The 2012 Lowell Golden Gloves

The Historic Lowell Memorial Auditorium

Lowell, MA -  Images & Words by Jeffrey Freeman

Rejoice fight fans, the 66th annual Lowell Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament kicks off tonight at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, the very same building in Lowell, MA where boxing greats like Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and Mike Tyson all fought as young amateurs.

Micky Ward, Dickie Eklund, and the rest of Lowell's Finest all fought there. It's where Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach fought his last professional fight in 1986, losing a ten round decision to David Rivello. The great tradition of boxing in the Mill City continues and KO Digest will be there to cover it.

New England Golden Gloves Director Bobby Russo told KO Digest that applications this year to fight in the Lowell Golden Gloves were numerous and that he hopes to offer at least ten preliminary bouts on the tournament's opening night. According to the website www.usaboxingnewengland.org, there are 19 opening round fights scheduled for opening night but Russo expressed concerns that weather and human variables could bring that number down considerably by the opening bell at 7:30pm.

No bad seat in the house at the Lowell Golden Gloves!

Sponsored by the Lowell Sun Charities, the Lowell Golden Gloves tournament runs through January and into February. After countless punches have been thrown in the name of sport and charity, the Lowell Golden Gloves concludes on February 22nd with the New England Open Class Tournament of Champions.

Preliminaries matches are January 13th, 17th, and 27th. Novice & Open Semi-Finals are January 31st. Novice & Open Finals are February 7th. The New England Novice Championships are February 10th and 16th. The New England Open Class Tournament of Champions is February 21st and 22nd.

Randy Frechette paints during Golden Gloves opening night

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from January 13th (1/13/12) Preliminary round Novice class are as follows. 141 lbs: Evangel Maggiolo W3 Ryan Madden, Brian Allen W3 Fabio Dambrose, Matt Doherty W3 Durin Colucci, Mike Campanella W3 Ed Lee. 152 lbs: Vincent Dilorio W3 Paul Treano, Angel Ortiz Santos W3 Tyler Cochran, Chris Boyle TKO2 Javin Gore. 165 lbs: Brian Kennedy W3 James Johnson, Miguel Figuera W3 Robert Butler, Chris McCue W3 Carl Gustafson. 178 lbs: Raphael Rivera W3 Elizamanuel Urena, Andy Medina W3 Nick Provencher.

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Chris Boyle TKO2 Javin Gore
Click for fight PICTURES (1/13/12)

The finished artwork of Randy Frechette

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from January 17th (1/17/12) Quarterfinals Novice class are as follows. 132 lbs: Oscar Vergara W3 Melvin Garcia, Range Andino W3 Chad Kelly. 141 lbs: Frank Maggiolo W3 David Bonefont, Mike Campanella W3 Patrick Murphy (Murphy penalized a point for losing his mouthpiece.) 152 lbs: Jeff Houne W3 Vincent Dilorio, Angel Santos Ortiz W3 Tony Salvador, Chris Boyle Technical W2 Miquel Chavez (fight stopped due to both fighters bleeding from the nose, fight went to scorecards after two rounds) 165 lbs: John Navien W3 Angel Vasquez, Brian Kennedy W3 Tves Thruenin, Miguel Figueroa W3 Keith Holmes. 178 lbs: Shawn Murray W3 Noel Medina, John Rosa W3 Raphael Rivera, Brian Shwartz W3 Andy Medina, and Ed Worley W3 Eziquer Zayas.


KO Digest Fight of the Night: Angel Ortiz Santos W3 Tony Salvador.
Lots of great toe-to-toe exchanges!
Click here for PICTURES (1/17/12) 

The legendary Tony DeMarco acknowledges Gloves fans!

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from January 27th (1/27/12) Female Novice Semi-Finals are as follows. 112 lbs: Christina Carvilla W3 Sarah Walsh. 132 lbs: Misty Gray W3 Kimberly Wabik. 152 lbs: Liz Figueroa W3 Indya Sheehan. Male Novice Semi-Finals are as follows. 123 lbs: Domenic Lessieur W3 Jose Rivera. 141 lbs: Matt Doherty W3 Frank Maggiolo (Maggiolo knocked down in the 2nd), Kin Moy W3 Mike Campanella (Campanella hit low twice in the 3rd.) 152 lbs: Angel Santos Ortiz TKO3 Jeff Hong (1:49 of 3rd round, ref stops fight after two standing 8-counts.) 165 lbs: John Navien W3 Gerald Rhude, Brian Kennedy W3 Shawn Murray, Miguel Figueroa W3 Ruso Rhubeiashuiz. Heavyweights: Brandon Montella W3 Vlad Duda (Duda rocked by a strong left hook in 2nd round), Jose Cabrera W3 Jonathan Tannian. Open Class Quarter-Finals are as follows. 152 lbs: Greg Vendetti W3 James Murrin, Joe Farina TKO1 Dennis Leach (0:58 of the 1st round.) 165 lbs: Joe Spinelli W3 Mike Mitrowski (Mitrowski down in the 1st, took two standing 8-counts in the 3rd round.)

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Greg Vendetti W3 James Murrin
Very entertaining, back and forth fight!
Click here for PICTURES (1/27/11)

Three novice class fighters from the 2012 Lowell Golden Gloves who have so far distinguished themselves in the preliminary round are Angel Ortiz Santos, Miguel Figueroa, and Brian Kennedy. The trio are each 3-0 with each having won on all 3 nights of the tournament so far. Santos (152) fights out of the Worcester B&G Club, Figueroa (165) fights out of the S. Boston Boxing Club, and Kennedy (165) fights out of the In the Ring Fitness Gym. Looks like Figueroa and Kennedy might be on a collision course!

West End's Matt Doherty wins big in the fight of the night!

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from January 31st (1/31/12) Male semi-final novice class are as follows. 114 lbs: Nathaniel Bettencourt W3 Omar Padilla. 165 lbs: Brian Kennedy W3 John Navien. 178 lbs: Ed Worley W3 Brian Swartz. Heavyweight: Brandon Montella W3 Jose Cabrera. Female semi-final novice class as follows. 152 lbs: Maureen O'Brien W3 Melissa Kelly. Female novice class FINALS results as follows. 119 lbs: Elizabeth Erna W3 Kate Durgin. 132 lbs: Misty Gray W3 Alycia Moulton. Male novice class FINALS results as follows. 132 lbs: Ranse Andino W3 Oscar Vergara. 141 lbs: Matt Doherty W3 Kin Moy. Open class semi-finals results as follows. 152 lbs: Greg Vendetti W3 Aaron Petrocelli, Joe Farina W3 Joe Meuse. 165 lbs: John Xifaris W3 Neal Sullivan, Khiary Gray Pitts W3 Joe Spinelli. Female Open class semi-final results as follows. 119 lbs: Roberta Pappas W4 Bunthy Chhiu-Lim  

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Matt Doherty W3 Kin Moy
Both of these fighters box and do Mixed Martial Arts. They fought an amateur MMA fight last year and Moy won that fight by decision. Doherty won the boxing match tonight on the strength of his persistent and effective aggression. Good, entertaining fight. Doherty wins the male Novice Class 141 lb Lowell title.
Click here for PICTURES (1/31/12)    

Alina Nalbandian rallies to win the Fight of the Night!

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from February 7th (2/7/12) Female novice class FINALS results as follows. 152 lbs: Maureen O'Brien W3 Liz Figueroa. 165 lbs: Alina Nalbandian W3 Rebecca Murray. Female open class FINALS result as follows. 119 lbs: Amanda Provone W4 Roberta Pappas. Male novice class FINALS result as follows. 123 lbs: Dominic Lessieur W3 Edwin Rivera. 152 lbs: Angel Ortiz Santos W3 Chris Boyle. 165 lbs: Miguel Figueroa W3 Brian Kennedy. 178 lbs: Ed Worley W3 John Rosa. 201 lbs: Brandon Montella W3 Chris Massero. 201+ lbs: Dylan Mess W3 Matt Moran. Male open class FINALS results as follows. 123 lbs: Jonathan Perez W3 Frederick Mercardo. 132 lbs: Tim Ramos W3 David Semprit. 141 lbs: Rashidi Ellis W3 Julio Perez. 152 lbs: Greg Vendetti W3 Joe Farina. 165 lbs: Khiary Gray Pitts TKO1 John Xifaris (1:51 of the 1st, RSC) ~ Also, Nathaniel Bettencourt wins the 114 lbs novice FINALS by default when his opponent Ben Au did not show up and Brian Daniels wins the 201 lbs open FINALS by default when his opponent John Roach did not show up.

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Alina Nalbandian W3 Rebecca Murray
Murray was having her way with Nalbandian for the first two rounds, landing solid rights to the head of her opponent with regularity. In the third round, Nalbandian pulled off a huge rally and hurt a tiring Murray with several head shots of her own forcing Murray to at one point turn her back before she was administered a standing eight count by the referee. Nalbandian wins the 165 lb female novice class Lowell title with a come from behind split decision win. 
Click here for PICTURES (2/7/12) 

Total Wins by GYM:

Ramalho’s West End Gym: (10), Peter Welch Boxing Club: (7), South Boston Boxing Club: (6), Cyr Farrell Boxing Club: (5), Ionic Worcester Boys & Girls Club: (5), Nonantum Boxing Club: (4), In the Ring Fitness: (4), Camp Get Right: (4), Total Performance Gym: (3), Sweatbox Gym: (3), Tomesello's Boxing: (3), Averill’s: (2), Intenze 978 Gym: (2), Rivera Brothers: (1), Sommerville Boxing Club: (2), Nashua PAL: (1), The Ring Boxing Club: (1), Lawrence Boxing Club: (1), Redline Sports (1), Hudson Boxing: (1), Bancroft Boxing: (1), Cambridge Y Boxing Club: (1), and Grealish Boxing: (1)

Jackie Morrell gives pre-fight instructions

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from February 10th (2/10/12) In the opening round of the New England Novice Class Championships, results are as follows. Female 119 lbs: Elizabeth Erna W3 Rinisha Soto. The following matches were all male class. 123 lbs: Isaiah Peixoto W3 Richard Wetherell, Dominic Lessieur W3 Edgar Figueroa. 132 lbs: Francis Cotto W3 Nick Anderson, Ricardo Dellasantos W3 Ranse Andino. 141 lbs: Luis Mendiola W3 Matt Doherty (Doherty knocked down in 2nd), Roberto Colon W3 Alex Hight. 152 lbs: Jayson Richter W3 Jonathan Figueroa, Kevin Weeks W3 Angel Ortiz Santos. 165 lbs: Adam Paolino W3 Miguel Figueroa, Alexander Juarez W3 Jacob Sleeper. 178 lbs: Jay Lussier W3 Conrad Diaz, Cory Matthews W3 Ed Worley. 201: No fights. 201 plus: Donald Smith W3 Dylan Mess, Cassius Chaney W3 Ben Santos.

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Dominic Lessieur W3 Edgar Figueroa
West End Gym's Dominic Lessieur showed the fans tonight why trainer Joey Ramalho thinks he might be a future World Champion. The first round was close but the crowd favorite Lessieur made the right adjustments in the second and third putting on a boxing and punching clinic to convincingly defeat Figueroa with an impressive performance to advance to the final round of the New England Novice Class Championships.

Trainer Tom Janc and his fighter Brandon Montella

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from February 16th (2/16/12) In the FINAL round of the New England Novice Class Championships, results are as follows. Female 112 lbs: Kelsey Kaiser W3 Kristina Carvillo. Female 119 lbs: Elizabeth Erna W3 Marcia Agripino. Female 132 lbs: Misty Gray W3 Kathy Urenick. Female 165 lbs: Alana Royale W3 Maureen O'Brien. ~ Following results are all Male. 114 lbs: Nathaniel Bettencourt W3 Jonathan Carrasco. 123 lbs: Dominic Lessieur TKO2 Isaiah Peixoto (RSC 1:14 of 2nd round). 132 lbs: Ricardo Dellasantos W3 Francis Cotto. 141 lbs: Luis Mendiola W3 Roberto Colon. 152 lbs: Jayson Richter W3 Kevin Weeks (Richter knocked down in the 1st). 165 lbs: Adam Paolino W3 Alexander Juarez. 178 lbs: Cory Matthews W3 Jay Lussier (Lussier knocked down in the 1st). 201 lbs: Brandon Montella W3 Justin Kennie. 201 plus: Cassius Chaney W3 Donald Smith.

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Cory Matthews W3 Jay Lussier
In a fight for the novice class New England 178 lb title, Cory Matthews dropped Jay Lussier hard in the first round with a right cross to the chin. Lussier beat the count and for the next two rounds these two warriors went toe-to-toe in an all-out slugfest, much to the delight of the fans! Matthews wins a hard fought, well deserved split decision to take fight of the night honors.

Heavyweight Sean Bettencourt advances with a big KO!

Lowell Golden Gloves RESULTS from February 21st (2/21/12) In the opening round of the New England Open Class Tournament of Champions, results are as follows. Female 119 lbs: Melanie Costa W4 Amanda Pavone. The following results are all male. 123 lbs: Elijah Peixoto W3 John Lopez, Williams Foster W3 Jonathan Perez. 132 lbs: Tim Ramos W3 Josh Bickford, Anthony Marsella W3 Edwin Cotto. 141 lbs: James Perella W3 Casey Kramlich, Rashidi Ellis W3 Zack Ramsey. 152 lbs: Richard Ford W3 Alejandro Rendon, Jon Smith W3 Greg Vendetti. 165 lbs: Gerald Schifone W3 Emmanuel Figueroa, Khiary Gray Pitts TKO2 John Janiszyn (RSC at 1:21 of round 2). 178 lbs: Kevin Harrison-Lombardi W3 Moises Marrero, Jason Bakanowski TKO3 Dan Magistrali. 201: Sean Bettencourt TKO2 Jason Carrier (RSC at 1:14 of round 2)

KO Digest Fight of the Night: Gerald Schifone W3 Emmanuel Figueroa
The first two rounds were close and competitive but in the third round things really got cooking as Brockton native Gerald Schifone came on strong with several vicious uppercuts and a great body attack to secure a decision victory to advance to the final round of the Open Class England Tournament of Champions in the 165 lb division.  

Click HERE for Pictures (2/21/12) 

123 lb New England Open Class Champion William Foster

Lowell Golden Glove New England Open Class Tournament of Champions FINALS results from February 22nd (2/22/12) Female 119 lbs: Melanie Costa W4 Nephateria Miller. Female 125 lbs: Rashida Ellis W4 Liz Leddy. Male results as follows. 123 lbs: William Foster W3 Elijah Peixoto. 132 lbs: Tim Ramos W3 Anthony Marsella. 141 lbs: James Perella W3 Rashidi Ellis. 165 lbs: Gerald Schifone W3 Khiary Gray Pitts. 178 lbs: KJ Harrison Lombardi W3 Jason Bukanowski. 201: Sean Bettencourt W3 Bryan Daniels ~ Thomas F. Costello Trophy for outstanding boxer goes to James Perella. The Rocky Marciano Trophy for the New England Open Class Tournament Heavyweight Champion goes to Sean Bettencourt. The Williams "Bill" Hoar Memorial New England Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Team Trophy is awarded to Southern New England.   

KO Digest goes Beyond the Badge in 2012!

Beyond the Badge

By Jeffrey Freeman - As the writer, editor, and creator of KO Digest, I'm very pleased and proud to announce that KO Digest will be expanding from the cyber page to the printed page in 2012! That's right boxing fans, KO Digest will now appear regularly in a newspaper style publication called Beyond the Badge! With a readership of over 100,000 people within the New England law enforcement community, Beyond the Badge is a great opportunity for KO Digest to grow and reach a wider and more diverse audience.

As a writer, what can I say, it's a dream come true! Perhaps a quick refresher course is in order on the history of KO Digest and how we (and I) got to this point. As a boxing fan for 30 years (getting my start in 1981 at age 11 in Brockton, Massachusetts) I began to get involved in writing about boxing in 2009 when social media websites really started making it very easy for me to interact with other boxing fans and people within the boxing community. I would mostly blog on Facebook, primarily on the Ring Magazine page.

I was trying very hard to get noticed by somebody who might be able to help me get even more involved.

Around this same time, I reunited with an old boxing friend of mine, Edwin Ayala, and this reunion was a huge source of inspiration for me! I learned that my old friend was suffering from a rare and incurable disease and that this disease was slowly but surely robbing him of his ability to communicate, among other things. I realized that as much as I was doing what I was doing for me, I was doing it just as much for my friend. I wanted to give him a voice, a forum, and an outlet for all the boxing related stuff that we had in common as young boxing fans growing up in Brockton in the 80's & 90's. It may sound corny, but I wanted to make OUR dreams of youth come true and on April 16th, 2011 it did, as we attended our first live fight together as credentialed boxing reporters. That fight was Victor Ortiz against Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Foxwoods, Connecticut. It was also the 2011 Fight of the Year!

Ace Ayala, Kevin Rooney, and I in 1993

But let's back up a bit. In January of 2011, I was contacted by the owner of a small boxing website and he asked me if I wanted to write about boxing for his site. My plan was working! This was a great first opportunity for me and it really lit a fire under my ass. By the end of the year, I had become truly involved in the boxing media and was looking to take things to the next level. The problem now was that I was quickly outgrowing the small website I was writing for.

Citing creative differences, I parted ways with that website in October 2011 and decided to make a go of it on my own. With some invaluable assistance from a friend and boxing publicist named Bob Trieger, I was able to make the transition work with my own boxing website and with my own presence in the boxing media community. Honestly, it was scary to make that change, but it was worth it and I am so glad that I did it.

In December 2011, I wrote a story that would open a new door for me and for KO Digest. That story was Lowell's Finest, my take on the best boxers ever from Lowell, Massachusetts. The story was an instant hit and the feedback was great. For the first time since I started writing about boxing, I could really tell that people were actually reading my work and that the good word about KO Digest was getting out. Traffic to the site was increasing daily and the Lowell's Finest story very quickly became the single most viewed article I had ever written and published. In addition, the KO Digest Facebook page www.Facebook.com/KODigest was also taking off and it quickly became one of the hottest spots on social media for boxing news and talk. Once again, my plan was working!

Enter Beyond the Badge! One of KO Digest's readers and friends on Facebook is a local boxing fan named Jerry Flynn. Unknown to me at the time was the fact that Mr. Flynn publishes a local paper for members of the New England law enforcement community called Beyond the Badge. Initially, Jerry provided some of the critical feedback for the Lowell's Finest story and just when I was ready to move along to the next story and leave Lowell's Finest in the hands of the readers to debate, Jerry asked me if I wanted to write a monthly boxing column for his publication! Sensing a perfect fit, I quickly accepted and began work on my first article for Beyond the Badge. My hope is that readers of Beyond the Badge will enjoy reading it as much as I know I enjoyed writing it. I'm truly looking forward to bringing boxing news and information to my brand new audience! The law enforcement community can be a tough crowd and I know this but I'm up to the challenge.

Thanks again to Jerry Flynn for this amazing opportunity. KO Digest salutes you sir!

And so as KO Digest grows and expands, I also want to thank everybody who has helped me make it what is today and what I hope to make it in the future: the very best boxing website online, a friendly place where fans of all ages and from all generations can interact on the greatest sport of all, professional boxing! And the next time somebody tells you that boxing is dead and that they haven't seen boxing in the paper for years, tell them to go pick up a copy of Beyond the Badge!

Boxing writer Jeffrey Freeman is originally from the City of Champions, Brockton, Massachusetts.