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Pittsburgh boxing trainer reveals encounter with suspected Boston bomber

PITTSBURGH — A local boxing trainer told Channel 11 that he once met suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a boxing competition.

In 2011, Marty Corak was with one of his boxers for the National Golden Gloves Tournament in Indianapolis, where he encountered Tsarnaev.

Corak, who is an operator of the Beaver County Fight Club, said that while at the tournament Tsarnaev came to him and asked if he could help him find his dressing room, which turned out to be across the hall from Corak’s.

He told Channel 11’s Gordon Loesch that he remembers Tsarnaev as being polite and quiet with a heavy Russian accent. He said the suspected bomber was always smiling, but stood out from the rest of his boisterous teammates.

Upon learning of Tsarnaev’s alleged involvement in the Boston bombing, he was shocked.

“It irritated me, and angers me a lot, that he was competing for a chance to represent our country in the Olympics, and then turn around and do something like that,” Corak told Loesch.

“I feel sorry for kids growing up today, that they’re growing up in a world where they have to live in fear, no matter where they’re at,” Corak said.