Longtime promoter Jimmy Cvetic brings Saturday's Golden Gloves state finals to Monroeville

For the past 10 years, all the screaming fans, the referees, the promoters and even the food was all from Philadelphia, and longtime Golden Gloves boxing promoter Jimmy Cvetic had seen enough. It was time to swing the hometown advantage back to Western Pennsylvania.

Sitting in a Monroeville restaurant, Cvetic, along with a few influential friends, came together with a plan to make it happen.

“It is not for me,” said Cvetic, 69, who has been promoting Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves fights since 1975. “I'm doing it for the great men and women. I want the hometown advantage. They're in their own backyard. If a fight is close, and the crowd is cheering, its common nature (for the decision to go) with the crowd.”

The Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League will host the first of a six-year run of the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves finals Saturday night at the Monroeville Pro-Sports Complex.

Thirty fighters will compete in 15 bouts for the right to move on to Omaha, Neb., for the National Golden Gloves tournament May 13-20. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the battle of East meets West, with fights starting at 7.

“Every time we go to Philadelphia, we lose hometown decisions,” Cvetic said. “The fights are going to be tremendous.”

It was former State Sen. Sean Logan and Craig Cozza who joined Cvetic at that restaurant three months ago when they agreed to come together and host the state finals.

There was a rush to pull it off.

“Sean Logan said, ‘Jimmy, why don't you just bring it here,' ” Cvetic said. “I said, ‘I don't know, Sean.' He's an honest man and they had the confidence and the ability to work. It's a perfect storm for us.”

There's plenty of great matchups, and rematches, for boxing fans to look forward to.

Matchmaker Derek Gionta said one of the most interesting fights of the night will be between James Bernadin of Lancaster City Boxing Club and Jerome Baxter of Pittsburgh's Gold Medal Boxing in the 141-pound novice division. The fight will be a rematch of last year's 141-pound open-division fight.

“Both guys are peaking at the right time, and it's going to be a intriguing fight,” said Gionta, 37, a 1999 Plum grad.

There's plenty more. At the 123-pound division, Pittsburgh's Danny Bondish (Stay Off the Streets Boxing Club) will face Johnathan Torres.

Last year, Bondish finished runner-up at 132 pounds, and Torres reached the national semifinals.

”It is a rivalry and I tell you what, it's funny. Pittsburgh and Philly are two really big sports towns, and there's a lot respect that comes to being a boxer from Pennsylvania,” Gionta said. “Pennsylvania is probably the best state in the country for amateur and pro boxing. It's no secret that Philly is the Mecca of pro boxing.”

The main event will be in the open heavyweight division, where Sonny Conto will face Butler's Brian Mowry (Butler Cubs Boxing Club). Mowry weighs in at 220 pounds, stands a towering 6-foot-7 and is coming off consecutive bouts that ended in knockouts.

The 6-4 Conto is the defending Golden Gloves state heavyweight champ.

“Brian has a chance. He has a little more height, but he is on a bit of roll,” Gionta said.

Kiante Irving (Stay Off the Streets) moved down from 178 pounds to the 165 open division and will face William Richardson (Marian Anderson Boxing Club). Irving was ranked No. 2 in the country at 178 pounds last year and is a “walkover champion” going into Saturday's bout, having gone through the bracket unopposed.

For Cvetic, it's been his life's mission to put youths on the right path to success, saying boxing is a sport that not only builds character but also teaches tough life lessons.

He's always asked his fighters to look deep within themselves to find the success they are searching for.

“Anyone that comes into the gym, the first thing I do is give them a mirror and I say that there is only one of you in the universe,” Cvetic said. “You have to reach down deep and make it happen if you want it.

“I'm an old coach, and I'm old school. I believe that you must be excellent and you must be a champion inside the ring and outside ring. Sometimes you don't always grab a gold medal, but you better be able to grab the gold medal in your own life.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.