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NEW YORK had some great talent all through the 1980's as well. Of course you had the Great Mark Breland at 147 and the exceptional Dennis Milton at 156. But there was also the flashy Kevin Kelley at 119 and 126 and at 112 pounds you had "Poison" Junior Jones. If you were 106 and wanted to make it out of the city then you had a big hurdle to overcome in the form of Davey Villar. Rid**** "Big Daddy" Bowe excelled at 178 and super heavyweight in the 80's while Michael Bent owned the 201 pound class. Ike Padilla was his most worthy challenger at that time. Too bad Queens heavyweight Bent was just a couple years too late or else he could have faced off in some great battles in New York with the fearsome Brooklynite, Mike Tyson. Michael's brother, Winston Bent, was also a standout New York amateur in the 1980's.
There were also some guys in New York that were extremely well known by those in the boxing community, if not the casual boxing fan. Ask anybody from the mid 80's about the Loving brothers from Rochester, NY, Daryl and Joe.
Other standout amateurs from New York were guys like Super heavy Winston Bent from Queens and 156 pounder Andre Coles from Brooklyn. There was Vince Kittle (119), Kevin Pompey (147), Tom Patti (165), Ricky Thomas (156) and Stephon Frost (156) from Albany.
139 pound U.S. Olympic Trials 1984 Champion John Wesley Meekins was from Laurelton, N.Y. while future world champ Tracy Harris was from upstate New Paltz. Top ten rated 139 pounder Curlie Sanders was from Rochester. 1988 USA National 156 pound Champion (and future WBA 168 pound Champion) Frank Liles was from Syracuse.
1988 National Golden Gloves 165 pound champion Keith Providence (he defeated yours truly on a very controversial 3-2 decision to win that title) was from The Bronx. Keith advanced to the Olympic Trials in 1988, losing a decision there to eventual Olympian Anthony Hembrick.
Don't forget about 1987 USA/ABF National 132 pound Champion Charles "The Natural" Murray. Charles came within one fight of making the 1988 Olympic team, losing to Todd Foster in the Box-Offs. 1987 PAL National Champion Lou Savarese was from Greenwood Lake. 1988 Eastern U.S. Olympic Trials 119 pound Champion Anthony Perez was from Brooklyn. Top ten ranked 106 and 112 pounder Lionel Odum was boxing out of New York City while 125 pound contender Vernon McGriff was out of Buffalo. Top ten rated Willie Kemp, 165, was out of Syracuse while one of the top amateur light heavies, Ernest "M-16" Mateen, out of Brooklyn, was a top ten rated 178 pounder that fought and won internationally for the USA in the late 80's while former WBC 154 pound champion Keith Mullings is from The Bronx.
One of the best but (along with Mylon Watkins of Tacoma, Washington) sometimes forgot about boxers from the 1980's or any other era (probably because he never turned professional) was the previously mentioned 1985 USA/ABF National Champion Kevin Bryant who fought for the U.S. Army by way of The Bronx, New York. Kevin Bryant at 156 pounds, at six foot one and carrying power in both hands, was a legitimate threat to any light middleweight in amateur history including a guy by the name of Roy Jones, Jr.
Clinton Mitchell, a top ten ranked light heavy (and the man who defeated Bernard Hopkins in Hopkins' pro debut) boxed out of Brooklyn while 201 pound National team member Tim Igo was out of upstate Binghamton.
Future IBF World Champion Al Cole fought his successful amateur career out of the U.S. Army by way of New York in the late 1980's while the very early 80's had future world champions like Davey Moore, Iran Barkley and Hector Camacho and future world ranked contenders Carl "The Truth" Williams, Mitch Green, Pedro Vilella, David Sears, Alex "The Bronx Bomber" Ramos and Doug Dewitt all boxing in the NYC Golden Gloves tournament.
The 1988 U.S. Eastern Olympic Trials in North Carolina saw New Yorkers Anthony Perez (119), Kevin Kelly (125), Sean Daughtry (132), Charles Murray (139), Lonnie Davis, (156) and Michael Bent (201) all win Gold Medals while Ernest Mateen (178) lost in the finals to future heavyweight contender Phillip Jackson.
And, for what it is worth, I have often read people say that "Mike Tyson didn't excel as an amateur because he had too much of a pro style" and they point to his two losses at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials to Henry Tillman as some kind of proof of this. They say that "amateur scoring didn't suit him," etc., but what people need to realize is that not only was Tyson a highly accomplished amateur boxer but, I mean, does the average person have any idea at all what he had to go through to even get to the Olympic team deciding fight with Tillman in 1984?? First of all, Tyson was a two-time National Junior Olympic Champion, a National Golden Gloves Champion (1984) and an Ohio State Fair champion (in 1983) and on the way to these and other titles he defeated stand out amateur boxers such as Jonathon Littles (twice by stoppage), Jerry Goff, Kilbert Pierce, Derek Isaman, Orbit Pough, Warren Thompson, Avery Rawls, Olian Alexander, Henry Milligan, and Winston Bent (He stopped Littles, Pough, Goff and Milligan).
There were also some guys in New York that were extremely well known by those in the boxing community, if not the casual boxing fan. Ask anybody from the mid 80's about the Loving brothers from Rochester, NY, Daryl and Joe.
Other standout amateurs from New York were guys like Super heavy Winston Bent from Queens and 156 pounder Andre Coles from Brooklyn. There was Vince Kittle (119), Kevin Pompey (147), Tom Patti (165), Ricky Thomas (156) and Stephon Frost (156) from Albany.
139 pound U.S. Olympic Trials 1984 Champion John Wesley Meekins was from Laurelton, N.Y. while future world champ Tracy Harris was from upstate New Paltz. Top ten rated 139 pounder Curlie Sanders was from Rochester. 1988 USA National 156 pound Champion (and future WBA 168 pound Champion) Frank Liles was from Syracuse.
1988 National Golden Gloves 165 pound champion Keith Providence (he defeated yours truly on a very controversial 3-2 decision to win that title) was from The Bronx. Keith advanced to the Olympic Trials in 1988, losing a decision there to eventual Olympian Anthony Hembrick.
Don't forget about 1987 USA/ABF National 132 pound Champion Charles "The Natural" Murray. Charles came within one fight of making the 1988 Olympic team, losing to Todd Foster in the Box-Offs. 1987 PAL National Champion Lou Savarese was from Greenwood Lake. 1988 Eastern U.S. Olympic Trials 119 pound Champion Anthony Perez was from Brooklyn. Top ten ranked 106 and 112 pounder Lionel Odum was boxing out of New York City while 125 pound contender Vernon McGriff was out of Buffalo. Top ten rated Willie Kemp, 165, was out of Syracuse while one of the top amateur light heavies, Ernest "M-16" Mateen, out of Brooklyn, was a top ten rated 178 pounder that fought and won internationally for the USA in the late 80's while former WBC 154 pound champion Keith Mullings is from The Bronx.
One of the best but (along with Mylon Watkins of Tacoma, Washington) sometimes forgot about boxers from the 1980's or any other era (probably because he never turned professional) was the previously mentioned 1985 USA/ABF National Champion Kevin Bryant who fought for the U.S. Army by way of The Bronx, New York. Kevin Bryant at 156 pounds, at six foot one and carrying power in both hands, was a legitimate threat to any light middleweight in amateur history including a guy by the name of Roy Jones, Jr.
Clinton Mitchell, a top ten ranked light heavy (and the man who defeated Bernard Hopkins in Hopkins' pro debut) boxed out of Brooklyn while 201 pound National team member Tim Igo was out of upstate Binghamton.
Future IBF World Champion Al Cole fought his successful amateur career out of the U.S. Army by way of New York in the late 1980's while the very early 80's had future world champions like Davey Moore, Iran Barkley and Hector Camacho and future world ranked contenders Carl "The Truth" Williams, Mitch Green, Pedro Vilella, David Sears, Alex "The Bronx Bomber" Ramos and Doug Dewitt all boxing in the NYC Golden Gloves tournament.
The 1988 U.S. Eastern Olympic Trials in North Carolina saw New Yorkers Anthony Perez (119), Kevin Kelly (125), Sean Daughtry (132), Charles Murray (139), Lonnie Davis, (156) and Michael Bent (201) all win Gold Medals while Ernest Mateen (178) lost in the finals to future heavyweight contender Phillip Jackson.
And, for what it is worth, I have often read people say that "Mike Tyson didn't excel as an amateur because he had too much of a pro style" and they point to his two losses at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials to Henry Tillman as some kind of proof of this. They say that "amateur scoring didn't suit him," etc., but what people need to realize is that not only was Tyson a highly accomplished amateur boxer but, I mean, does the average person have any idea at all what he had to go through to even get to the Olympic team deciding fight with Tillman in 1984?? First of all, Tyson was a two-time National Junior Olympic Champion, a National Golden Gloves Champion (1984) and an Ohio State Fair champion (in 1983) and on the way to these and other titles he defeated stand out amateur boxers such as Jonathon Littles (twice by stoppage), Jerry Goff, Kilbert Pierce, Derek Isaman, Orbit Pough, Warren Thompson, Avery Rawls, Olian Alexander, Henry Milligan, and Winston Bent (He stopped Littles, Pough, Goff and Milligan).
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