ICONIC TOURNEY

It is time to put up your dukes as boxing’s most storied tournament has Queens fighters back under the lights and ready to rumble for a chance at immortality in the annals of the sweet science.
The 84th New York Daily News Golden Gloves makes its New York City return this month with fights throughout the five boroughs and Long Island. The Golden Gloves consists of 10 weeks of elimination bouts with a field of hundreds of fighters, which will be narrowed down through these bouts to compete in the finals at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, to be held on April 7 and 8.
The Gloves makes its first stop in Queens during week five of the tournament, at the Elmcor Recreation Center in Corona. There are also stops in Flushing at Holy Cross High School on February 25, the Electric Industry on March 18 and the K2 Boxing Club on March 23.
Queens will be well represented in this year’s tournament, with both amateurs and veteran fighters stepping into the ring for a chance at the gold. La Tarish Fountain, the 2010 women’s Golden Gloves champion, puts her title on the line.
Fountain, 33, is a social worker by day and a 152-pound boxer by night. Ranked No. 2 in the country, she rapidly climbed the ranks fighting out of Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn and The Rock Fitness, a gym in the basement of the United Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood.
With women’s boxing set to make its Olympic debut at the 2012 London games, the Golden Gloves is not just a high profile competition – it’s also a training exercise for Fountain, who will just sneak under the age cutoff when the Games roll around.
On the men’s side, Alberto Arce of East Elmhurst won a Fighter of the Night award in last year’s tournament – this year, he’ll look to expand on that with a metal winning performance. Trevis Hall, a champion in 2009, will look to bounce back after a tough 2010.
The Golden Gloves legacy is one that every fighter worth his or her spit bucket strives to use as a showcase for their talent and their fighter’s spirit. Since 1927, local boxers have competed for the chance to win a Daily News Golden Gloves championship. The Daily News Golden Gloves was the launching pad for world champions Emile Griffith, Jose Torres, Floyd Patterson, Riddick Bowe, Mark Breland, Zab Judah, three time world women’s lightweight champ Alicia Ashley, and Melissa Salamone.