Boxer earns gold
It has been a busy, and successful, summer for the St. Catharines Boxing Club.
After the club’s crew of boxers posted a 7-0 record at the Wiseguys Charity Boxing Event in their hometown July 21, the club brought home four medals from the Ringside World Boxing Championships in Independence, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City.
“The Ringside championship is a top-notch event with 1,400 boxers competing for medals,” St. Catharines Boxing Club general manager Joe Corrigan said. “There are six rings going at the same time and it is a five-day event where the pressure continues to rise as you get closer to the gold medal.”
Dennis Steingart, 165-pound senior novice; and Ray Riley, 165-pound masters open; captured gold medals, while Daniel Ryan, 152-pound senior open; was a silver medallist and James Hughes, 152-pound youth open; returned home with a bronze medal.
With the win, Steingart has won 11 straight fights and compiled a 12-1 record since his first fight last November.
“Fighting at the Ringside championships was a little overwhelming at first but I have great coaching from Paul Zahra, Ray Riley and John Robertson,” the 24-year-old St. Catharines resident said. “Plus Ray has brought me under his wing and his help has been amazing.”
When Steingart won his first fight, he followed it up with his first loss which gave him the incentive to train harder than any of his opponents so he would never have that losing feeling again.
“I started sparring with Daniel (Ryan) and Jake (Isenor) at the club and that has really helped me out because they are great fighters,” Steingart said. “Plus I am at the club four nights a week and I always do my road work on off nights to keep improving my cardiovascular conditioning.”
The club, meanwhile, is offering free boxing lessons to children interesting in lacing on the gloves and and hitting the bag.
“We run Murphy’s Kids every Saturday from 12-2 p.m. to give children a chance to come in and try free boxing lessons,” Corrigan said. “It is a great opportunity for children to improve their selfconfidence and get in shape without their parents having to pay for membership fees and then find out that their kids aren’t interested a couple of weeks later.”
For more information about Murphy’s Kids or sponsoring any upcoming events, contact Corrigan at 905-988-1244
The club’s third annual Murphy’s Gloves fundraising event will be held will be held Friday, Nov. 3, at Merritton Community Centre.