On Friday, October 16, the Royal Place Restaurant and South Park Boxing Club presented “October-Fist,” a night of amateur boxing. For those not familiar with the local boxing scene, this is not your grandfather’s boxing. Boxing at the professional level has fallen on very tough times. Convoluted marketing deals, greedy promoters, questionable (to say the least) scoring on recent high profile matches has left the sport’s already seedy reputation in even greater tatters. While professional boxing has only itself to blame for its woes, the unfortunate trickle-down effect also falls on the amateur ranks. This undeserved taint has lowered the profile of what was once a very vibrant Pittsburgh boxing scene.

All the good that remains in the sport was on display last Friday night. All participants showed excellent sportsmanship, and so did the capacity crowd. Revelers at the Royal Place were supportive of all the athletes and greeted each decision with enthusiastic applause. There was no smoking and no wagering, of course.

Participating gyms included: South Park Boxing Club, Carrick Boxing, Uniontown Boxing, Bethesda Erie, Butler Cubs, Prepared Athletes Canton, The Foundation-New Castle, Hoghead Boxing, Sharpsburg Boxing, WAFA, Short Street Boxing, 3rd Avenue WPAL, Gym of Future Champs, and Pittsburgh Boxing Mr. Washington.

Results of the night are detailed below:
Ted McKonja defeated Kaige Lewis
Evan Park def. Kenny Rogers
Ava Martel Watkins def. Charlie Harris
P.J. Jacobs def. Elliott Brown
Scott Alfer def. Steve Tyner
Vaughn Bill def. Matt Brody
Brian Kelly def. Marquis Watkins
Nick Wrona def. Scott Olshinsky
Ed Latimore def. Nick Davidson
Hugo Garcia def. Jonathon Maloney
Larry Blakey def. Jon Honsugar
Matt Conway def Caleb Parrish
Markel Carter def. Chris Yancy
Fanco Cardenas def. Vince Macellaro