The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but can also represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves tournaments and other notable tournaments such as the

Intercity Golden Gloves Intercity Golden Gloves is an amateur boxing tournament which is considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the three most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves and the New York Golden Gloves. Goal The Intercity ma ...

, the

Chicago Golden Gloves The Chicago Golden Gloves is an amateur boxing tournament, considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the three most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Intercity Golden Gloves and the New York Golden Gloves. The tournament is also more ...

, and the

New York Golden Gloves The New York Golden Gloves boxing tournament was considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves. Named for the small golden gloves given out to the winners of each weigh ...

History

Arch Ward Archie Burdette Ward (December 27, 1896 – July 9, 1955) was an American journalist who served as sports editor for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He was the creator of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the Golden Gloves amateur boxing tourna ...

, sports editor of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', came up with the idea of a citywide, Chicago amateur boxing tournament in 1923, and gained sponsorship from the ''Tribune'' in 1927. An annual tournament was held between Chicago and New York. In later years the idea was taken up by other cities, and a national tournament was held. Along with the New York Golden Gloves, the Chicago tournament was viewed as one of the two elite Golden Gloves Championships in the United States. Winners from selected states and regions headed to Chicago to meet in the Chicago Golden Gloves, while winners from other sections of the U.S. faced each other in the New York Golden Gloves tournaments. Champions from the Chicago tournament went on to face champions from the New York tournament in the Intercity Golden Gloves tournament, and thus the Intercity Golden Gloves served as the National Tournament of Champions held in the Square Garden Chicago and Chicago Stadium. The Intercity Golden Gloves tournament ran from 1928 to 1961, with the event being held at famed venues including the

Chicago Coliseum Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois, which stood successively from the 1860s to 1982; they served as venues for sports events, large (national-class) conventions and as exhibition halls. The f ...

. The National Golden Gloves contest began in 1962 and continues to be the most highly regarded amateur boxing tournament in the United States. It is sponsored and controlled by the Golden Gloves Association of America, Inc. Winners from 32 regional Golden Gloves competitions, coming up in regional teams of all weight classes, compete in the national competition, called the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. This is held once a year, and a new tournament site is selected annually. The U.S. Golden Gloves program is currently organized on a territorial basis to give all sections of the country representation. All tournaments are planned, promoted and directed by the Golden Gloves Charities and within the limits of the amateur boxing code. Many amateur Golden Gloves participants went on to become professional boxers, including

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

Joe Frazier Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure fi ...

Barney Ross Barney Ross (born Dov-Ber "Beryl" David Rosofsky; December 23, 1909 – January 17, 1967) was an American professional boxer. Ross became a world champion in three weight divisions and was a decorated veteran of World War II. Early life Dov-B ...

and

Iran Barkley Iran Barkley (born May 6, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1999. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBC middleweight title from 1988 to 1989, the IBF super middleweight tit ...

. The Golden Gloves are open to all non-professional boxers aged 19–40. Citizens and non-citizens alike may compete in the tournament series. There is also a

Silver Gloves The Silver Gloves is an annual competition for amateur boxing in the United States. The contest is sponsored by Ringside, Inc. The Silver Gloves are open to all non-professional pugilists age 10 to 15 years old. The Silver Gloves is not the Go ...

amateur tournament, for amateur boxers aged 10 to 15.

Hierarchy

To compete nationally, a contender must pass through the following levels: *Sub-Franchise (Local/State) Golden Gloves **Franchise (Regional) Golden Gloves ***

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

Golden Gloves amateur competition began in 1923 prior to the formation of Golden Gloves of America as a corporation. No unification had been undertook for a long time, as part of a tradition, different states historically had various

weight class Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling). Altern ...

margins (171 to 178 for light heavyweight upper limit, 200 to 201 for heavyweight limit).

USA franchises

*Buffalo Golden Gloves *

*Cincinnati Golden Gloves *Cleveland Golden Gloves *Colorado-New Mexico Golden Gloves *Detroit Golden Gloves *Florida Golden Gloves *Hawaii Golden Gloves *Indiana Golden Gloves *Iowa Golden Gloves *Kansas City Golden Gloves *Kansas-Oklahoma Golden Gloves *Michigan Golden Gloves *Mid-South Golden Gloves *Nevada Golden Gloves *

New England Golden Gloves As a Franchise of the National Golden Gloves, the New England Golden Gloves is the annual amateur boxing competition for the New England States. It has been held every year since 1945 at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts. Com ...

*New Jersey Golden Gloves * New York Metro Golden Gloves *Omaha Golden Gloves *Pennsylvania Golden Gloves *Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves *Southeast Golden Gloves *St. Louis Golden Gloves *Texas Golden Gloves *Toledo Golden Gloves *Tri-State Golden Gloves *Upper Midwest Golden Gloves *Washington, D.C. Golden Gloves *Wisconsin Golden Gloves *California Golden Gloves

Around the world

Other countries have similar amateur boxing awards, such as Mexico's ''Guantes De Oro'' (literally "Gloves of Gold" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Diamond Belt

In the past, certain amateur tournaments would award the victor with a Diamond Belt as recognition of their amateur championship status. These tournaments were sponsored by various organizations and newspapers in the United States, with ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' being one of the more notable. Notable Diamond Belt winners include

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...

Bobby Chacon Bobby Chacon (November 28, 1951 – September 7, 2016) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1988. He held titles in two weight classes, including the WBC featherweight title from September 1974 to June 1975 and the WBC s ...

Jimmy McCarter Jim "Jimmy" McCarter (born March 30, 1936 in Chester, PA) was an American football fullback and amateur heavyweight boxer. Background McCarter was a fullback for the University of Washington football team."McCarter Wins Split Decision", January ...

, Logan McElroy, and

Lou Brooks Lou Brooks ( Abington, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1944 - November 21, 2021) was a self-taught American illustrator, cartoonist, and author. He is best known for his precise bold line work and graphic reinterpretation of mid-twentieth century com ...

BC Golden Gloves

The annual Golden Gloves tournament in British Columbia, Canada, has been a regular event since 1939. The first BC Golden Gloves champions were Alan Dunn, Bob Hickey, Eric Burnell, Henry Devine, Kenny Lindsay, Phil Vickery and Wayne Morris.

Regional and special tournaments

From time to time, there have been special tournaments or regional Golden Gloves tournaments. One that operated from 1954 to the early Sixties was the Vancouver Island Golden Gloves. The first Vancouver Island Golden Boy was Victoria's Bert Wilkinson in 1954.''The Victoria Daily Times'', 1954 Some of the history was documented in various issues of the ''Vancouver Island Boxing News'' in 1983, and the ''BC Amateur Boxing News'' between November 1983 and January 1986. A poster of the 1954 tournament and a photo of Bert Wilkinson were recently used in a video for the induction ceremony of the Greater Victoria Hall of Fame.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official websiteWomen's Golden Gloves''Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of the New York Daily News Golden Gloves'' by Bill FarrellTimes Daily - Google News Archive SearchOfficial Turkey website
Amateur boxing Boxing in the United States 1928 establishments in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1928