Golden Gloves

The Golden Gloves Assn. of America's franchise holders have agreed to move the amateur boxing organization's headquarters to Louisville from Albuquerque, N.M. The office would move by early next year to renovated offices in Louisville Gardens with a dedication in April 1989 during the national Golden Gloves tournament at the downtown facility. The annual tournament would be in Louisville thereafter.

If Patricia Manuel went to the Police Athletic League boxing tournament with her Olympic hopes very much in doubt, Mikaela Mayer, a former sparring partner, was simply passing through on her way to the U.S. trials. A fledgling model from the San Fernando Valley, Mayer earned one of eight invitations to the February trials three months ago when she won her third national title at the Golden Gloves tournament. And in Toledo she boxed like a fighter with nothing at stake, losing to eventual PAL champion N'yteeyah Sherman in a lackluster opening bout.

Joseph Nolan, 85, a Golden Gloves boxing champion in the 1930s, died Sunday of cancer in Peabody, Mass. Nolan fought as a flyweight and won 160 of 168 fights. He captured the national Amateur Athletic Union 126-pound title in 1933 and the Golden Gloves title three times between 1934 and 1938. He was awarded a boxing scholarship to the University of New Hampshire, but the school dropped the sport eight days after he arrived on campus.

"Jibbs Featuring Jibbs" Jibbs Geffen Artist info: Jibbs, only 16, emerged from the freestyle battleground of St. Louis five years ago as a wunderkind with a rap that incorporated humor into references to bling ("I got charms so heavy that my neck don't like me"), pop-culture icons (King Kong) and shout-outs to rap figures (Timbaland).

Urbano Antillon, a senior at Bell High, took a big step toward his goal of becoming a professional boxer by winning the 132-pound division at the national Golden Gloves tournament in Detroit. Antillon, 17, won five bouts during the tournament and defeated Anthony Mora, representing Colorado/New Mexico, to win the title last Saturday. He won four bouts, including the championship, by unanimous decision. His second-round victory was awarded after his opponent was disqualified for holding.

Dwain Williams, Frank Carmona and Fidel Hernandez reached the finals of the Golden Gloves boxing tournament last week at Lincoln Park. Finals were held Saturday, too late for publication. Williams (25-7), a Dorsey High junior who boxes for Normandie/Denker Recreation Center, won his prelim and boxed stablemate Jose Arias Saturday. Williams (147 pounds) bested Anthony Nevarez of Oxnard, 3-0. Carmona (40-23), of Resurrection Gym of East L.A.

There are nine bouts tonight in the Georgia Golden Gloves Championships at the Omni, but the main attraction is Evander Holyfield. Holyfield, the 27-year-old Atlantan who got his start in the Gloves ranks 19 years ago, is the No. 1 heavyweight contender. He expects to fight heavyweight champion Buster Douglas for the title in September and will meet Seamus McDonagh June 1 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Ricardo Ponce's plodding, no-nonsense style is somewhat out of place at a Golden Gloves competition. His approach doesn't quite mesh with amateur rules, which reward boxers for number of punches landed, defense and style. But Saturday in the San Diego Golden Gloves 139-pound open finals at Coons Gym, Ponce's crisp and powerful blows transcended all amateur guidelines.

Area boxers Oscar Lopez, Frank Carmona, Dwain Williams and Fidel Hernandez all won their final bouts April 15 at the Southern California Golden Gloves tournament open division finals. The victories earned the quartet a shot at a May 1-6 trip to the national Golden Gloves tournament in Lowell, Mass.--provided they won their matches Saturday at the state Golden Gloves championships at Lincoln Park Recreation Center.

It looked pretty simple on television to Robert Shepard. Just stick and move and throw a combination every now and then. "I was watching the amateur fights on (ESPN), and I felt I could take them," Shepard said. Nothing to it, right Robert? Not exactly. Friday night at Coons Gym in the San Diego Golden Gloves tournament, Shepard learned that boxing is about 100-degree gyms above Laundromatsand awkward fighters who want nothing more than to take your head off.

Joseph Nolan, 85, a Golden Gloves boxing champion in the 1930s, died Sunday of cancer in Peabody, Mass. Nolan fought as a flyweight and won 160 of 168 fights. He captured the national Amateur Athletic Union 126-pound title in 1933 and the Golden Gloves title three times between 1934 and 1938. He was awarded a boxing scholarship to the University of New Hampshire, but the school dropped the sport eight days after he arrived on campus.

Alex Ramos was a born fighter. By choice or by circumstance, inside the ring or out, he could be nothing else. Reared in the blighted South Bronx, he escaped via the boxing ring. A four-time Golden Gloves winner, the middleweight contender swapped jabs with Michael Nunn and gibes with Howard Cosell. When he wound up in jail, an alcoholic and drug addict, Ramos fought on. "I will die a boxer," he once vowed. Five years ago, his biggest fight seemed won.

Urbano Antillon, a senior at Bell High, took a big step toward his goal of becoming a professional boxer by winning the 132-pound division at the national Golden Gloves tournament in Detroit. Antillon, 17, won five bouts during the tournament and defeated Anthony Mora, representing Colorado/New Mexico, to win the title last Saturday. He won four bouts, including the championship, by unanimous decision. His second-round victory was awarded after his opponent was disqualified for holding.

"Knockout" can't be said to live up to its title--it's too predictable and formulaic for that. But this story of an East L.A. Latina determined to follow in her father's footsteps to the boxing ring does pack a punch. The point of this picture is that it's high time for more Latinas to believe that they can pursue their dreams without sacrificing the possibility of love and marriage.

The cars are lined up 15-deep outside the Irvine Marriott. A yellow Porsche behind a white Rolls-Royce behind a bright red Mercedes convertible behind a dark green pickup truck with Mexico plates. It is two hours before the Battle in the Ballroom. Yuppie boxing this has been called, a gathering of well-dressed doctors and lawyers and business owners from Newport Beach and Irvine and Laguna Niguel, but also construction workers from Pomona and restaurant workers from East L.A.

Ron Siler of Cincinnati defeated Mario Aguiniga of Oxnard by a 2-1 decision Friday in a in ta 90-pound division semifinal bout of the Junior Golden Gloves boxing competition at Cincinnati. Aguiniga, 14, who will start his freshman year at Channel Islands High next month, was the aggressor in the bout, according to Southern California Coach Ben Lira, but hometown fighter Siler was awarded the victory. "Mario lost, but he didn't really lose," Lira said. "It was a very disappointing decision.

Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard are among top-ranked current and former boxers who started off as Golden Gloves champions and later became professional fighters. Now, Salvador Jasso of East Los Angeles hopes to join the crop of fighters who have used the Golden Gloves as a springboard to the Olympics and to the pro ranks. Jasso, who is ranked No.

If Patricia Manuel went to the Police Athletic League boxing tournament with her Olympic hopes very much in doubt, Mikaela Mayer, a former sparring partner, was simply passing through on her way to the U.S. trials. A fledgling model from the San Fernando Valley, Mayer earned one of eight invitations to the February trials three months ago when she won her third national title at the Golden Gloves tournament. And in Toledo she boxed like a fighter with nothing at stake, losing to eventual PAL champion N'yteeyah Sherman in a lackluster opening bout.

These are the hands that once formed the fists of one of the most-punishing punchers in professional boxing. They are strong hands, with worn, stained and bent fingers. These are the hands of Jesus Pimentel, perhaps the greatest bantamweight fighter who never won a world championship. Now they are a grandfather's hands, gently and lovingly stroking the arms and legs of grandson Andrew Christian as the stocky 4-month-old snuggles into a portable bassinet for an afternoon nap.

KO'd in his quest to be a boxing champion, Phil Paolina has become a trainer, Westside style. While many boxing establishments suffer from a seamy image, the La Brea Avenue club operated by Paolina, a 37-year-old Brooklyn native, is upscale, brightly colored and hip by design, as good for hanging out as for working out. The 7,000-square-foot space, a former yarn store in a strip mall just south of Wilshire Boulevard, is dominated by a red, white and blue 22-by-22-foot ring.