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After not hosting the Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions boxing event for 41 years, Utah is becoming the destination of choice for the premier amateur boxing tournament in the country.
Golden Gloves is back in Utah's capital city, as Salt Lake City will host the 2016 tournament this week at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
The state's Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves franchise, which hosted this tournament in 2009 and 2013, will again welcome more than 300 of the country's top amateur boxers in 10 weight divisions. Bouts begin at 6 p.m. each night, and the championship round is Saturday.
Working with the Utah Sports Commission, the Rocky Mountain franchise — comprised of boxers from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana — has developed a reputation for putting on excellent national tournaments, which is why Golden Gloves of America has reached out to the Beehive State often in the bid process.
Utah hosted the national tournament in 1968, the year George Foreman became the Olympic heavyweight champion, then did not get it back until the Fullmer family — brothers Gene, Don and Jay — teamed with local businessman Chick Paris and the Utah Sports Commission to outbid New Jersey for the 2009 tournament.
Tournament director Larry Fullmer said putting on the tournaments is a "labor of love" for the Fullmer family and dozens of volunteers locally and throughout the country.
"Utah has a rich boxing heritage," said Jeff Robbins, Utah Sports Commission president and CEO. "The Fullmer brothers and Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves are instrumental to our boxing legacy and we are pleased to partner with them on the National Tournament of Champions."
Gene, Don and Jay Fullmer were all able to witness the 2009 tournament, but Don Fullmer passed away in 2012 at the age of 72, 16 months prior to the 2013 tournament. Gene, the former middleweight world champion, died on April 27, 2015, a few days after Jay passed away, so this week's event will be the first without at least one of the brothers in attendance.
Golden Gloves got its name in 1923 when a Chicago newspaper sports editor, Arch Ward, started a city-wide amateur boxing tournament and each champion was awarded a miniature golden glove. The tournament has been contested without interruption annually since 1928.
Utah has produced one national Golden Gloves champion. In 1991, Salt Lake City's Sampson Pouha won the super heavyweight division. The Rocky Mountain franchise's last champion was Cleveland Corder of Boise, Idaho, who won the 156-pound division in 1997.
Professional boxing legends such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Michael Spinks, Thomas Hearns, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya got their starts in Golden Gloves tournaments.
The last time Utah hosted the tournament, 2013, the headliner was heavyweight Cam F. Awesome, formerly known as Lenroy Thompson. The flamboyant boxer recently qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Utah will send two boxers to the tournament this year — West High senior Bladimir Estrada at 152 pounds and Diego Alvarez of Ogden at 114 pounds.
Utah's Estrada, 18, was eliminated in the first round last year's Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas and has vowed to make it farther this year.
"That's been my goal from the moment I didn't win last year," he said.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Golden Gloves boxing
When • Monday through Saturday, 6 p.m. each night
Where • Salt Palace Convention Center
Who • More than 300 of the top amateur boxers in the country, competing in 10 weight divisions
Tickets • $15 per night, or $40 for an all-tournament pass (six nights).