EAST TEXAS BOXING

Sunday, January 24, 2010 The Tyler Morning Telegraph ran a Front Page article about East Texas Golden Gloves entering a new era.


Golden Gloves Enters New Era
By Chris Parry
Staff Writer


Ever dreamed of sitting ringside on Fight Night?

How about being in the ring?

East Texans will have a chance to do both this week.

The 70th Annual East Texas Golden Gloves boxing tournament is a three-day event that begins Thursday at Smith's Lone Star Event Center in Tyler.

Tickets for this week's Golden Gloves are $10 for general admission and $15 for ringside seats. Bouts will feature four youth divisions, a Men's and Women's Open Division and for the first time, an All-Comer Division.

Open Champions advance to the Texas State Golden Gloves Tournament in March at John Justin Arena in Fort Worth.

The only qualification needed for the All-Comer division is to have never boxed before.

"There are going to be 12 different gyms with fighters competing, but I think (the All-Comers), that's going to be the biggest division," said Shawn Vascocu, tournament director and grandson of the late E. A. "Lucky" Vascocu, who died in 2005 after dedicating much of his life to amateur boxing.

"If you just want to say, 'Hey, I once fought in the Golden Gloves,' now you get your chance. You will be matched up with another fighter without any bouts. There may not be a lot of 'boxing' in that division, but the leather should be flying and it will be fun to watch."

This is also the first time the Golden Gloves will be in Tyler since the 1990s when the tournament was staged at the Oil Palace, Mayfair Building and Caldwell Gym.

East Texas Boxing Association decided to move it from Byron Payton Memorial Gymnasium in Troup to make it more accessible to fans. Vascocu said Byron Payton Gym was built for boxers: it's off a dirt road, had limited parking, no air-conditioning and limited seating capacity.

Last year's Golden Gloves tournament was trimmed from the usual three-day event to two. Vascocu said the Dallas Golden Gloves Association threatened to take away the tournament because of the lack of interest.

"Since my grandfather passed away, we haven't had a really big tournament," Vascocu said. "Our board of directors had a vote to move it back to Tyler and most people were for it. It's a lot bigger deal now. We have billboards up and commercials talking about it.

"It's kind of bittersweet because we are taking it away from (Lucky's) gym. But, at the same time, we were about to lose it all."

So, East Texas Boxing had the desire to move, but didn't have a location. Add to that limited financial resources as Payton Gym never charged a fee to hold the tournament.

Enter Judith Smith, owner of Smith's Lone Star Event Center.

For the past four years, her venue has held wedding receptions, banquets, trade shows, private parties and even proms. The 1,200 square foot facility located at 4036 Farm-to-Market Road 2767 (East Irwin Street, right off the loop) also has a seating capacity of 800 people, air-conditioning and plenty of parking.

"Craig Jones (from East Texas Boxing) contacted me and said the facility they were in just didn't meet their needs anymore and wanted to know if we could have it in our building," Smith said. "I believe in what they are doing, that cause which is helping kids, so I donated the building for the event.

"I am very intrigued about what they are going to do. I am excited to see how it's going to look and I think it will be a great arena for it."

The weigh-ins for the bouts took place Saturday and Vascocu said the anticipation is building for Thursday's opening bouts.

"We've already made more money in sponsorships than we made throughout the whole tournament last year," Vascocu said. "And we haven't even had the tournament yet.

"Byron Payton is way out of the way … this is a very nice place and it's right here in Tyler. When we have it in Troup, the only people that come are the one's related to the fighters. In Tyler, we are trying to cater to the public that is interested in watching live boxing."