TOURNEY TIME: here, Jason Lehoullier readies to throw a punch in a match earlier this year.

If you take away greed, profit motive, corruption and the well documented cast of unsavory characters out of the pro fight game, what do you get? Try the surprisingly safe and pure sport of amateur boxing. Take a dose of fencing, a dab of dance, sprinkle in superb conditioning and mix those elements into what is undeniably a fight, and you’ve got a highly skilled and entertaining sport. See for yourself by making the trip out to the Portland Boxing Club (33 Allen Avenue) over three of the next four Saturdays (October 6, 13, and 27), where the Northeastern Regional Championships take place.

For this annual tournament, which has its finals on the last night, Portland Boxing Club (PBC) coach and promoter Bobby Russo has invited top amateur fighters from six states to compete: New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, parts of New York, and Eastern Canada (okay, not a state, but it might as well be). All the fighters involved are registered under the auspices of USA Boxing, and are between 16 and 35 years of age. Some think of the Olympics, some have plans to turn pro. But the real attraction here is those that give up a huge chunk of their time to put in an average of three hours a day, six days a week in places like Russo’s gym.

The alphabet soup of organizing bodies in professional boxing prohibits a unified body to govern a sport badly in need of regulation. In direct contrast, USA Boxing is the organization that oversees all sanctioned amateur tournaments held throughout the country. The organization is the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, and is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA).

A former sparring partner to the pros, and longtime celebrated coach and trainer, Russo spoke of the lure of the amateur ranks. “There is no money in it, so it’s pure and clean, since nobody gets paid.”

Russo’s gym is not a moneymaker either. The PBC is a 501-3 nonprofit organization. In the past, the club has been quite active in a number of local charities, including a $5000 donation to the Ben Ellis Family Fund — in honor of the recently passed PBC teammate.

Amateur boxing is chock full of regulations that decrease the probability of injury and increase the role of strategy. Yes, expect to see a smattering of blood, super-fine ring-card girls and some smoke from Havana’s finest, but also look for referees to be pro-active in stopping fights. Protective headgear is mandatory for all fighters, gloves designed to absorb impact are used, and amateurs box a maximum of four rounds in a fight. Knockouts do occur, but, in principle, winners are chosen based on points scored by a blow that lands. Theoretically, a punch that lands is counted the same whether it knocks its target down or not. Thus, don’t be surprised if the fighter you think was beating the tar out of his foe actually winds up on the losing end.

What’s the roughest blind date you ever had? For amateur fighters, like 25 year-old Anthony Reed, the current Golden Glove champion and New England champion in the heavyweight division (178-201 lbs.), the stomach-churning associated with that socially terrifying rite of passage is precisely how some feel when entering a tournament.

“Not knowing who you are going to fight on a given night really is like a blind date,” says Reed, “you don’t know what you’re gonna get . . .”

Match-ups, except in the case of women boxers (where the pool of fighters is much smaller), are made up by a random draw. Thus, fighters and trainers are able to avoid unfavorable opponents only by luck. Russo added: “The draw is a USA Boxing rule. As both the promoter (and tourney organizer) and the coach, I could be in a position to do something . . . well . . . not right.”

Many from the PBC team, including Reed, are scheduled to fight. High school students Nick Lavigne and Phil Chason are on the card, as is light heavyweight (166-178 lbs.) Lee Lamour. As October 6 comes close, sparring in the gym picks up intensity, and focus on the competition sharpens. Because of possible match-ups, a feeling of revenge and redemption can be felt when visiting the Allen Avenue club. Featherweight (119-125 lbs.) Golden Glove champ Liz Leddy is one boxer who knows who her opponent is going to be. In fact, Leddy, who has seven wins, suffered one of her two defeats at the hands of Jen Addear, from Massachusetts. The two are set to meet in a re-match. The 20 year-old Leddy, who, despite working two jobs, is a fixture at the gym, says there will be no surprises when they meet. “Our fighting styles are pretty similar. We both move forward and are pretty aggressive.”

A visit to the fights may even prompt one to wander into the gym, and decide to learn to box (Please call first at (207) 761-0975). Despite the intimidation of being populated by individuals who voluntarily get into controlled battles, there is a sense of respect and support that permeates the environment. Since boxing is so raw and immune to excuses from its participants, an unspoken code of helpfulness exists among those working hard to learn the secrets of the “sweet science.” But be warned this is no boxercise class. As PBC coach Skip Neales put it, “This is a down to earth gym. You’re gonna sweat.”

Tanya Whiton can be reached at twhiton@prexar.com.