Neida Ibarra, Tulsa Golden Gloves Competitor
The Oklahoma Golden Gloves State Championship will be held January 27 & 28 at the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa. Male and female amateur boxers ages 17-40 from around the state will compete in this two-day district feeder tournament, with state champions to be determined in each weight division. Winners will advance to face the corresponding Kansas championship team in the regional tournament in Wichita this April.
Jeremiah Milton, Tulsa Golden Gloves Competitor
Regional champions will compete with boxers from across the U.S. at the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, one of the most prestigious amateur boxing tournaments in the U.S., in May in Omaha, Nebr.
Former National Golden Gloves champions include outstanding boxers like Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, and, more recently, Oklahoma’s own Allan Green (2002) and Aaron Morales (2017). Special guests, former National Golden Gloves champions Harry Truman, Olian Alexandar and Allan Green, will be present in the audience at the Tulsa event.
“With close to 80 boxers competing, this is a great opportunity to showcase the talent we have in this state,” said Aaron Sloan, Vice-President of the Kansas-Oklahoma Franchise of the Golden Gloves of America (KO Golden Gloves) and of Tulsa’s Engine Room Boxing Gym. “We’ll be able to send a strong team of Oklahoma fighters on to regionals, and we hope to have another national champion in 2018.”
Oklahoma Golden Gloves State Championship
Sat. & Sun. Jan 27 & 28, 2018
Sat.- doors/bell 5PM/6PM; Sun.- doors/bell 1PM/2PM
Greenwood Cultural Center
Tickets: www.ticketstorm.com ($15 single day; $20 two-day)
More information is available online here: www.engineroomboxing.com
National Golden Gloves began in 1923 when Chicago Tribune Sports Editor Arch Ward conceived the idea of a newspaper sponsored city-wide amateur boxing tournament. Champions were awarded a miniature golden glove. Many great professional boxers have launched their early athletic careers participating as amateurs in Golden Gloves tournaments. Kansas-Oklahoma Golden Gloves began in 1928 and is a franchise of the National Golden Gloves of America currently headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
Prior to opening the Engine Room Boxing Gym Tulsa in the fall of 2014, Aaron Sloan owned and operated the Owasso Boxing Club. Coach Sloan is a registered cardiac nurse, a USA Boxing certified coach, judge and referee, and a certified 1 Star AIBA boxing coach. The Engine Room offers both competition and fitness training. Coach Sloan also developed the Ready to Fight Parkinson’s program in 2016 offering group and individual training for those with Parkinson’s disease from the Engine Room Wellness Center at 47th & Peoria.