If someone wanted to get a read on the pulse of amateur boxing in St. Louis, a good place to start would have been the Heart of St. Charles Banquet Center last Friday evening. It was there at the finals of the Novice Golden Gloves Tournament that a capacity crowd buzzed throughout 18 bouts in the middle of a normally sluggish time on the calendar.
Cherokee’s Douglas Williams would be the first to climb the red wooden steps to his corner as he looked to follow up an impressive win exactly one week earlier. But standing in the way of a championship trophy in the age 15-16, 119-pound class was the game Cody Purvis from Hannibal, and the visitor seemed determined to take the hardware home north with him.
Williams had no trouble landing a right hand hatchet from the outset, using a busy offense to make his opponent think twice about coming through the front door. The final round saw the Cherokee product start fast and cruise to a decision victory, kicking off the event in fine fashion.
For those who prefer raw, unrefined “pier 6 brawl” action to a “safety first” approach, the fifth bout provided lots of give and take exchanges, prompting a woman behind me to exclaim, “This isn’t boxing, it’s street fighting!”
The trio of rounds between Pagedale’s Bryon Clinkscale and Cherokee’s Micah Livingston may not have been one fan’s cup of tea, but the majority of the room ruled, encouraging the pair up until the bruising conclusion as Clinkscale finished ahead on points.
Little did I know that I was about to get a close encounter of a bloody kind at ringside, as Fredrick Mopking faced off with the durable James Lewis.
The match was waved off in the first, and it’s hard to imagine Mopking could have kept up the torrid pace he started on his way to the winner’s circle. His buzz saw approach led to a standing eight count and then a dislodged mouthpiece that plunked and skipped off the table in front of me and landed at my feet.
I picked it up and passed it back into the ring before glancing down and realizing I had a smeared handful of DNA and another stained bout sheet for my scrapbook.
The wiry Ivan Neal from 12th & Park had Jerry Leyshock and Chantel Stanciel in his corner as he clashed with St. Charles MMA’s Jeremy Vincent. Both 125-pounders would spend every ounce of grit they had and the St. Charles contingent erupted when Vincent’s name was announced as the victor.
Matt Ricehouse would give them more to applaud as he followed his gym mate with a solid performance against the equally fit Troy White from The Respect Center.
Ricehouse was very calm and collected early, but his straight rights kept coming up short as he failed to step in with his jab. Hooks were swapped in round two and the close contest ended as fiercely as it began, with Ricehouse getting the judges’ nod.
The prognosis of local boxing looks good as the scene in St. Charles proved that participation and support on a grassroots level continues to grow.
I love the St Louis MO boxing scene, I am apart of it 💯👌🏾💪🏾🤞🏾🖤