2023 NJ Diamond Gloves tournaments set for North Bergen, Long Branch
Additional details for the 2023 New Jersey Diamond Gloves tournament were revealed in a conference call on Monday evening.
The senior tournament, for boxers age 18 and older, will take place from October 13-15 at the Recreation Center in North Bergen, N.J., while the Junior Diamond Gloves will take place from October 27-29 at Gleason’s Gym Jersey Shore in Long Branch, N.J., it was announced by Jacklyn Atkins, President of the N.J. Association of USA Boxing.
Registration for the state championships, which is free, will end at noon on Thursday, October 5 for the senior tournament, and on October 13 for the junior tournament. All registrations will be done through USABoxing’s Webpoint portal.
Each tournament will begin on a Friday, with scales set to be open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on October 13 and 27, with bouts to start at 8 p.m. On October 14-15 and 28-29, scales will be open from 12-2 p.m., with bouts to start at 3 p.m. Admission for each day will be $25 for adults and $10 for children under 14.
There will be no weight allowances for any bouts, and boxers who initially miss weight by more than two pounds will not be allowed to attempt to weigh in again.
“In preparing our athletes for national competitions where there’s zero weight tolerance, we need to start adhering to that at the local level,” said Atkins.
The tournament draw for the competition will take place in the coming days, possibly as early as Friday, October 6, Atkins revealed. The draw will be done live using a tournament software which automates the brackets, though an email will be sent out to coaches prior to the draw to ensure that all boxers have signed up in the correct weight classes.
Any weight classes which are not completed by the end of the three day tournament will be completed at the junior tournament. Sub-novice categories for boxers with two bouts or less may be made if there are enough boxers to fill a bracket, said Atkins.
One major difference from last year is that there will be no Interstate Diamond Gloves tournament as other local boxing committees were not able to organize their own state tournaments.
Open class champions will be presented with a championship belt at the N.J. Boxing Hall of Fame dinner, which takes place on Thursday, November 9 at The Venetian in Garfield, N.J.
A total of 26 open class male boxers, 39 novice class male boxers and 3 female novice boxers had signed up for the senior tournament, as of Tuesday morning. Among those who signed up are reigning N.J. Golden Gloves open class champions Justin Penaranda (139 pounds), Jean Pierre Valencia (165 pounds), Tyric Trapp (176 pounds), Malachi Georges (203 pounds) and Kevin De La Rosa (203+ pounds).
For the junior tournament, one interesting potential matchup is in the 138-pound Junior Male category, where Yoell “Boy Boy” Cooper, a 2023 National Junior Golden Gloves champion, could potentially face Eric Orr, a rangy, skillful prodigy who has wins at the 2022 and 2023 N.J. Golden Gloves tournaments.
One issue facing the junior tournament is the lack of contested weight categories. Atkins says there will be an effort made to consolidate some weight classes to ensure as many matches as possible.
“Our goal is to give everyone an opportunity to box while still adhering to the rules and safety of USA Boxing,” said Atkins.