Golden Gloves At Variety
BY THOMAS COGAN T
The Golden Gloves came back to Variety Boys and Girls Club

The first two bouts and the last one featured novice heavyweights, and none lasted beyond the first round. The other six were in the middleweight range, and all but one lasted the full four rounds, each two minutes long. Kenny Ruiz at right, against the rangy Elvis Seongbae in bout four.

on a night in late

February when state Senator George Onorato was also honored for nearly a quarter-century of representation in the 12th senate district. The series of amateur boxing bouts, held for the first time in 20 years at Variety, on 21st Street in Astoria, brought out a paying crowd of several hundred to see nine bouts in the open and novice classes. This year is the 80th anniversary of the Golden Gloves, launched in 1927 by the New York Daily News and still maintained under its sponsorship.

Onorato was honored before the bouts began, cited for his long record of attention to concerns of the elderly and presented with a plaque, a set of symbolic boxing gloves and a proclamation from state Senator Malcolm Smith, senate minority leader from the 14th senate district. Former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. and Assemblymember Michael Gianaris also paid him tribute. Throughout the evening, a large photograph of Onorato hung from the rafters behind the boxing ring.

Smith vs. Tsygulev with Tsygulev the winner.

Variety was founded in 1953 as a social and athletic outlet for the male youth of Astoria, its founders including Judge Charles Vallone, father of the former Council Speaker and grandfather of present City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. It remained strictly for boys until about 1980, when Jessica Bruno, after picketing the club with a sign saying "What about the girls?" and engaging the efforts of Onorato and others, became the first female to join. Bruno, now a police officer, attended the event and reminisced about being one of the first girls in the club in 1981. That young women are now very much a part of the club was also evident as three girls who won a club-sponsored essay contest stood in the ring with the evening's dignitaries and the National Anthem was sung by a girl of about 12 years of age.

Baggio vs. Horton with Horton the winner.

The first two bouts and the last one featured novice heavyweights, and none lasted beyond the first round. The other six were in the middleweight range, and all but one lasted the full four rounds, each two minutes long. The bout that got the evening started was between Patrick J. Smith, at 213 pounds, and Yevgeniy Tsygulev, at 203. The Slavic fighter was considerably shorter but had a sense of purpose. After enduring about 10 seconds of steady hammering, Smith appeared anxious just to get away; Tsygulev wouldn't let him, and fighting back only made matters worse. A couple of standing eight counts provided some respite for Smith, but when fighting resumed it was so lopsided that the referee ended the bout only 53 seconds along.

The heavyweights were even heavier in the second bout, James Baggio coming in at 243 pounds and Ralph Horton at 242. Baggio tried a little footwork at first, circling about Horton and jabbing, but Horton simply waited him out. After about a minute he began to throw punches that found their mark. Baggio reacted confusedly, and rather than using his footwork to retreat, charged Horton, only to get hit some more. He managed to stay on his feet for most of the round, but the referee saw he had no future and stopped the fight at 1:49.

Karaolides vs. Spence with Karaolides winning the decision.

The lighter weight bouts lasted longer and were appreciated for their higher level of skill. In bout number three, Lambros Karaolides elicited some local ethnic enthusiasm, so the punches he landed on Jamaal Spence were cheered more loudly than the looping punches the wiry Spence occasionally scored on him. Spence appeared to tire near the end; the decision went to Karaolides. The next bout paired a stocky Kenny Ruiz against the rangy Elvis Seongbae. Ruiz had the better punches in the first round, Elvis in the second. In the third and fourth rounds, Seongbae was penalized for punches below the belt. Ruiz's attack was at least equal to his opponent's and that, combined with clean behavior, won him the fight. The fifth bout was between Nwachi Hartley and Charlie Chase, the former having a height and reach advantage. Chase might actually have had a lead as the fight approached the final bell, but the referee's patience with his frequent holding tactics was by that time exhausted and Chase was disqualified with two seconds to go. By then it was time for a 10-minute intermission.

Onorato, who was honored before the bouts began, was cited for his long record of attention to concerns of the elderly and presented with a plaque, a set of symbolic boxing gloves and a proclamation from state Senator Malcolm Smith, senate minority leader from the 14th senate district. Onorato is pictured with former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr., far right, and Assemblymember Michael Gianaris.

The first of the bouts after the intermission, Joseph Judah against Ashante Hendrickson, was active and competitive, probably the best bout of the evening. In the second round, Hendrickson staggered Judah, who answered with a rally of his own. There were furious exchanges in the third round, with Hendrickson seeming to get the better results. The final round was scrappy, too, and fans were left eager for a decision. The public address announcer gave them two- declaring first that Judah was the winner, then quickly apologizing and saying the judges had decided for Hendrickson. Shqiprim Muriqi and Ronney Vargas followed them with four good rounds; Vargas had the better punches and took the decision. Between the third and fourth rounds of the fight between Anton Williamson and Delen Parsley, Williamson's second could be heard shouting to him, "You wanna win this fight? Then you gotta take it!" For some reason, the referee objected to the second's presence in Williamson's corner and called two cops to escort him away. In an effort to follow his second's advice, Williamson made a few flurries in the last round and even shoved Parsley to the floor, a move that couldn't have gained him favor with the judges. Parsley probably took the round and definitely took the fight. The last contest marked the return of the heavyweights, one of them with emphasis: Mark Jackson weighed 276 pounds, with a midsection to prove it. His opponent, Manuel Yepez, was built lower to the ground at 228. The fight ended abruptly before 30 seconds had passed, when the referee noticed a small cut on Yepez's left shoulder, a condition that evidently demands a discontinuance in Golden Gloves competition, and so Jackson won.

Left to right: Thomas J. Nowierski, president of the Variety Boys & Girls Club, Senator Onorato and Caryn Schwab, chief executive officer of Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens.

Some misgivings about bringing the "sweet science" back to the Variety Boys and Girls Club had been expressed by some board members and others. Tony Meloni, a member of the club's board of directors, in a communication to other club officials, however, noted the value of self-defense lessons for young people, especially young women. "About 20 years ago, when I was the Director of the Federation of Italian- American Societies' office, we began a series of Women's Self Defense classes in response to the heinous crime of the rape of a child," he recalled. "One of the first classes included a boxing primer. One of the young ladies who donned gloves that night could not have weighed more than 100 pounds soaking wet. She was very skinny, physically unimposing, but oddly confident at the same time. When I asked her to throw some punches as practice she, unlike her 12 classmates, threw a blistering combination of lefts and rights, uppercuts and jabs, that would have made Frazier and Ali proud. When her classmates, who had backed up about three feet, crowded around her again, I asked the obvious: 'How did a young lady like you learn to box so well?'

Jessica Bruno became the first female to join the club in 1981.

"Her story was poignant but telling as to what we are trying to accomplish with our kids. All of us of a certain age remember a classic Johnny Cash song, 'A Boy Named Sue', about a father who names his son with a girl's name because he knows he won't be around to help him grow up and feels that the burden of a girl's name will toughen him up at an early age because of the harassment he will receive. This girl's father named her TinkerBelle for much the same reason.

"Well, let me tell you, it worked. No one in that class, including me as the teacher, was under any misconception that this was nothing if not one very confident and self reliant young lady…and no one wanted to be the first to test her skills or resolve. 'God helps those who help themselves' and 'Teaching a (wo)man to fish' [from the aphorism "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"] are two proverbs that epitomize what we want and should do."

In a note to board members Vallone Sr. also noted the value of lessons in selfdefense. "I must admit I had doubts about the 'sport' of boxing and bringing it back to our club with the likes of Mike Tyson and his antics, but agreed with the rest of the Board to give it a try," he told Meloni.

"It brought back many good memories, especially of my Dad, the Judge who taught my brother and me to put on gloves, learn the art of self-defense and good sportsmanship (instead of constantly fighting with each other), and took us and many of my young friends to Sunnyside Gardens in Queens to watch boxing matches, and especially Golden Gloves there and in Madison Square Garden, in an era when gangs roamed the streets of Astoria and just about all over our city, and constantly preached to us the importance of staying away from gangs and street fights, and to participate in all constructive sports.

"It was the reason why he and our founders started the Boys Club in the first place!

"I even represented the Queens Parks Department at the age of 13, and fought the same guy three times, losing the first time by decision, the second to a draw, and knocked him out of the ring the third time...and then decided to take Dad's advice and train to become a lifeguard, which certificate I earned right here at our club a few years later.

"The point, however, is that the training in selfdefense that I received from my Dad and the Parks Dept. served me in great stead. For those of you who read my book, Learning to Govern: My Life in New York City Politics From Hell Gate to City Hall, [you may remember] I was attacked by a bully while a freshman in high school, a much bigger fellow than me, and I surprised him and his laughing followers by knocking him down with one punch while he was pushing, throwing round-house wild punches at me, calling me 'chicken' and all kinds of names. I was scared silly, but the training I received saved me from what could have been perpetual mocking by fellow students who were scared to death by this menacing bully, but did not know how to defend themselves or others, so 'just went along'.

"So I think it would be a good idea to explore bringing boxing training back to our club, under strict and expert guidance, not only for the good exercise benefit, but to teach self defense [and] good sportsmanship."