There will be no shortage of action Thursday through Saturday nights in the finals of the Chicago Golden Gloves at Gordon Tech.
Perhaps the most significant of the 49 title bouts in four divisions will be between Nathan Ridings and Alex Martin at 152 pounds on Friday night. If Ridings wins, he has a chance to represent his mother’s native El Salvador in the Olympics. But defeating Martin, who’s the defending Open division champion and last year’s national runner-up, won’t be easy.
One of the top fighters to make it to the finals is Miguel Guadarrama, who’s contending for the 132-pound title in the Open division Saturday night.
He and his brother, Genaro Mendez, who both won titles in 2010 when they resided on the West Side, since have moved to Waukegan and are operating a Highland Park gym where they train fighters, white collar boxers, suburban moms and other athletes, including some former Bears.
One of the standouts of the tournament this year has been unseasoned Novice super heavyweight Renee Pina, who fights Saturday night. His brother, Armando, won the light heavyweight championship last year and is trying to make the Olympic team from Mexico.
Renee, trained by his father, has blasted through the other young super heavyweights with a handful of quick knockouts, which is unusual for amateurs wearing headgear and large gloves.
The tournament features four divisions: Senior Novice, for older yet inexperienced fighters; Novice, for young fighters with few bouts to their credit; Open, for experienced boxers; and the Women’s division.
Winners in the Open division will go on to represent Chicago at the national tournament.
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $35 for the main floor and $50 for ringside. They are available at http://www.ChicagoGoldenGloves.com or at the door.
Pro action: Two fighters who have won Golden Gloves titles in the past — Adrian Granados and Tracy Rollins — will be in professional action Saturday night at Cicero Stadium, 1909 S. Laramie.
Granados is coming off a couple of impressive performances, and will face Ramon Guevara. Rollins, who moved to Florida after turning professional, will return home for the first time after winning two pro fights. He will face Dorian Hatcher.
The main event pits Edner Cherry against Juan Carlos Martinez.
