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By TOM?PUGH
Staff Writer
SALEM – On the weekend of April 22nd, five area boxers will be traveling to the Brook Park Recreation Center forto show off their skills at the 2016 Cleveland Area Golden Gloves 88th Annual Qualifying Tournament.
The Salem Boxing Club will send Drew Smith (152 pounds), Gabe Owens (141 pounds), Adam Sawman (141 pounds), Alex Poteet (132 pounds) and Mardell Halas (165 pounds) to try to bring home glory.
If the boxers advance past the weekend of the 22nd, they will fight again the next weekend.
“Boxing helps them take care of their bodies in every way.” Salem Boxing Club co-owner Ron Jackson said. “Boxing develops every muscle. It gives them self-confidence, self esteem, allows them to deal with every day issues, and it’s fun for them.”
The competition level at the tournament is something special for the boxers because it brings boxers from every class from all over northeast Ohio to compete.
One of the boxers that Jackson expects to perform well is 17-year-old Drew Smith from United High School. This will be Drew’s first year boxing in the Golden Gloves tournament. He’s fighting as a novice. Drew has his own key to the gym and comes in almost every day, even on Sundays after church lets out.
“This will be the biggest stage I’ve ever boxed on,” Smith said. “I’ve been waiting for four years. Before boxing, I never would have had the confidence to do something like go to Cleveland for a tournament like this.”
Novice Gabe Owens, 18, is still in shock that his chance to go is finally within reach.
“This is not something that a lot of people get to do,” Owens said. “Boxing is kind of a select group of individuals and it’s something that I like. This is a dream of mine. I’m finally getting to go to Golden Gloves.”
The Salem Boxing Club boxers know what it means to be going to the tournament and they want to do perform well for themselves, their fellow boxers and their and maybe most importantly, for their gym.
Novice Adam Sawman, 18, doesn’t expect a cakewalk.
“I want to show how dedicated we are to the sport of boxing,” Sawman said. “I want to keep our legacy going. I know the competition we face will be polite and well-mannered, just like us. That doesn’t mean I’m expecting an easy trip. We’re ready for this.”
As a sub-novice, Alex Poteet, 18, brings a different view of Golden Gloves.
“It’s nerve-racking,” Poteet said. “I’ve been training on and off for three years. Golden Gloves is a big tournament and it will be my first real fight. I’m nervous because I might get someone small or I could get someone big that has more power than me.”
The other co-owner of the gym, former boxer Bob Plegge, has high hopes of winning big during the tournament. He thinks his boxers can fight just as well as anyone else that will be there.
“I trained in Alliance and fought in Canton,” Plegge said. “What I know from experience is that this is a chance for the kids to get a title as part of their career. Everyone says ‘Well, I’m an amatuer boxer.’ If our kids win, they can say ‘I’m a Golden Gloves winning boxer.’ That will make quite a difference.”
Not all of the boxers that will be going with Salem Boxing Club to Cleveland are in high school. Due to changes, boxers are allowed to participate in Golden Gloves until they are 34 years old.
Salem is taking 23-year-old former Columbiana Clipper football player Mardell Halas as an open boxer. It will be his second trip.
“I’ve been training as a boxer since my freshman year of high school (2007),” Halas said. “I went to Golden Gloves last year. It’s a chance to show what I’ve got and get my name out. I want to go pro and this will help that.”
Boxing has taught Halas some valuable lessons throughout the years that he never learned as a football player.
“I learned patience mostly. I learned that never to give up if I’m down. You can shy away from hits in football. You can’t shy away from anything in boxing.”