Golden Gloves facts for kids
Golden Gloves
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| First event | 1928 |
|---|---|
| Occur every | Year |
| Parent organization | USA Boxing |
| Website | GoldenGlovesusa.com |
The Golden Gloves of America is a group that organizes yearly amateur boxing competitions in the United States. Winners get a special belt, a ring, and the title of national champion. This organization has 30 local groups, called franchises. Many coaches and volunteers help run boxing gyms and events all over the U.S. They hold local, regional, and a big National Tournament of Champions every year. "Golden Gloves" can mean the national competition or other smaller tournaments like the Chicago Golden Gloves.
Contents
The Start of Golden Gloves Boxing
How the Golden Gloves Began
The idea for the Golden Gloves started in 1923. Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, thought of having a city-wide amateur boxing tournament in Chicago. The Tribune began sponsoring the event in 1927.
Soon, an annual tournament was held between boxers from Chicago and New York. Over time, other cities joined in, and a national tournament was created. The Chicago and New York Golden Gloves tournaments were seen as the most important ones. Winners from certain states went to Chicago to compete. Winners from other parts of the U.S. competed in New York.
The Intercity and National Tournaments
The champions from Chicago and New York would then face each other. This final competition was called the Intercity Golden Gloves tournament. It was like a national championship held in famous places like the Chicago Stadium. The Intercity Golden Gloves ran from 1928 to 1961.
The official National Golden Gloves contest began in 1962. It is still the most respected amateur boxing tournament in the United States. The Golden Gloves Association of America, Inc. organizes and controls it.
Who Can Compete Today
Winners from 32 regional Golden Gloves competitions come together. They form teams based on their weight classes. These teams then compete in the national event, called the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. This big event happens once a year, and a different city hosts it each time.
The Golden Gloves program is set up so that all parts of the country can be represented. All tournaments follow the rules of amateur boxing. Many famous professional boxers started their careers in the Golden Gloves. These include Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Barney Ross.
Age Groups for Boxers
The Golden Gloves tournaments are open to athletes aged 19 to 40. Both citizens and non-citizens can compete. There is also a Silver Gloves tournament for younger boxers, aged 10 to 15.
How to Reach the National Level
To compete in the National Golden Gloves tournament, boxers must win at different levels:
- Sub-Franchise (Local/State) Golden Gloves
- Franchise (Regional) Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves competitions started before the Golden Gloves of America became a formal organization. For a long time, different states had slightly different weight class limits.
Golden Gloves Across the USA
The Golden Gloves organization has many local groups, called franchises, across the United States. These franchises organize their own tournaments. Here are some of them:
- Buffalo Golden Gloves
- California Golden Gloves
- Chicago Golden Gloves
- Cincinnati Golden Gloves
- Cleveland Golden Gloves
- Colorado-New Mexico Golden Gloves
- Detroit Golden Gloves
- Florida Golden Gloves
- Hawaii Golden Gloves
- Indiana Golden Gloves
- Iowa Golden Gloves
- Kansas City Golden Gloves
- Kansas-Oklahoma Golden Gloves
- Michigan Golden Gloves
- Mid-South Golden Gloves
- Nevada Golden Gloves
- New England Golden Gloves
- New Jersey Golden Gloves
- New York Metro Golden Gloves
- Omaha Golden Gloves
- Pennsylvania Golden Gloves
- Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves
- Southeast Golden Gloves
- St. Louis Golden Gloves
- Texas Golden Gloves
- Toledo Golden Gloves
- Tri-State Golden Gloves
- Upper Midwest Golden Gloves
- Washington, D.C. Golden Gloves
- Wisconsin Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves Around the World
Other countries also have similar amateur boxing awards. For example, Mexico has Guantes De Oro, which means "Gloves of Gold" in Spanish.
The Diamond Belt Award
In the past, some amateur boxing tournaments gave winners a special Diamond Belt. This belt showed that they were amateur champions. Different groups and newspapers sponsored these tournaments. The Philadelphia Inquirer was one of the well-known sponsors. Famous Diamond Belt winners include George Foreman and Bobby Chacon.
BC Golden Gloves in Canada
British Columbia, Canada, has its own yearly Golden Gloves tournament. This event has been happening regularly since 1939. The first BC Golden Gloves champions included Alan Dunn and Bob Hickey.
See also
In Spanish: Guantes de Oro para niños
- Amateur boxing
- NCAA Boxing Championship
- Spanish Golden Gloves
- USA Boxing
