2017 New England Golden Gloves Team Champion – Western New England

(pictures courtesy of Jeffrey Freeman / KO Digest)

LOWELL, Mass. (March 3, 2017) – Western New England won its fourth consecutive New England Tournament of Champions open class team title last night in the grand finale of the 71st annual Lowell Sun Charities Golden Gloves Championship, at historic Lowell Memorial Auditorium.

Western NE had seven individual winners to earn the Bill Hoar Memorial Award as the Most Outstanding Team.  Northern New England finished second with three individual winners and Central New England had two.

“Once again,” New England Golden Gloves Executive Director Bobby Russo said, “it was a great tournament with so many good, competitive matches.  We had the biggest crowd of the season turnout for the finals.  The draw was done by computer, so the marches were nice and fair.  I really liked the way these boxers were matched. The fans here in Lowell have been appreciated for a long time watching good fights and we plan to keep that rich tradition going.”

Western New England bantamweight Nathan Martinez, who defeated Joseph Valdez on points last night, was named the recipient of the Thomas Costello Memorial Award as the Most Outstanding Boxer.

Norther New England lightweight Liz Leddy won her sixth All-New England title with a close points win over Kelsay Kaiser, while three-time National Golden Gloves champion Rashidi Ellis (Central New England), who is the No. 2 rated lightweight in the United States, took a decision against defending N.E. champion Lyndsay Kyajohnian.

Western New England light heavyweight Elivis Figueroa captured his third All-New England crown.  His teammate, Hampton Miller (pictured below), stopped Sean Gabriel in the second round to win the Rocky Marciano Memorial Award as the Most Outstanding Heavyweight Boxer.

Last night’s open-class winners qualified to be members of Team New England at the National Golden Gloves Championships for men in Lafayette, Louisiana (May) and women in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (July).

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“New England will be sending a strong team to the National Golden Gloves,” Russo added.  “We may only have three female boxers going to The Nationals, but each one of them have won national tournaments.  Anyone of the male boxers on Team New England could win at The Nationals.  I think Elvis (Figueroa), Yarmarco (Guzman) and Josniel (Castro).  I will offer the Team New England head coaching position to Luis Rosa from the winning Western New England team. We’ll also be brining Carlos Garcia (veteran coach from Worcester), who will be inducted into the National Golden Gloves Hall of Fame.)

Proceeds from the Lowell Sun Charities Golden Gloves Championship went towards sending the New England Golden Gloves champions to the National Golden Gloves Championship, in addition to supporting local athletes and area gyms, the Boys & Girls Club, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, cancer funds, scholarships and many other great charitable causes.

N.E. open class finals results below:

New England Golden Gloves Executive Director: Bobby Russo

Director of Contestants: Art Ramalho

Chief of Officials:  Laurie Purcell

Ring Announcer:  John Vena

Venue:  Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 Merrimack St., Lowell, MA

Website:  www.lowellgoldengloves.com

Twitter:  @LowellGloves