The past two weeks have been filled with excitement for members of the Dartmouth Boxing Club. Saturday, May 3, marked the first return of a boxing event to the college campus since the early 1950s.
10 matches took place in front of a crowd of 300. Dartmouth trainers Elvis Lowe, a former professional boxer and Barbados Champion, and Paul Efstathiou refereed each match and sparred with some of the newer members while the crowd chose the winners of bouts between the other boxers.
Josh Navikonis '04 squared off against Phil Klay '05 in a two-round battle that ended with the crowd siding with Klay. Melissa Farrar '04 and Vic Glazer '06 were the next boxers to enter the ring and delighted the crowd with a flurry of punches and action throughout the entire six-minute bout. Despite taking heavy punches from Farrar, Glazer came out on top in a close decision.
From the girls, the action moved to the 160-pound weight class where Jason Skenazy '06 battled against Dave Fouche '03. The two light-heavies slugged out three exciting rounds of boxing.
They were followed by Megan Fehely '03 battling against Sada Dumont. Fehely was the first Dartmouth woman fighter to claim victory in U.S. Amateur Open Competition and put an exciting effort against her opponent, who boxes for Shapes Gym.
David Goldstein '04 battled against Jesse Sixkiller '06 in an exciting bout that left Goldstein hanging over the top rope gasping for breath when the final bell had rung.
The final two bouts were important tune-ups and showcases for two Dartmouth boxers, Tony Balsamo '04 and James "The Kid" Barkley '06. Both fighters competed this past weekend at the Hardwick Amateur Boxing Open Showcase.
The Kid stepped into the ring against Aaron Smith, a former kickboxer from Shapes Gym. Barkley's aggressive southpaw style kept Smith on his toes the entire three rounds.
Balsamo squared off against Anthony Attruci, the 2003 Golden Gloves Champion of Vermont, boxing out of Newport Gym. Despite backing Attruci into a corner in the first round, Balsamo ran out of steam and lost the next two rounds, but kept the fight close.
The next week Balsamo, The Kid, Fehely and Jordan Glaser traveled to Hardwick, V.T. Balsamo drew against J.J. Stokeberry, a boxer from Armando's Gym in Hardwick. Balsamo, clearly looking for redemption from last week's defeat, ended the fight in under a minute.
Three vicious overhand rights into the fight, Stokeberry's nose had broken and Balsamo had backed him into a bloody corner until the referee stepped in and called the match in Balsamo's favor before further damage could be inflicted.
Barkley drew Travis Butler, a boxer from Tri-Town gym who had plenty of ring experience. The first round found The Kid along the ropes but still in control, landing and scoring points off of openings he saw in his opponent's defense.
The beginning of the second round showed a drastic change in the young southpaw as he bravely took the fight to his opponent, driving him across the ring into a corner with a flurry of combinations. The Kid easily pulled the second round out and the third round began with the fight completely up for grabs.
Butler put Barkley along the ropes a number of times but could not get many punches through the defensive posture of The Kid. Barkley scored a few points with some cleanly-landed jabs and hooks, but despite his hard-fought battle and composure in boxing a very experienced boxer, the judges gave the fight to Tri-Town.
Barkley was later called up by the judges to receive the Golden Glove Sportsmanship Award for putting forth the greatest effort of the night.
The members of the club will continue training over the summer and are preparing to hold a U.S. Amateur Open event on campus this November, followed by a run at the Golden Gloves Championship in Vermont during Jan. 2004.
Tony Balsamo and Jordan Glaser are members of the Dartmouth Boxing Club.
