This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Local Fighter Signs Up for Golden Gloves

Bobby DeCore to fight in the 141-pound open division registers for the spring tournament.

is an amateur boxer, who—when the bell rings—rips into an opponent with a ferocious body attack, throwing hooks to the ribs and uppercuts to the chin.

It was not the pugnacious Bobby DeCore who Saturday morning pushed slowly through double-doors at the Gordon Tech High School Library and looked around.

“Where do I go?” he asked politely.

Find out what's happening in Crystal Lake-Carywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Registering for Chicago Golden Gloves can be scarier than the fighting part of it.  It's like joining in the Army.  You stand in line and there’s a lot of paperwork to fill out. 

The first thing DeCore had to do at Gordon Tech was to get his picture taken. Officials from United State Amateur Boxing Inc. want to make sure the guy that signs up for the Golden Gloves is the same guy that shows up for the fight. The photograph taken at the registration is used for identification purposes.

Find out what's happening in Crystal Lake-Carywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Another thing DeCore had to do was check his weight. DeCore, with his clothes on, weighed in at slightly heavier than 150 pounds.  He signed up to fight in the 141-pound weight class.  

He’ll have to make the 141-pound mark perhaps twice in coming months: on the day of his first fight in the first week in March, and he'll have to make that weight again if he fights for the championship in early April.

Last year DeCore fought in the novice division and lost a decision that knocked him out of the tournament in the semi-finals.

This year is a step up. DeCore will be competing in the open division, which has the toughest and most skilled boxers. 

An open-division winner could be asked to try out for the U.S. Olympic Team.

“If you’re a novice fighter, we’ll give you a pound,” said Sam Colonna, an amateur boxing official, commenting on a fighter's weight.  “But if you’re fighting in the open division, you have to make weight. You don’t get any breaks.”

DeCore has less than two weeks to lose the pounds before the start of the preliminaries.  He said he wasn’t worried about his weight. But he is worried about his right hand. He dropped a steel plate on it when he was at work and a swollen knuckle forced him to pull out of a tune-up fight he had scheduled Friday.

Jeff Lanas—a former Golden Glove champ who turned pro and lost a close decision to Roberto Duran—works out at the same gym as DeCore, in Crystal Lake. Lanas is telling DeCore to soak his hand in ice water for 15-minute intervals to help with the swelling.

For fans of the Chicago Golden Gloves, this is a historic year. For the first time in decades the spring tournament will not be held at St. Andrews Gym. It has been moved to Gordon Tech High School, 3633 N. California Ave., Chicago.

Ted Carroll, the legendary boxing cartoonist for Ring Magazine, wrote: “… nearly any kid with boxing ambitions tries them out for the first time at the Golden Gloves.”

Preliminaries for the tournament start March 3. Click here for more information.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?