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The Theatre at Madison Square Garden will be the home to New York’s 80th Annual Daily News Golden Gloves Finals on April 19 and 20. Over 500 amateur boxers entered the tournament this year and during the finals, 33 champions will win the coveted Golden Gloves in the open, novice and women’s divisions.
In honor of the 80th Annual Daily News Golden Gloves, I thought it was appropriate to look back at its history and I had the pleasure of speaking with Bill Farrell author of Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves, to find out about how the tournament got started.
In addition to his knowledge about the history of the Daily News Golden Gloves Bill also covered the event from ringside, beginning in 1987 through 2005.
The Golden Gloves was started by the Daily News sports editor Paul Gallico. During the 1920’s there were was nothing to report in the sports pages between the end of the college football season and the start of spring training for baseball. In an effort to fill the void in the sports pages during the winter months, and given his passion for the sport of boxing, Gallico decided to start a boxing competition with the finest amateur boxers in the metropolitan area.
Amateur boxing was kind of crooked during that time, so Gallico thought the name of the Daily News would give it legitimacy. He started the tournament in March 1927 and expected to get about 100-120 entries, but received around 3000, which were cut off at 1200 entries.
The reason for the high level of interest was the introduction of a sub-novice class which meant anybody who wanted to box could enter, even if they had never put on a pair of gloves. It was a tremendous success and it has been going on ever since.
The first Daily New Golden Gloves Finals at Madison Square Garden set the attendance record with over 20,000 people. They had to block off the streets around Madison Square Garden due to all the people trying to get tickets. It continued to attract sell out crowds until the 1970’s.
Around 1988, the Finals were moved to what was then called the Felt Forum and held over two nights. The Felt Forum (now called The Theatre at Madison Square Garden ) holds 5,500 people and each year both nights of the Finals are nearly completely sold out.
The New York Daily News Golden Gloves Tournament is a separate entity from the National Golden Gloves. The National Golden Gloves requires that the boxer must be a US citizen to compete as it may lead to an opportunity to compete in the US Olympic Trials.
In New York, resident aliens are allowed to compete, so only US citizen New York champions are able to compete at National Golden Glove Tournaments. Many boxers have been known to come from Europe and live in New York just for an opportunity to compete in the New York tournament.
The New York Daily News Golden Gloves have produced generations of champions who became legendary as professional fighters. Emile Griffith, Floyd Patterson, and Sugar Ray Robinson were all Golden Glove Champions. Other greats include Riddick Bowe, Mark Breland, Gerry Cooney, Joe Mesi, Mike Tyson and current contender Paulie Malignaggi.
There is a lot of talent that comes out of the tournament every year. Danny Jacobs is going for his fourth title in the 165 pound open division and is probably the best amateur boxer in America today. Luis Del Valle at 125 pounds, Sadam Ali at 132 pounds, Will Rosinsky at 178 pounds, and Adam Willett at heavyweight are all National Champions.
Will any of these favorites or the other finalists become the next great professional fighter? Based on the history of the Daily News Golden Gloves, it is a strong possibility.
Watch for NY Daily News Golden Gloves – Part II featuring the comments and photos from the Finals from April 19, 2007.
Special thanks to Bill Farrell for taking the time to speak with me about his vast knowledge of the Daily News Golden Gloves.
