Expert: Melanie Ley - 1/9/2008

Question
I have had a private boxing gym in L.A. for the last 25 years.
I fell into training stars for movies and got out of the fight world. My son is now 17 years old and has been training for 10 years. He is 6' and 168lbs. My plan is to have him go from amateur novice to golden gloves to Olympics then turn pro and then champ.
Big plans and why not.
With skills and footwork of a young Ali and Sugar ray he should go far.
He trains 6 to 8 hours a day and has a lot of sparring partners everyday. I do not want him to waste fighting in matches that do not advance him in standings.
What is the least amount of fights needed to enter each new level of boxing match, such as what is needed to enter golden gloves and so on.

I hope that he will be the next great white hope


Answer
You will need to register him with USA Boxing.  If you are going to work his corner, you will also need to be registered and attend a 6-8 hour coach's certification clinic.  You will need a copy of his birth certificate and two passport-type pictures; there is a yearly registration fee of $40 for athletes and $45 for non-athletes (currently January to December).  He will need to start at the novice level in local shows; if he has a minimum of 5 scored bouts prior to March 1, you could enter him in the open division of the local Golden Gloves tournament (March 4-8); if not, he can participate in the local, non-advancing novice tournament.  The qualifying process for the 2012 Olympic won't begin until 2001 or 2012 so you have 3+ years for your son to get to the national and/or international level.  Unfortunately, he will probably have to waste quite a bit of time working his way into participating in ranking tournaments.  For more information, please email me at mel@amateurboxing.com.