The mighty 12 from the Upton Boxing Center
Above: The Upton Boxing Center’s Silver Gloves champs posing at the center’s boxing ring last week.
Here’s a pic of those kid boxers from Baltimore’s Upton Boxing Center who did so well at the state Silver Gloves championship bout.
The Brew has been covering the team’s progress, and Coach Cal Ford kindly sent us a picture of the 12 champs – that’s 12 out of 20 winners statewide, all from the city’s solitary municipal boxing center open to low-income families.
Top row from left: Malik Tutus, Ronald Williams, Shaded Bond, Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson, Mia Ellis and Malik Hawkins.
Bottom row from left: Darrian White, Nailah Shakiv, Reginald Ranson, Juan (“N.C. State”) Jenkins, Jordan Darden and Reco Todd.
Ranson and Darden won’t go further in the competition because they are under 10. The other pugilists, ages 10 to 15, including two girls, Mia Ellis and Nailah Shakiv, will be competing in the regional Silver Gloves in January against the best young boxers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and three other states.