Saturday, August 27, 2022
Doors Open at 1:00 p.m. / Bouts start at 2:00 p.m.
Combat Fitness MMA, 276 E. Allen Street, Winooski, VT 05494
Free Parking
Concessions
Admission suggested $20 donation
Guns Down Gloves Up is bringing boxing matches back to Vermont. Green Mountain Gloves is the inaugural fight event held in the restored boxing ring that once saw Mike Tyson's first fifteen professional fights.
"With the Northern New England Golden Gloves no longer hosted in Vermont, boxing virtually disappeared in the state. It's our goal to bring it back. Our communities need boxing, and our youth need boxing. Gun violence is rampant here like it's never been before," said Anthony Bambara, founder of Guns Down Gloves Up.
Bambara began Guns Down Gloves Up, a new nonprofit charity in Vermont, to intercept troubled youth off a path of destruction, give them a healthy outlet through boxing, and develop discipline. Outreach efforts vary but include collaboration with local middle and high schools and two boxing bootcamps completed with the Parents 4 Change Taskforce this year.
Green Mountain Gloves is the first of many fight events scheduled to be hosted in the state over the next year, inviting amateur boxers and kickboxers from all over New England to participate. Spectators are welcome and encouraged to attend and enjoy the universal entertainment of combat sports. Admission for the charity event is by donation and will support Guns Down Gloves Up.
Bouts will be held in a restored boxing ring that once saw Mike Tyson's meteoric rise. Purchased from the late Bob Miller from his Uncle Sam's Boxing Camp in Altona, New York, in the twilight years of his coaching career. Years later, restoration would begin; rust was removed from the 5,000-pound ring, which sat outside for decades. Then repainted to restore the colors lost to time, and finally, all the parts were purchased to make it functional again.
"These youth need a healthy outlet for their aggression, especially our young men. They need to be with people who can handle it, foster discipline, and find genuine role models who can provide a place for that. That's the plan with Guns Down Gloves Up. To support them on that journey, to bring them in and hopefully keep them long enough that they can learn what it means to be part of a community." said Bambara.
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