Holyoke welcomes back boxing

This city will once again become a mecca for boxing and it will all happen with two events this month.

Holyoke, which hosted professional boxing at the old Valley Arena for many years and Golden Gloves boxing at the Holyoke Boys & Girls Club for nearly 50 years, is looking to a resurgence in popularity of the sport, and mixed martial arts, to provide showcases for what is hoped are future champions.

In two events, on Nov. 11 at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House, and on Nov. 28 at the Boys & Girls Club of Holyoke Inc., boxers of the amateur persuasion will ply their talents for the crowds to evaluate.

At the Boys & Girls Club event there will also be mixed martial arts on display.

The Log Cabin event will feature a traveling team of U.S. Marines, which is proper for Veterans Day, which also includes Angel Garcia, a 152-pound open class boxer from Springfield, against boxers from the area in as many as eight bouts.

The Log Cabin event is $45 and will include a steak dinner and will be in a dinner setting.

Mick Corduff, a partner at the Log Cabin and Delaney House, is responsible for the event and stresses that boxing shows in the past at that venue have sold out.

The Boys & Girls Club event has a sliding scale of tickets ranging from $25 to $50. It will feature six amateur boxing bouts, featuring area boxers, six mixed martial arts amateur bouts, also with local talent, and two professional martial arts contests.

John Counter, Boys & Girls Club president, said, "This is our attempt to get back in the boxing and MMA business. We have felt a demand for this type of event and we are providing it."

The Log Cabin will share proceeds with Soldier ON, an organization that helps veterans returning from the war front.

The Boys & Girls Club proceeds will assist with after school and other programs at the club.

For ticket and other information at the Log Cabin, call (413) 535-5077 or book online at www.logcabin-

delaney.com

For Boys & Girls Club information call (413) 534-7366 or check the Web site atwww.hbgc.org