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20/11/2007
Team Manager's Report from Minnesota Golden Gloves
An England team travelled to the USA for the 1st Minnesota Golden Gloves tournament this weekend. Mick Gannon sent the following report.
Wednesday 14th
The team met up at the south terminal of Gatwick airport on time, checked in and had a one-hour delay and still reached our destination on time. When we arrived we were met and taken to an English pub/restaurant where we were given food and welcomed to the USA. We were then driven for about one hour to our hotel and boxing venue a small town called Hinckley. The lads were allocated rooms and got their heads down for the night.
Thursday 15th
The team was awake early because of the time difference, had a check weigh and ate breakfast. It was agreed that all boxers would given a 2lb weight allowance. Later in the morning we were taken to a nearby gym where the boxers had a light session of skip, shadow and pads and the back to the hotel to relax.
A shopping trip was arranged for the late afternoon where the team took advantage of the cheap price of American goods. When we arrived back to the hotel the boxers checked their weight and an early night's sleep.
Friday 16th
The official weigh in was 8am and the boxers all made their weight and then had breakfast. At the draw the English and Scottish boxers made up a UK team and were put one side of the draw with the Irish team (as it would have not made sense to travel four and a half thousand miles to be initially drawn against the Irish). Four of our boxers were drawn against Americans with Mark Clauzel getting a bye to the final. In the afternoon we had a meeting, strips were given out and the team was briefed by Mick Basi our referee. The first session was preceded with an opening ceremony of teams and national anthems.
48kg/106lbs Sammy Smith vs Keola McKee USA
Sammy had good start and made it difficult for the American to connect because of his movement and fast hands. In the second Keola tried to get Sammy pinned against the ropes to land his bombs but Sammy's slick movement and counters extended his lead with all five USA judges (manual scoring) awarding the bout to Smith.
51Kg/112lbs Ashley Sexton vs Aaron Alafa USA
Ashley found it difficult to catch the slick southpaw and was caught each time he jumped in on the attack. The bout was very entertaining with Ashley continually attacking his opponent but the cleaner shots came from the American clearly winning the bout on points.
54Kg/119lbs Bradley Evans vs Ronny Rios USA
Bradley boxed out of his skin against the very talented 17 year old Rios, who went on to win the gold to given boxer of the tournament award. Both boxers were given a standing ovation with Bradley finishing the stronger of the two after four twos nonstop action. The American always had one clean shot more during the continual exchanges.
64Kg/131lbs Michael Bailey vs Brad Soloman USA
The heavy handed extremely fast American stamped his authority from the first bell. Michael allowed his opponent to dictate the pace and control the first three rounds of the bout. In the fourth round Michael took the bout to the American, winning the round convincingly, however he was trying to play catch up and was too far behind losing on points.
After the boxing the team had an evening meal. The two remaining boxers had a check weigh in and went to bed.
Saturday 17th
At 6.50 am Mark Clauzel came to check his weight and told me he didn't feel too well, he took two paracetamol and went back to bed for an hour. At 8am he went to the official weigh in and was passed fit to box by the doctor. He came back and said he was still rough and went to bed. I took the rest of the team out for a couple hours to a large Wal-Mart.
Late afternoon Mark said he couldn't get out of bed and wouldn't be boxing so I informed the organisers that he wouldn't be boxing that evening in the final.
Finals
Sammy Smith vs Charlie Clemente Puerto Rico
First round both boxers feeling each other out with Clemente just nicking the first round. In the second there was some good combinations thrown by Sam only to be spoilt by staying too close and being caught cleanly with the finishing shot. The same was happening in the third. Sam's best round was the fourth He boxed at long range brilliantly, clearly winning the round. At the end Clemente was given a deserved decision.
After the boxing about midnight I checked on Mark to see how he was and he said no better. I asked him if had anything to eat and he said he couldn't keep it down, but he had some water.
Sunday 18th
At 8am the team were picked up and transported to the airport. The team had eight hours to kill before our flight, so I took them to the Mall of America by train where they did some more shopping in one of America's biggest malls. It was good to see Mark Clauzel had made a full recovery, getting his strength back to eat a whopper meal in Burger King.
The team arrived back in UK at 9.10am on Monday morning and made their way home.
Opposition
We knew the strengths of the Irish but not the Americans or Puerto Ricans.
Both had typical pro flat-footed styles that relied on power shots. I have never seen so many knockouts and stoppages in such a small tournament and fortunately our boxer's style and movement proved that they found it very difficult to land solid blows, hence none of our boxers that boxed had early nights.
Behaviour
The team gelled together, were extremely well behaved and many good comments were made because of this. Those that boxed did their country proud; they all boxed the eventual winners and gave them better bouts than their finals opponents. This was also commented on.
Culture
The town of Hinckley is a small well spread out town of a population of 1000. The only thing worth seeing is the casino where the boxing was held. The nearest shops are a 30-minute taxi ride away.
Assistant Coach
Paul Stevenson did a cracking job as my assistant making sure things ran smoothly and having the boxers warmed and ready for action. He was well liked by the team and our hosts. He also helped with all of the Scottish team, assisting their National Coach.
Referee
Mik Basi did us proud by being the tournaments best referee; he was also the first England referee to be inaugurated as a referee into the National Golden Gloves of America. (He told me that there were no pagan initiation ceremonies to it, but I'm sure the truth will come out one day)
Note
The Tournament is a good learning curve for our future senior talent. The Americans were very young team that will not stay in the Amateur game for long as most come from Pro Am gyms; I think it is good testing ground for our future stars to test their skills on this style of boxing.
The Team
Mick Gannon Coach/Team Leader
Paul Stevenson Assistant Coach
Mik Basi Referee & Judge
48Kg Sammy Smith
51Kg Ashley Sexton
54Kg Bradley Evans
64Kg Michael Bailey
69Kg Mark Clauzel
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