Finally Golden: Gloves Tourney Wraps Up

It's been long. Arduous even. But Saturday was Night 12 - aka the end of the Chicago Golden Gloves tournament at St. Andrew's Gym in Lakeview. And it was a doozy.

The highlights:

• Junior Wright, Jr., the unexpected 22-year-old 178-pound men's open champion was dubbed best boxer for his efforts. Wright, who will be going to nationals May 3-9 in Salt Lake City, beat Derek Zugic on Thursday, defying critics who thought he might have some trouble in his new weight class; Wright held two Chicago Golden Gloves titles at 165.
• Limbreth Vieyra, who lost to Nathan Valenzuela on Thursday night, was awarded the Golden Gloves' "Tough Guy" award for his valiant effort during the tournament.
• Chicago Boxing Club's Sam Colonna was the winningest trainer at the tournament; he's credited with at least five titles, including Tracy Rollins, Jr., the 16-year-old boxing phenom who now holds the 165-pound men's open title.
• Mike Lee fought Franco Sambataro for the men's 178 senior novice. Lee, who has yet to lose a fight, brought a cheering section from Notre Dame that ... well, they've done some training, somewhere... their "Un-De-Feated" would be the pride of any football game (not that it'd've been relevant lately). Members of the group went wild at the beginning of the match - and could barely contain themselves when Lee won by referee's decision in the middle of the third round.
• The women, oh the women. Tiny Fong Tze Hus, the only Asian woman in the finals Saturday, beat Alexia Obregon for the 106 novice title; the punches were fast and furious, if featherweight. Other highlights included Amber McAvoy beating Chloe Martinez for the 139-pound senior novice title and Kerstin Brookman winning the 125-pound open fighting Echo Sneed.

The rest of the results are listed here, as received from the Gloves on Saturday. Craving more photos? The tournament's archived here.