EAST TEXAS BOXING

Published on Sunday, 05 February 2012 04:53

Written by Clay Ihlo



The 72nd Annual East Texas Golden Gloves wrapped up Saturday night at UT Tyler’s Herrington Patriot Center. Twenty-three bouts were featured on the tournament’s final day, which drew the largest crowd of the event’s three days.

Javier Navarro started the night with a win against Luis Serratos in the 141-pound Men’s Senior championship bout.

After a close first round, Navarro took a slight edge in the second round by earning a knockdown. He closed the fight and the victory in the third round with a strong left jab that kept Serratos at bay.

Current Tyler Junior College student Anthony Bircher took the 152-pound Men’s Senior championship in the second bout of the night. Bircher finished a solid weekend of boxing by defeating Stephen Russell by a second-round stoppage.

The following two fights featured boxers from the same gym battle one another. Curtis Hightower defeated Cody Lindsey, both from Lumberjack Boxing Gym, in the 165-pound Men’s Senior championship.

Troup Boxing Gym representatives Jeremy Richardson and Chris Tull stepped to the ring in the next fight for the 178-pound Men’s Senior championship. Richardson put together a strong flurry in the third round, which stunned Tull and caused the referee to stop the fight after a short count. The next stoppage came three matches later when Erik McPeek used a series of combos against Manuel Reyes in the 189-pound Match championship. But it was the following fight that received the largest ovation from the crowd.

Ke’Aundre Watkins and Salvador Zapata, in the night’s first heavyweight bout, excited the fans with a flurry of punches from the first bell. Watkins held an edge after the first round, causing Zapata to stumble after a strong hook. Watkins kept up his intensity and, after a solid combo of punches in the third round, won when the referee stopped the fight.

Four bouts later, Jose Romero overcame an early knockdown by Riley Lakin in 138-pound Senior Male fight. A mix of cheers and boos came from the crowd following the fight proved the closeness of the bout.

The lone junior fight of the evening, between Jacob Maldonado and Kaleb Shaffer, also received a large ovation from the crowd. Shaffer won the bout on a referee stoppage in the third round. His strong left jab produced blood from Maldonado’s nose, who wanted to finish the fight despite the official’s stoppage.