Kansas-Oklahoma Regional Golden Gloves Finals Results and Awards Part 3 of 3

Robert Lawson, Tony Losey, Olian Alexander, and David Martinez (Photo by Thyng)

Light Heavyweight: Bo Gibbs, Jr. vs Aaron Young

Kansans may want to keep an eye out for Bo Gibbs, Jr. of Everlasting Life Boxing Club in Wetumka, Oklahoma in the light heavyweight class (178 lbs). Bo showed himself to be a solid boxer against Wichitan Aaron Young of Bad Dog Boxing.

Aaron may have showed a little too much respect for Bo in the first two couple of rounds as he timidly threw his jabs. Bo took the initiative and took control of the bout against the taller Aaron. Bo landed 8 clean shots to Aaron's 1.

The second round continued from the first as Aaron held back a lot of his punches as he was cautious against Bo's counters. Bo showed great angles and inside punches as he was able to initiate his attacks at will. Bo landed 8 clean shots and Aaron landed 2 clean shots.

Aaron started to loosen up in the third round as he showed more aggression against the experienced opponent. Bo was able to continue with his inside punches and used great movements to get in and out of range. Bo landed 9 clean shots and Aaron landed 4 clean shots.

Aaron Young is an upcoming amateur boxer who has gained a lot of experience in this bout and has shown himself to be a strong contender for years to come. He may not have been exposed to the speed and quickness of a boxer like Bo in a bout before but he was able to hang in there and put up a fight at the end.

Bo Gibbs, Jr. makes up with his speed, quickness, and strength with what he lacks in height and reach. He is able to put together the quick accurate punches favored at the national amateur level of boxing. Bo has been on a hot streak lately and he's looking to take that with him to Arkansas for the nationals. (View videos Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, and decision.)

Super Heavyweight: Jeffrey Page vs Antonio Ponce

The evening ended with a questionable call as the referee stopped the super heavyweight bout giving the win to Jeffrey Page over Antonio Ponce of Bad Boyz Boxing in Garden City.

Jeff initiated the first set of attacks that resulted in a standing 8 count for Antonio. After the count, another exchange took place in a corner of the ring with Antonio landing a clean shot on Jeff. The referee stepped in and stopped the bout leaving the fans wondering what happened.

After the event I asked for the Joel Beasley who was the referee of that particular bout. Joel was also the head official of the 2-day event who has been around amateur boxing for 50+ years. Joel said that he was looking out for the safety of the boxer and he felt that Antonio was outclassed.

The next day, Joel kindly called me to give a further explanation on his call. In amateur boxing, an open class boxer with 11 amateur bouts may be matched with a boxer with 7 times the experience. That was the situation in this case where Jeff has well over 75 bouts.

From the first exchanged punches, Joel observed that Antonio was outclassed based on his style. Joel didn't want to take the chance of the bout getting dangerous so he called it off. Joel commented that an official has complete authority to stop a bout if he feels that a boxer is completely outclassed. Take into consideration that this is the heaviest weight class along with Jeff's hand speed of a lightweight; a stoppage by knock out would result in a suspension from competition for Antonio.

Joel was gracious enough to explain his reason for stopping the bout even though his credentials and experience alone puts him in a position where he doesn't need to explain himself. Joel summed it up by quoting their coined phrase with all seriousness, "I'd rather stop 1,000 fights too soon than 1 fight too late."(View videos Round 1 and winner declared.)

Robert Lawson, Aaron Young, David Martinez (Photo/Thyng)

Unopposed

There were two unopposed events for the featherweight and heavyweight divisions.

Ralph Gramajo of Bad Boyz Boxing in Garden City will represent the region in the nationals for the featherweight class (125 lbs).

Eddie Chavez of Team Punisher in Winfield, Kansas will represent the region in the nationals for the heavyweight class (201 lbs).

Awards

The recognition for the best team of the event was a tie between the Backyard Boys of Wichita headed by Johnny Papin and Bad Boyz Boxing of Garden City, Kansas headed by Robert Gonzales. Traditionally the coaches of the best team will coach the regional team to the nationals. 

Manny Brown of the Backyard Boys in Wichita was awarded the Gary Davis Fortitude Trophy for his hard fought effort against Tony Losey. Aaron Young of Bad Dog Boxing in Wichita was awarded the Sportsmanship Trophy in his bout against Bo Gibbs, Jr. as well as the way he carries himself in his involvement with amateur boxing. Tony Losey was awarded the First Olian Alexander Boss Man Award which goes out to the Most Outstanding Boxer of the tournament.

Robert Lawson awarding Manny Brown along with David Martinez (Photo/Thyng)

Team Roster

Here is the complete roster by weight class:

Featherweight (123 lbs) Ralph Gramajo of Bad Boyz Boxing in Garden City, Kansas
Lightweight (132 lbs) Steven Garcia of Bad Boyz Boxing in Garden City, Kansas
Light Welterweight (141 lbs) Tony Losey of Northside 316 Boxing in Wichita, Kansas
Welterweight (152 lbs) Noel Esqueda of Backyard Boys in Wichita, Kansas
Middleweight (165 lbs) Jose Arreola of Team Frost in Dodge City, Kansas or Lamontee Hunt of Bad Lands in Midwest City, Oklahoma
Light Heavyweight (178 lbs) Bo Gibbs, Jr. of Everlasting Life Boxing Club in Wetumka, Oklahoma
Heavyweight (201 lbs) Eddie Chavez of Team Punisher in Winfield, Kansas
Super Heavyweight (201+ lbs) Jeffrey Page of Backyard Boys in Wichita, Kansas
Head coaches: Johnny Papin of Backyard Boyz in Wichita, Kansas and Robert Gonzales of Bad Boyz Boxing in Garden City, Kansas. 

Coaches Johnny Pappin,left, and Robert Gonzales with David Martinez

Still to come: Coverage of the event and its memorable moments will be published sometime soon. Team photo will not be released until the middleweight spot is filled.

Click herefor final results in the junior and novice division.