Cradle of Champions

Last year, the Daily News published Bill Farrell's book, "Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Golden Gloves." In the foreword, Bert Randolph Sugar calls the NYC Golden Gloves the "Ellis Island" to professional boxing. He notes that the GG allows the true boxing fan an opportunity to see the future contenders and champions of the sport.

In 1927, the sports editor of the NY Daily News borrowed the idea of an amateur boxing tournament from a group in Chicago, and came up with a name that has since become classic: "Golden Gloves." It's a name that gains immediate recognition in the world of sports.

The NY GG has its own "Hall of Fame," as Bert Sugar reminds us: Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Barney Ross, Floyd Patterson, Tony Zale, Joey Maxim, Johnny Saxton, Gus Lesnevich, Mark Breland, Zab Judah, and Riddick Bowe all came through the tourament.

Farrell brings us back to the first tournament, 80 (now 81) years ago. The first round was held in two Brooklyn locations: a Knights of Columbus Hall and a Knights of St. Anthony Hall. Three nights later, the interest had grown to where promoters had to add four more sites; four nights later brought an additional six sites; and the next night required five more to accommodate the fighters and crowds.

The crowds became so great that the police had to close Eighth Avenue. An estimated 21,594 people came for the fights, but an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 were turned away because tickets had sold out.

Farrell breaks it down into 8 chapters, each one a fascinating study of topics including the Depression era; the post-WW2 era; the "Hey, Hey, Rock 'n' Roll" era (!); the GG turn 50; and the New Generation and an Era of Change.

Perhaps the best thing about the book is the collection of great boxing photographs. We get to see the March 1960 photos of a 172 lb kid from Louisville competing in the Inter-city Championships. Cassius Clay TKOed a 232 lb fighter who had, until that fight, never been knocked off his feet.

Jose Torres and the great Emile Griffith are pictured, too. Some of the best photos are of Floyd Patterson; if you ever get the chance to see the old films from Jimmy Jacobs' collection, now owned by ESPN, you'll see a great amateur boxer!

And a lot of the photos are of guys who had their moment in years gone by, but who didn't compete as professionals. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped at a hardware store when my wife and I were in a small upstate city. My son needed a new tape measure for his latest project: increasing the size of his gym here, because a few of his friends want to compete in the Golden Gloves next year. The guy behind the counter, who looked a bit older than me, looked at my necklace and said, "What weight?" It turned out his father had competed in the NY GG in the early 1930s. And, as DUers might have guessed, I'm always interested in hearing stories about guys' fathers, uncles, and grandfathers who used to box. It's great that Farrell wrote this book, to help preserve some of those memories.