General | May 8, 2024 | 12:22

Located just a seven-minute walk down Jefferson Avenue to the foot of Woodward Avenue from the Huntington Place Convention Center (formerly Cobo Center) in downtown Detroit, site of the 2024 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions to be held May 13^th thru May 18^th, appropriately stands the massive "Monument to Joe Louis," Robert Graham's two-ton bronze sculpture of the "Brown Bomber's" right arm and fist.

It is also a reminder of Detroit's storied legacy as a boxing center.

Dedicated on October 16, 1986 as a gift from Sports Illustrated to the people of Detroit and the Detroit Institute of Arts on the occurrence of the museum's centennial, the sculpture is a tribute to the Motor City's national hero, the renowned world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949 who still holds the longest reign in the history of any weight division.

Louis is best remembered for defeating Max Schmeling, the pride of Nazi Germany, in the first round of what was billed as "the Fight of the Century" in 1938. Two years earlier Louis had suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of the German.

Like so many other famous boxers, it was Golden Gloves competition that served as a springboard for Louis' brilliant professional boxing career that began while training at the Brewster Recreation Center in Detroit.

Ninety years ago on March 9, 1934, 19-year-old Joe Louis won the Golden Gloves light heavyweight national championship that first earned him national attention before he turned pro four months later.

Louis' success first established Detroit's Golden Gloves boxing legacy that includes among others, Thomas Hearns, the 1977 National Golden Gloves Light Welterweight champion who later became the first boxer to win five world titles in five weight divisions, and Emanuel Steward, the 1963 National Golden Gloves Bantamweight champion who became a renowned trainer at Detroit's Kronk gym where he trained Hearns and other Golden Gloves and professional champions. In total, Detroit based boxers have won 44 national Golden Glove titles.

On Sunday May 12^th at the Motor City Casino and Hotel Louis, Hearns, Steward, and Buster Douglas will be inducted into the Golden Gloves Hall of Fame.

The Chicago Tribune sponsored Chicago Golden Gloves and the New York Daily News sponsored New York Golden Gloves, both of whom hosted winners from other states and regions, held the first intercity championship tournament in 1928 which served as the National Tournament of Champions until 1961. In 1962 the Golden Gloves of America organization began hosting the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. To this day, it is the most prestigious amateur boxing competition in the U.S.

In 1932 the Detroit Mirror newspaper staged the first Detroit based Golden Gloves tournament at Olympia Stadium and in 1933, Louis' first full year of amateur boxing, the Detroit Free Press took over the tournament sponsorship.

That year, in front of 13,000 fans at Olympia Stadium, Joe Louis Barrow, who by then had shortened his boxing name to "Joe Louis", won the light heavyweight championship in the novice class when he defeated Joe Biskey with a third-round knockout. Louis later lost at the national Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago.

The next year Louis won the light heavyweight Detroit title in the open class at Olympia Stadium. And then on March 9, 1934, four months before turning pro, Louis defeated Joe Bauer in Chicago to win the national light heavyweight Golden Gloves title while fellow Detroiter Al Nettlow captured the featherweight title.  Detroit Free Press boxing writer Joe Carveth wrote at the time that Louis had "established himself as the greatest amateur in the country."

Soon it seemed that every kid practicing in schools, gyms, and recreation centers in Detroit and elsewhere wanted to become the next Joe Louis. In the first four years that the Detroit Free Press sponsored the tournament, 4,532 boys registered to compete in Golden Gloves.

Thirty years after Joe Louis won his first Detroit Golden Gloves light heavyweight title, in 1963 Detroit placed three entrants in the Golden Gloves National Finals and won their first team championship since 1939.

Emanuel Steward, an 18-year-old student and pipefitter won the Bantamweight national title and eventually compiled a 94-3 amateur record. However he became more famous as an elite trainer when in 1971 he began training boxers at Detroit's Kronk Gym.

Steward's most prized pupil was Thomas Hearns who in 1977 won the national Golden Gloves Light Welterweight title before turning pro later that year. (Fellow Kronk boxer Rick Jester won the Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight title).  Steward's first two of many professional champions were crowned in 1980 when Hilmer Kenty won a lightweight world title and Hearns captured a welterweight title.

"It was really great being part of Golden Gloves and to win the title in 1977 was incredible for me," says Hearns. "I was so young.  It wasn't easy to do but it really set me up for my pro career. To me, Emanuel Steward was the Godfather of Boxing. He always made sure that I was ready to perform."

In 1983 Steward's Detroit boxers won the Golden Gloves team title (the first since 1963) when Ricky Womack won the light heavyweight title, Frank Tate captured the junior middleweight crown, Roderick Moore the lightweight title, and Craig Payne the super heavyweight title.

The only other year that Detroit hosted the National Golden Gloves championships was in 2000 when at Joe Louis Arena, 19-year-old Arthur Palac of Hamtramck in the 178-pound division won his second consecutive national Golden Gloves title (in '99 he won the 165-pound division).

Organizers are thrilled the 2024 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions is returning to the home of Joe Louis. An official from Golden Gloves of America says "there will be approximately 300 boxers competing in Detroit along with about 250 coaches and 75 officials in attendance."

"When I took over Metro Detroit Golden Gloves in 2015 my goal was to host the national tournament" says Ansel Stewart, the President of the of organization who has continued to serve as a boxing referee and judge for twenty years.

"It costs a lot of money and it's like placing a bid for a convention so we partnered with the Downtown Boxing Gym," says Stewart. "We emphasized that Detroit is not what it was in 1990 and 2000 and highlighted that the city has become a popular destination.  We expect a very good attendance because we are next to Canada and we are within driving distance to neighboring states with Golden Gloves franchises."

Stewart says "boxing is coming back strong in Detroit" and that he has seen an increase in Golden Gloves participation.

"Last year we had around 150 boxers and we are hoping to get more to register with Detroit Golden Gloves," says Stewart who is hoping to have 15 boxers, male and female, compete in the national tournament. "Some want to become pro boxers and the national tournament is like a coming out party for them where they will be seen and perhaps then sign a pro contract," he says.

Stewart says that the value of participating in Golden Gloves goes far beyond the learning the skills of the sport.

"Golden Gloves helps keep kids off the street and when they train, they're too tired to do anything else," says Stewart who besides organizing local Golden Gloves tournaments raises money so he can take boxers to the national tournament every year.

"Boxing teaches them about taking care of their bodies, eating right, and becoming disciplined with a dedication that can carry over into the rest of your life," he says. "Boxing is not an easy sport. You are going to get hit and in life you will have to take some punches. But if your dedicated you can pick yourself up and get on with your life."

The mission statement of Golden Gloves of America reads:
"To provide an activity and safe environment that promotes and enhances the physical and emotional well-being and social development of young athletes; develop individual skills, work ethic, discipline, sportsmanship, self-respect and pride; and provides entertainment to citizens of the community."

Khali Sweeney, the CEO and Founder of the Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit, a renowned organization that since 2007 provides free after school academic and athletic programs for Detroit students. partnered with the Metro Detroit Golden Gloves in placing the bid for the national tournament.

"Detroit has some of the best boxers in the country but when it's time to go to the national tournaments that are often far away people may not have the resources to travel across the country," says Sweeney. "It's important to have families and friends there to support them. I want the whole city to come out and support our fighters from Detroit at the national tournament.  I prefer to watch amateur boxing rather than pro boxing because it is truly competitive with young people passionate about winning."

For more information on the 2024 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, go to:
Detroit Golden Gloves website:  https://www.detroitgoldengloves.org/
For more information on the Downtown Boxing Gym go to:  https://dbgdetroit.org/

(Sidebar)
National Golden Gloves Champions 1928-2023 From Detroit
(Source: Golden Gloves of America, Inc.)

1934: Chicago
Al Nettlow, Featherweight
Joe Louis, Light Heavyweight
 
1935: Chicago
Patsy Urso, Flyweight
Dave Clark, Middleweight
Lorenzo Peck, Heavyweight
 
1936: Chicago
Milton Shivers, Middleweight
 
1937: Chicago, IL
Jimmy Urso, Flyweight
Edward Kozole, Lightweight
 
1939: Chicago, IL
Vic Saccola, Flyweight
Tony Ancona, Featherweight
 
1940: Chicago, IL
Tony Ancona, Lightweight
 
1941: Chicago, IL
Charles Hayes, Middleweight
 
1955: Chicago, IL
Eddie Jenkins, Light Heavyweight
 
1963: Chicago<>
Emanuel Steward, Bantamweight
 
1964: Louisville, KY
Hedgeman Lewis, Lightweight
 
1965: Kansas City, MO
Al Jones, Middleweight
Larry Charleston, Light Heavyweight
 
1966: Kansas City, MO
Hedgeman Lewis, Welterweight
 
1967: Milwaukee, WI
Quincelon Daniels, Featherweight
Willie Richardson, Lightweight
 
1968: Salt Lake City, UT
Leonard Hutchins, Light Heavyweight
 
1973: Albuquerque, NM
Johnny Hudson, Heavyweight
 
1976: Miami, FL
Rick Jester, Light Heavyweight
 
1977: Honolulu, HI
Thomas Hearns, Lightweight
Rick Jester, Light Heavyweight
 
1980: Shreveport, LA
Steve McCory, Flyweight 
 
1982: Kansas City, MO
Arthel Lawhorn, Middleweight
Keith Vining, Light Heavyweight
 
1983: Albuquerque, NM
Roderick Moore, Lightweight
Frank Tate, Welterweight
Ricky Womack, Light Heavyweight
 
1991: Des Moines, IA
Jeremy Williams, Light Heavyweight

1994: Milwaukee, WI
Derrick Jefferson, Super Heavyweight
 
1995: Lowell, MA
David Palac, Welterweight
 
1997: Denver, CO
Kenito Drake, Featherweight
 
1999: Syracuse, NY
Arthur Palac, Middleweight
 
2000: Detroit, MI
Arthur Palac, Light Heavyweight
 
2001: Reno, NV
Lonnie Zaid, Super Heavyweight
 
2008: Grand Rapids, MI
Craig Lewis, Heavyweight
 
2009: Salt Lake City, UT
Erick Deleon, Featherweight
 
2010: Little Rock, AR
Erick Deleon, Featherweight
 
2011: Indianapolis, IN
Erick Deleon, Featherweight
 
2016: Salt Lake City, UT
Isiah Jone, Middleweight
Marcus Carter, Super Heavyweight