Strikers Boxing stands tall at 2014 Golden Gloves

Tue, Apr 1st 2014, 11:37 AM

Last weekend, two Bahamian boxers raised awareness about the level of young talent we have in the country.
Davon Hamilton, 16, and Israel Johnson, 17, along with their coach and president of Strikers Boxing Club Ronn Rodgers attended the 2014 FL Golden Gloves, which took place in West Palm Beach, Florida. The three-day event began on March 26.
After receiving a letter of approval from the Bahamas Amateur Boxing Federation President Wellington Miller, the three left for West Palm Beach on Wednesday afternoon.
"Getting ready for this event we trained two times a day. We started at five in the morning and then again at six in the evening after they get home from school," said Coach Rodgers.
"I spent my life savings building the gym that we train in, so hopefully it pays off. My whole reason for doing this is for the children and it's working, because right now we have a gym full of kids. We are doing this without funding from anywhere, this trip we paid for out of our own pockets, I'm working two jobs to keep this thing going."
The National Golden Gloves (Golden Gloves of America, Inc.) is the National Organization for Golden Gloves in the United States. The organization currently consists of 30 franchises that have designated franchise territories in which they conduct their competitions. Franchises are awarded to local organizations interested in the promotion and betterment of amateur boxing.
On Thursday, March 27, both fighters had their bouts at the same time. The fights started at 3p.m. with Hamilton competing in the heavyweight division and Johnson in the light heavyweight division.
Hamilton won his first fight by split decision, which advanced him to the finals. He showed his dominance in his last fight, by winning the finals by unanimous decision. Hamilton was awarded the 2014 Florida Golden Gloves Championship belt following the bout.
"He has a bright future, he is a young boy that just turned 16 last month and I have only been training him for about five months so he has a lot more growing to do," said Rodgers.
Johnson was the more inexperienced of the two fighters and because of that he suffered from before bout exhaustion, which hindered him from performing at his peak.
However, he put up a good fight and remained aggressive throughout. He was on the offensive throughout the fight and kept his opponent backpedaling for most of the fight. In the third round, he received a standing eight count, and was penalized by a one-point deduction. The point proved to be the deciding factor in the fight because it came down to a very close split decision.
Due to the points Johnson gained in the fight, he was awarded with a third place finish.
"The goal is to get a full team to the Olympics, right now we have a good solid crop. Right now we need four more to complete the 12-fighter roster needed to compete in the under 16 division," said Rodgers.
Strikers Boxing is set to have a busy year with several fights scheduled for later on in the year.

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