True Passion

By Robert Aguilar

The determination of fighters at the amateur level always impresses me. They fight whoever is put in from of them; they make no demands or make crazy requests. As the Golden Gloves tournament is well under way in New York City, I cannot help but be inspired by the hunger these fighters exhibit when they step into the ring. You will find pure, raw, natural talent. It is at these types of grass roots events that many times you’ll see more passion during one single round of boxing than during an entire fight of some of the professional fights in recent times. It is very disheartening that this passion is lost at the professional level, very few fighters continue to have the same passion, in fact you could probably count on one hand the professional fighters that no matter how much success they achieve they continue to have that fire, that hunger to put on a great show for the fans.

It is a huge let down when professional fighters refuse to give the fans the fights they want to see, the fights that will attract not only the diehard fans but the casual fan as well. It is what the sport needs, wait, let me retract that. What the sport needs is the “fight whoever they put in front of me” mentality that the amateur fighters have. That is what I love about the amateur scene; boxers don’t know who they are fighting until the day of. That alone can give you an idea of the courage these guys possess that is what makes a true warrior a warrior. That is what I most admire about the amateur fighters. They don’t fear the unknown, in fact they welcome it, and it is a very natural cycle of what they do. True boxing fans should support amateur boxing, the fighters deserve it. I strongly urge you to attend one of these events, see for yourself what the fighters put into each round.

There is no glitz, no glamour and no pomp and circumstance at the local gyms where these fights are held. What you will find is passion, heart and sweat. They don’t do it for the money, they do it for the cheers and applause of those attending the event, and it’s something you simply cannot buy or put a price on.