When, Where & How did it all begin?
The Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions has been contested without interruption since March 24, 1928. That was the date that the Chicago amateur champions met those of the city of New York in the old Coliseum. The results of that dual meet was an 8 to 8 draw and it was the beginning of a national tradition.
Although this was the first tournament of the Golden Gloves as we know it today, the groundwork was done five years earlier, in 1923, when the Chicago Tribune staged an amateur boxing tournament to test the State of Illinois anti-boxing law.
The announcement followed a Tribune editorial a week earlier which took to task a number of reformers who had closed an amateur program which the Illinois Naval Force had attempted to hold. The Tribune indicated they would stage a boxing show, not as an attack upon the legislation which had banned boxing for nearly 20 years, but rather as a test of it.
That first tournament was a tremendous success. It was scheduled for a three night run but the 424 boxers who entered was such a large field that an extra three nights were needed to run it off. Six-thousand dollars, the net proceeds for the event was presented to a fund to help disabled war veterans. There had been an attempt to halt the meet by such organizations as the National Reform Association and the Law and Order League which attacked it bitterly. An injunction was obtained to prevent the stopping of the event, thus boxing in Illinois was on its way back. Despite its success, the Tribune decided not to renew the tournament until boxing was legalized, a situation eventually brought about by Illinois voters in 1926. Meanwhile, in the spring of 1927, the New York Daily News conducted a program called the Golden Gloves Tournament. The Chicago Tribune then announced that it would hold a Golden Gloves Tournament in March of 1928.
This promotion was a tremendous success! It ran for five nights before packed houses. Once again the profits went for the disabled war veterans.
Following the tournament, the Tribune’s sports editor called the sports editor of the New York Daily News, the great Paul Gallico and suggested an inter-city meet. This as agreeable to New York thus setting the format by which the Golden Gloves were conducted for many years. Certain State and Regional winners would meet in the Chicago tournament and boxers representing other sections of the country fought in the New York Golden Gloves. Annually the winners representing the two cities would meet in a "National Tournament of Champions."
Under the leadership of the late Arch Ward, the Golden Gloves advanced to an international status, with winners meeting teams from all over Europe. It also, to this day, plays a major role in the selection of representatives for the U.S. team in the Olympic Games. The Golden Gloves has been the springboard by which many professional greats launched their careers, a number of whom became world champions. Perhaps the most prominent of these are Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, the most celebrated heavyweight champions of modern times. In more recent years, nearly every notable boxer or champion has cut his teeth on Golden Gloves... the greatest name in Amateur Boxing!!
GOLDEN GLOVES NATIONAL TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
HOST CITIES
(1964 thru 2009)
| 1964 Louisville, Kentucky 1965 Kansas City, Missouri 1966 Kansas City, Missouri 1967 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1968 Salt Lake City, Utah 1969 Kansas City, Missouri 1970 Las Vegas, Nevada 1971 Ft. Worth, Texas 1972 Minneapolis, Minnesota 1973 Lowell, Massachusetts 1974 Denver, Colorado 1975 Knoxville, Tennessee 1976 Miami, Florida 1977 Honolulu, Hawaii 1978 Albuquerque, New Mexico 1979 Indianapolis, Indiana 1980 Shreveport, Louisiana 1981 Toledo, Ohio 1982 Kansas City, Missouri 1983 Albuquerque, New Mexico 1984 St. Louis, Missouri 1985 Little Rock, Arkansas 1986 Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
1987 Knoxville, Tennessee 2009 Salt Lake City, Utah |
GOLDEN GLOVES JUNIOR’S NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
HOST CITIES
(Continuous Since 1997 thru 2008)
| 1997 Los Angeles, California 1998 Cincinnati, Ohio 1999 Los Angeles, California 2001 Las Vegas, Nevada 2002 Syracuse, New York 2003 Syracuse, New York |
2004 Syracuse, New York 2005 Chattanooga, Tennessee 2006 Chattanooga, Tennessee 2007 Mesquite, Nevada 2008 Mesquite, Nevada |
GOLDEN GLOVES WOMEN’S NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
HOST CITIES
(1999 thru 2008)
| 1999 Augusta, Georgia 2000 Augusta, Georgia 2001 Augusta, Georgia 2002 Chicago, Illinois 2003 Chicago, Illinois |
2004 Chicago, Illinois 2005 Chicago, Illinois 2006 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 2007 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 2008 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida |
