KO Drugs moves to new site for 2005
The tournament will be held every Tuesday in May.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 18th KO Drugs High School Boxing Tournament will be held every Tuesday in May at a new site.
Action starts May 3 at the St. Nicholas Byzantine Center at the Grove, 3801 Shady Run Road. The championships are scheduled for May 31.
This is the eighth different site for the tournament, according to Chuck Nelson, the founder and director.
"We felt it was time to move the tournament inside the city limits of Youngstown in hopes of building a fan base both inside and outside of the city, anticipating the downtown sports arena, which will be opening next year," he said.
Nelson's purpose in running the tournament has been to have youth involved in boxing.
"This has grown far beyond any expectations I ever had," he said.
Three divisions
There will be 20 weight classes in three competitive divisions. The underclass (9th-10th grade boys), the upperclass (11th-12th grade boys) and the female class.
These are young people engaged in supervised athletic participation and when this happens it should always be a positive situation," said Nelson. "For this tournament the two initial concerns have always been safety and sportsmanship and from our beginning through every year they remain the same concerns before we even think of putting any two young people in a ring to box."
The key to the safety rules is that participants, aside from being in the tournament, have no previous amateur boxing experience.
There are three-round bouts of 45 seconds each and no participant will fight twice in the same evening. Extra padded headgear and 18-ounce gloves are provided to all participants and there is always a doctor and medical group on hand for the pre-fight examinations and the fights.
A $20 entry fee covers the insurance and all physical examinations. At the completion of the tournament the champions receive belts and runner-ups receive trophies and certificates. This is a double elimination tournament with a round-robin format.
Registration and weigh-ins will be at Dick's Sporting Goods at the Boardman and Niles locations. They will be at the Boardman store Tuesday and April 19 with a late registration date April 26, all from 4 to 6 p.m. Sign-ups will be in Niles on Wednesday and April 20 with a late registration date April 27, also from 4 to 6 p.m.
Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $6 for students. For information call Chuck Nelson at (330) 757-7273 or Pat Nelson at (330) 727-0932.