LAFAYETTE & RAGIN' CAJUN BOXING CLUB BIDDING TO HOST 2012 NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS - 03/10/2010

LAFAYETTE – The Ragin’ Cajun Amateur Boxing Club and the Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission, in conjunction with the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, are going after one of the nation’s oldest and most esteemed amateur sporting events.

Those groups will be making a formal proposal in May to bring the 2012 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions to Lafayette, and bring the nation’s top 300 amateur boxers here for a week-long competition to determine national champions and berths in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

This year’s National Golden Gloves event is scheduled for May 3-8, 2010, in Little Rock, Ark., and during that time presentations will be made to the organization’s national tournament committee from potential host sites for 2012. The 2011 national event will be held in Indianapolis, Ind.

“This is truly a name-brand event,” said Beau Williford of the Ragin’ Cajun Amateur Boxing Club, who was recently appointed to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. “There are a lot of events that don’t have a lot of recognition, but when you say Golden Gloves people know instantly what that is.”

The national championships bring together the winners of each weight class from the Golden Gloves’ 30 national regions, with Louisiana part of the Mid-South Golden Gloves region. With 11 weight classes from 106 pounds to over-201 pounds, that means well over 300 regional winners take part in the national event which has been held since 1928.

If successful in winning the bid, the local organizing committee will host the event Monday-Saturday, April 23-28, 2012, at the Cajundome Convention Center. To accommodate the large number of bouts, three rings are used in the tournament on Monday through Thursday and two rings on Friday before the semifinals and finals are held in one ring on Saturday.

The Ragin’ Cajun club has hosted the Louisiana Golden Gloves tournament for three straight years, and more than 200 amateur boxers took part in the state event last March at Lafayette High School. The local club and the Governor’s Council will once again host the Louisiana Golden Gloves championships March 26-28 at N. P. Moss Middle School, with most of the state’s top amateur boxers scheduled to take part.

Williford said he decided to spearhead a bid for the national event at the urging of local supporters and Rudy Macklin, chairman of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness.

“We felt it would be a good event for Lafayette and for South Louisiana,” Williford said. “The nationals have mostly been held in larger cities, but we felt like the support here would make us a very attractive location. I’ve heard that Cleveland, St. Louis, Atlantic City and Las Vegas are making bids, but I don’t think the national organization will consider Atlantic City and Las Vegas because of the gambling aspect.”

Hosting the event in an Olympic year is also a boon, Williford said, since the winners of the National Golden Gloves titles earn an automatic berth into the Olympic Trials that will select the U.S. Team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“None of the top amateurs skip the Golden Gloves in an Olympic year since they’re all trying to get into the Trials,” he said. “So you’re going to get the best of the very best.”

Since its first local tournament in 1923 in Chicago, the Golden Gloves of America has helped young athletes and has led the way in promoting amateur boxing in the U.S. The organization has produced the great majority of competitors for America’s boxing teams for world and international competitions including the Olympic Games.

Former world champions who participated in the National Golden Gloves include Joe Louis (1934), Muhammad Ali (1960), Sugar Ray Leonard (1973), Marvin Hagler (1973), Michael Spinks (1974), Thomas “Hitman” Hearns (1977), Mike Tyson (1984), Evander Holyfield (1984), Oscar De La Hoya (1989) and Jermain Taylor (1998-99).

Individuals and businesses wishing to help with the local bid and with the event itself may contact Williford at the Ragin’ Cajun Amateur Boxing Club at (337) 257-3501.


Contact: Beau Williford, Ragin' Cajun Boxing Club