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Kingston Times - Featured News | 11/19/2009 |
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Put up your dukes
Saturday's 'Fight Night' another chapter in city's boxing surge |
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| | Courtney Beaupre of Gardiner trains with Al Nace at the neighborhood center. Beaupre is coordinator of the Mental Health Association's Transitions program, and brings clients to the gym for workouts.
[ Dan Barton ] | |
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by Jesse J. Smith
It's Monday, "floor time" at the Kingston Police Athletic League's Billy Costello boxing gym, tucked behind the stage at the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center on Broadway.
It's a small space, crammed with a ring, a few heavy bags and just enough room to safely swing a jump rope. The real attraction for mix of youths and adults who come to the gym each week is sitting in the corner talking shop with former pro boxer Ellis Harris. Billy Costello, former WBC super lightweight world champion, helped put Kingston on the map of the boxing world with three title defense bouts fought right here at the neighborhood center during the mid-1980's.
"He's a former champion so it's a different thing (from other boxing clubs)," said Georgette Miller who drives from Stamford on the far side of Dutchess County to train at the Kingston PAL gym. "He looks at me like I'm Laila Ali, he trains you like you're getting ready to go in the ring, even if that's not going to happen."
But for a few Kingston PAL fighters, Costello's training could mean the difference between victory and defeat on Saturday night when the club hosts "Fall Fight Night" at the neighborhood center. Costello has maintained his connections in boxing; preparing for the Fall Fight Night, he reached put those connections to work reaching out to high powered names like one-time WBC featherweight champion Juan Laporte and middleweight world champion Vito Antuofermo to bring their best amateur fighters to the event. The prospect of fighters trained by one world champion taking on the prot￩g￩s of another champ, Costello said, lends an added dimension of prestige and excitement to the PAL event.
"When it's my head against Juan's head, or Vito's head it makes it exciting because you know you're going to see high-quality fighters," said Costello. "You're going to see guys who have some real technique."
Along with the downstate clubs, local fighters from the Demorest and Fists of Fury clubs are expected to participate in the event. This is evidence of a renewed interest in the sport, at least locally. Five years ago, Demorest's, also located on Broadway, was the only boxing gym in Kingston. Now, would-be pugilists have three clubs to choose from and fight fans flock to Demorest's fight nights at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock and Fists of Fury's recent boxing event at the Mid-Hudson Athletic Club.
"You have a little something for everybody, it depends what you're looking for," said Harris who trains fighters at Demorest's club. "Everybody finds their groove."
At Kingston's PAL boxing program (which is free and supports itself through money raised by fight nights and private donations), the emphasis is summed up in the PAL motto - "Bringing Cops and Kids Together." While many of the gym regulars are adults, Costello and PAL President Aaron Fitzgerald are always on the lookout for kids who could use the discipline and self-confidence instilled by boxing.
"Traditionally fighters come out of ghettos, they come out of hard times, and I see those kids in the gym, but not as many as there should be. I see too many out on the backstreets playing at being gangsters," said Costello. "You don't just learn to box in here, you learn self-respect and self-discipline and how to take responsibility for your actions."
Al Nace, who runs substance abuse programs for HealthAlliance, began coming to the gym to recover from shoulder surgery. Now, he helps train fighters in hopes that youth who find their way to the boxing gym won't end up clients at his methadone clinic. Nace said he also values the PAL's emphasis on technique and safety.
"Professional fighting is all about money and hurting the other guy," said Nace. "But on the amateur level it's about developing your skills and having fun."
Seeking the next big thing
Like any boxing club, though, trainers at the PAL are always hoping to find a young prospect with the rare mix of raw talent and discipline to take their game to the professional level.
"There's plenty of talent out there, the problem is putting it all together," said Fitzgerald. "You have [local amateurs] who have the kind of talent where they can just walk in ... and muscle up some guy in the ring. But at the professional level everybody's got that talent but they also have the discipline and the focus."
For now though, Fitzgerald is focused on returning Kingston's boxing scene to the glory days when Costello battled for his belt in the sweaty, jam-packed confines of the neighborhood center.
"I want to put boxing back on the map in Kingston and that's going to be a combined effort by all three gyms," said Fitzgerald. "And over the next two or three fights I want to get this place back the way it was when Billy was fighting here - sold out."
Fall Fight Night is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center on Broadway. Doors open at 6 p.m.; bouts begin at 7. General admission tickets are $15, ringside $25. For more information go to kingstonpal.com.
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© 2010 Ulster Publishing, Inc.
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