Portland Boxing Club News and Events

2021 News and events

USA Boxing National Championship

Shreveport, Louisiana - December 8, 2021

Portland Boxing Club's Katherine Zehr, an elite featherweight (125 pounds) female from South Portland, lost a close decision to Alexandra Fernandez of Texas at the USA Boxing National Championships in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 8, 2021.

Zehr started slow in the first round while finding her range. She applied non-stop pressure working the body on the inside throughout the second and third rounds, which quickly tired Fernandez and caused her to repeatedly hold Zehr throughout both rounds. The judges scored the bout very close; however, their scorecards ultimately weren't in Zehr's favor.

All-Star Boxing Results

November 6, 2021 - Portland, Maine

The Portland Boxing Club brought boxing back to the Portland Expo for the first time in two years on Saturday. A loud and enthusiastic crowd packed the Expo creating an intense atmosphere.

In the main event, PBC’S Casey “The Comeback Kid” Streeter, a super welterweight from Raymond, Maine, faced Khairy Gray, of Worcester, MA, for the New England Super Welterweight Championship Title. After a short feeling out process, Gray landed a clean straight right hand that dropped Streeter. Streeter rose at the of six and was immediately attacked by Gray, who pushed him back to the ropes. Gray landed another straight right hand that ended the fight at 59 seconds into the first round of the scheduled eight rounds.

PBC’s Russell “The Haitian Sensation” Lamour, Jr, a super middleweight from Portland, Maine, won a unanimous decision over southpaw Vincent Floyd from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The six-round bout was clearly the fight of the night with back-and-forth exchanges in all six rounds.

PBC’s Jorge “Mantequilla” Abiague, a super bantamweight from Falmouth, Maine won by TKO over Mike Oliver from Hartford Connecticut. After several fast exchanges by both fighters Abiague landed a clean straight right hand that dropped Oliver. Oliver never fully recovered and was dropped twice more ending the fight at 2:24 in the first round.

Brandon “The Cannon” Berry, a super lightweight from West Forks, Maine, overwhelmed Diego Vincente Perez from Buenos Aries, Argentina, with a determined body attack. Berry dropped Perez twice each in the first and second rounds with the referee finally calling a halt to the action at 2:44 into the second round.

Josniel TG Castro, a super welterweight from Boca Raton, Florida who formerly trained in Portland, Maine, won by TKO over Gonzalo Dallera from Miami, Florida. Castro controlled the bout landing hard body and head shots to the surprisingly tough and determined Dallera before stopping him at 2:08 into fifth round.

2021 Olympia Rohan Polanco, a super lightweight from Springfield, Massachusetts, won by TKO over Gabrial Punalef Calfin from Buenos Aries, Argentina. Polanco sent Calfin to the canvas twice in the second round and once in the third round before the referee stopped the fight 1:23 into third round.

PBC’s Wade Faria, an open class amateur middleweight from Gorham, Maine, won a close but unanimous decision over Jhon Devers from Worcester, Massachusetts. PBC’s Ilyas Bashir, a novice class amateur lightweight from Auburn, Maine, won a hard-fought, close split decision over Eliot DeJesus from Springfield, Massachusetts.

Special guest was fan favorite Micky Ward who signed autographs and took photos.

All-Star Boxing COVID-19 Information

The Portland Expo has COVID-19 protocols in place. Patrons must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for entry.

There will be a free mobile testing van at the Portland Expo the day of the event from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm. Walk-up testing is available or make an appointment at: https://curative.com/sites/33926

Masks are required for entry into the venue. Please note that these are City of Portland requirements.

Olympian Added to Expo Card

October 30, 2021 - Portland, Maine

The co-feature is the return of PBC fan favorite former National Middleweight Champion Russell “The Haitian Sensation” Lamour, as well as former National Golden Gloves Super Bantamweight Champion Jorge “Mantequilla” Abiague.

Also on the card is former PBC prospect now boxing out of Miami, the undefeated super welterweight Josniel “TG” Castro and the very popular welterweight from West Forks, Maine, Brandon “The Cannon” Berry.

Three other professional bouts are also scheduled including exciting Olympian Super Lightweight prospect Rohan Polanco from the Dominican Republic who now boxes out of Springfield, MA with a record of 4-0.

Opening the show are two talented rising stars Portland Boxing Club amateur prospects: middleweight Wade Faria of Gorham and lightweight Ilyas Bashir of Auburn who will be making their Expo debut.

The special guest for the event is Irish “Micky” Ward from Lowell, MA who was the inspiration for the movie “The Fighter” and is best known for his exciting and unforgettable 3 battles with Arturo Gatti. Micky will be signing autographs and taking photos from 6 to 8 pm. Tickets are on sale on line at www.portlandboxingclub.org and at Bruno’s Restaurant, 33 Allen Avenue, Portland, as well as at the door the night of the event. Ticket prices range from $25 to $100.

The Portland Expo has Covid-19 protocols in place, and we ask that all patrons please make note of them ahead of the event. Patrons must show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid 19 test (there will be a free mobile testing van on site the day of the event from 11:30 am to 7:30 at the Portland Expo.) Masks are required for entry into the venue. Please note that this is a City of Portland requirement.

All Star Boxing Returns to the Expo on November 6
October 25, 2021 - Portland, Maine

After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, the Portland Boxing Club will present its 106th event held here in Portland. Headlining the pro portion of the event will be Casey “The Comeback Kid” Streeter who meets up with Khiary Gray of Worcester MA for the New England Super Welterweight Championship. The co-features will be the return of PBC fan favorites former Nationally rated amateur star and pro New England and National Middleweight Champion Russell “The Haitian Sensation” Lamour, as well as former amateur National Golden Gloves Champion and Pro New England Super Bantamweight Champion Jorge “Mantequilla” Abiague.

Also on the card is former PBC prospect now boxing out of Boca Raton, the undefeated super welterweight Josniel “TG” Castro, and the very popular welterweight from West Forks, Maine, Brandon “The Cannon” Berry. Three other professional bouts are also scheduled. Opening the show are two talented rising stars Portland Boxing Club amateur prospects: middleweight Wade Faria of Gorham and lightweight Ilyas Bashir of Auburn who will be making their Expo debut.

Tickets are on sale online at www.portlandboxingclub.org and at Bruno’s Restaurant, 33 Allen Avenue, Portland, as well as at the door the night of the event. Ticket prices range from $25 to $100.

The Portland Expo has Covid-19 protocol in place and we ask that all patrons please review them ahead of the event.

Portland Boxing Club Fighters Win Two Belts in New Hampshire

September 1, 2021 - Portland, Maine

Portland Boxing Club boxers win two belts at the Granite Chin Invitational in Derry, New Hampshire on Saturday.

Portland Boxing Club’s Ilyas Bashir, a 141-pound youth novice division light welterweight from Auburn, Maine, won a 2-1 split decision over the previously undefeated Diego Beacam from Lawrence, Mass. Bashir’s record is now 3-0.

Portland Boxing Club’s Wade Faria, a 165-pound open-class middleweight from Portland, Maine, won a 2-1 split decision over two-time reigning New England champion Michael Fontanez of Nashua, NH. Faria sealed the upset victory in a very close fight with a tight combination right at the bell at the end of the third round. Faria’s record is now 9-3.

Portland Boxing Club fighters have won 224 championships in the organization’s 29 year history.

Two Portland Boxing Club Boxers Win Silver at Golden Gloves National Tournament

Portland, Maine - August 24, 2021

Portland Boxing Club boxer, Kate Zehr (125 lb featherweight division) representing Team New England, scored a 4-1 decision win over Kendra Adams of Salt Lake City in the Quarterfinals at the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions held in Tulsa, OK. Kate advanced to the Semi-finals where she scored a 3-2 decision win over Olivia Blechschmidt of Miami, FL. She then advanced to the Finals, where she lost a hard-fought 5-0 decision to Lizbeth Retiz of Houston, TX. Kate took home a Silver medal in her first National Tournament.

Liz Leddy, also of the Portland Boxing Club and a 3-time National Golden Gloves Champion (132 lb lightweight division), scored a 5-0 decision win over Karma El-Chanti of Detroit in the Quarterfinals. Liz advanced to the Semi-finals where she scored a 4-1 decision win over Yana Tomalcheva of New York, NY. She then advanced to the Finals, losing a 5-0 decision to Neida Ibarra of Tulsa, OK. Liz took home the Silver, adding to her extensive National medal collection, including 3 gold medals.

Portland Boxing Club’s head coach, Bob Russo, was elected to a second term as National President of Golden Gloves of America.

Four Northern New England Golden Gloves Championships Won

July 21, 2021 - Portland, Maine

Portland Boxing Club boxers score four Northern New England Golden Gloves championship wins in the tournament finals on Saturday, July 17, 2021 in Somersworth, NH.

Portland Boxing Club’s Franco Decilla, a 90-pound junior novice division boxer from North Conway, NH won a unanimous decision clearly outboxing Ethan Kelly of Manchester, NH to earn a junior novice division Northern New England Golden Gloves title.

Portland Boxing Club’s Ilyas Bashir, a 141-pound youth novice division light welterweight from Auburn, Maine showed great boxing skills winning the fight by RSC (technical knock-out) in the third round over Mike McEneaney of Sanford, Maine to earn a youth novice division Northern New England Golden Gloves title. This is Bashir’s second win by RSC in two fights and he was also awarded Outstanding Novice Boxer of the tournament.

Portland Boxing Club’s Abbas Ngoboka, a 152-pound youth division welterweight from Portland, Maine won by RSC in the second round clearly dominating the fight over Josh Knox of Berwick, Maine to earn a youth division Northern New England Golden Gloves title.

Portland Boxing Club’s Wade Faria, a 165-pound open-class middleweight from Portland, Maine, lost a controversial 3-2 split decision to Cody Zombek of Rochester, NH. This was Faria’s first bout in the open-class after reaching the maximum number of bouts in the novice division.

Portland Boxing Club’s Jordan Lindsay, a novice superheavyweight from Westbrook, Maine, overwhelmed Henry Brandeis of Burlington, VT earning a clear-cut unanimous decision to win the novice division Northern New England Golden Gloves title.

Portland Boxing Club fighters have won 221 championships in the organization’s 29 year history.

PBC Boxers Score Two KO’s in Week One of the Northern New England Golden Gloves

July 12, 2021 - Portland, Maine

Portland Boxing Club boxers scored two RSC’s (technical knock-outs) in week one of the Northern New England Golden Gloves tournament in Somersworth, NH.

In his first fight, Portland Boxing Club’s Ilyas Bashir, a 141-pound youth light welterweight from Auburn, Maine, won by RSC over Jezreel Sims of Manchester, NH. Referee stopped competition at 1:14 into the third round. Bashir looked sharp throughout showing good boxing skills. His record is now 1-0.

Portland Boxing Club’s Wade Faria, a 165-pound novice middleweight from Portland, Maine, lost a 3-2 split decision that could have gone either way to Travis Campbell of Manchester, NH. This hard-fought fight was clearly the fan favorite of the night. Faria’s record is now 8-2 and has reached the maximum number of bouts for a novice; therefore, he will compete next week in the open class.

Portland Boxing Club’s Jordan Lindsay, a novice superheavyweight from Westbrook, Maine, won by RSC over Jassiah Francis of Manchester, NH. Referee stopped competition at 1:32 into the third round. Lindsay’s record is now 6-1. The referee gave Francis an 8-count in each of the three rounds before seeing enough and stopping the fight.

No Saturday New Member Drop-In Classes During July

Portland, Maine - June 10, 2021

The Saturday new member drop-in classes will not be held during July. For those who are looking to join the Portland Boxing Club, you can attend the Saturday class at 2:00 pm on June 12, June 19 or June 26, 2021. Classes will resume on Saturday August 7, 2021.

Portland Boxing Club will be open during our regular hours throughout the summer. There is no summer break scheduled at this time.

Fourth Annual Networking Event

South Portland, Maine - June 10, 2021

Wipfli will again be sponsoring a Networking Event at the Portland Boxing Club at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 30, 2021. $100 donation per person or six people for a $500 donation. Hors d’oeuvres and drink vouchers are included with your donation. This event is limited to 150 people to allow for effective business networking and giving all attendees the opportunity interact with members of the Portland Boxing Club team. To reserve your spot or for more information, contact Durward Ferland at (207) 615-8049 or durward.ferland@wipfli.com.

Boxing is Coming Back

Portland, Maine - May 1, 2021

Although limitations on crowd sizes in Massachusetts forced the cancellation of the New England Golden Gloves, amateur boxing is starting to open back up across New England and nationally. New Hampshire is allowing amateur boxing events and the Northern New England Golden Gloves have been scheduled for July 10 and 17.

"Our fighters are looking forward to boxing in the Northern New England Golden Gloves," stated Portland Boxing Club head coach Bobby Russo. "This will be held as a non-advancing tournament since the boxers will not be vying for spots in the New England Golden Gloves."

Russo, who is also the Executive Director of the New England Golden Gloves and President of the Golden Gloves of America, went on to explain, "New England will be sending the winners from the 2020 tournament to the national tournament in Oklahoma in August. Over the past several weeks, I have spoken to most of the other regional franchises and most have already committed to sending a team to the national tournament. I feel positive about the Nationals after talking with the other franchises."

All-Star Boxing Returns to the Expo

Portland, Maine - April 1, 2021

All Star Boxing returns to the Portland Expo on November 6, 2021. The Portland Boxing Club will be staging its 106th event in Portland since the club’s inception 29 years ago. The event will once again feature local professional stars and rising amateurs. Other up and coming regional stars will also appear at this event, which is Portland Boxing Club's major annual fundraiser.

COVID’s Impact on Amateur Boxing and the Golden Gloves

Portland, Maine - March 1, 2021

Durward Ferland, a volunteer at the Portland Boxing Club, hosts an Interview with Bobby Russo, National President – Golden Gloves of America, Executive Director – New England Golden Gloves, President and Head Coach – Portland Boxing Club. They discuss COVID’s impact on the sport of boxing and the upcoming tournaments.

DF: To get started, let’s talk about what has not changed in boxing.

BR: As for the sport of boxing, nothing has changed. It remains the toughest sport that there is and requires real dedication. Kids are learning discipline and commitment. If you can succeed in boxing, you can succeed in just about anything. It is a tough, tough sport.

The best coaches are real mentors, and they lead these kids in the right direction. Coaches have a real impact on the at-risk kids because they just don’t have these mentors elsewhere in their lives.

Amateur boxing is pure sport, everyone is a volunteer. That’s one of the beauties of it, it is not driven by money. Amateur boxing is not about people hitting one another. It is about the service that it does for the youth, it puts them on a good path in life and teaches them a healthy lifestyle.

DF: Are local boxing gyms able to remain financially viable through the COVID pandemic?

BR: It’s tough right now, as it is with most sports. Coaches who run local boxing gyms are struggling to survive without being able to host club shows and fundraisers to help finance their gyms. While I understand the need to curtail gatherings for safety reasons during a pandemic the fact is that Boxing gym memberships are down 50% across the country, and rightfully so because amateur boxers are still not able to compete in many states. Gyms are hurting and members aren’t going to return in large volumes until shows get going again.

Some larger gyms have been able to turn to other revenue streams, such as personal training, on-line training and selling merchandise; however, many gyms are run by coaches who have a full-time job in addition to running the gym and they just do not have the time to do these other things. Running their gym was a tough task before COVID, I don’t think the general public realizes the commitment from these coaches who are volunteering their time just for the love of the sport.

There are a lot of gyms that were forced to close for good. I have been talking with many of the Golden Gloves franchisees across the country and I have been hearing that a lot of gyms in their regions are closed. Here, in New England, we are expecting less shows in the regional championships leading up to the New England Golden Gloves because there are so many gyms that just aren’t there any longer, or don’t have many boxers to send.

DF: What is happening to the youth and young adults who rely the many benefits that they get out of boxing?

BR: The motivation for many of us in amateur boxing is to get the at-risk kids into a gym and off the streets to keep them out of trouble. When the gyms are forced to close, these at-risk kids have to find something else to do, and typically those are not good things. A major benefit that amateur boxing serves is to provide them with structure and something to do. And, it teaches them about healthy lifestyles.

Even for those gyms that are still open, the coaches are having a hard time getting the kids to show up because there are no boxing events happening. The kids don’t want to train without competitions to look forward to. USA Boxing and the Local Boxing Committees (LBCs) have to be helpful to the people who want to do events because these shows are the main lifeblood of what we do. If you don’t have events, you don’t have incentive – and that is a major problem.

DF: Other sporting competitions are reopening, including professional boxing shows. Why aren’t we seeing amateur shows?

BR: Well, that is a great question. USA Boxing has developed a 20 page protocol on conducting shows safely. If these states that don’t want to allow boxing events would read the protocol, they would realize the amount of effort that has gone into making this safe and start allowing shows following that protocol.

The New England Golden Gloves includes 6 states and USA Boxing New England includes 5 states. (Connecticut is an independent LBC.) Within these 5 or 6 states, 3 of them are Northern New England which is low risk and seeing declining COVID numbers. We should be working towards hosting events, especially in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. This needs to be done before we lose more gyms and more kids. Sitting idle is a real blow to our sport.

DF: Without having these shows now, what will be the impact on the New England Golden Gloves and the National Golden Gloves?

BR: The New England Golden Gloves and National Golden Gloves are qualifying tournaments – you need to qualify to be able to box in them. USA Boxing is holding a national tournament in March. Even though this is a walk-on tournament (anyone can register to box), this will be a good barometer for what other tournaments will look like.

There will be a number of boxers at the National Tournament who may not be in top form. For many of them, they will not have competed in a year. The boxers in those states that have allowed boxing shows have a huge advantage going into this tournament because they have had opportunities to box recently.

Many of the kids that were favorites to win national championships last year have turned professional to have opportunities to advance their boxing career. With this turnover in the sport and the ring rust that many of the boxers will have, this year’s tournaments will be anyone’s guess.

DF: This is the question that I’m sure everyone has been asking you – will the New England Golden Gloves and the National Golden Gloves take place this year?

BR: Right now, we are working to address how many franchises need to participate to constitute a national tournament. If franchises cannot hold their regional tournaments, they may not have the money to send teams to the national tournament. It costs upward of $20,000 to send a team to the National Golden Gloves. The franchises can have up to 20 boxers, 2 coaches and 2 officials and without the ticket sales and sponsors from their regional tournaments, some franchises will not have the funding to participate in the National Golden Gloves. These franchises are mostly run by volunteers and they aren’t rich organizations. In good years, it can be a struggle for the franchises to raise enough money to send their team to the National Tournament.

The National Golden Gloves Executive Committee, the host franchise and the host city are all committed to holding the National Tournament this year, but we still do not know how many franchises will be able to afford to send a team. On top of this, the varying quarantine rules in each state are presenting a unique challenge to the franchises hoping to travel.

We are dealing with this in New England as well. The New England Golden Gloves are typically held in Lowell, MA. Massachusetts remains more of a hot-spot than the Northern New England states and travel to Massachusetts requires boxers to quarantine upon return to their home state, so we need to see how practical it will be to hold the tournament in Massachusetts. One option that we are currently looking into is hosting part of the tournament at smaller venues in New Hampshire. We are also discussing ways to set up the Lowell Memorial Auditorium (the current host) with a limited capacity to allow for social distancing.

At this time, I can’t make a final decision for the New England Golden Gloves because of the various restrictions that the states have in place. I am an optimist and I do believe that the tournament will take place in April and May. By that time, a lot is going to change. As soon as the current Covid infection rates drop substantially and the restrictions loosen up enough to allow us to hold a tournament, we will hold the tournament. This is our 75th year and such a great tradition. I really want it to happen.

DF: What long-term changes to boxing do you see coming out of the pandemic?

BR: When this is over, we are going to need to make up some ground. There will be a void that needs to be filled, such as all those gyms that went out of business. I hope that the next group of gym owners are good promoters of the sport. They will need to get involved and also do more events. The key to building amateur boxing back up is doing more boxing events to showcase these kids and give them incentive to stay in the gym.

The lack of boxing events today is driving boxers out of the amateurs to turn professional because pros are able to compete now. Younger people are impatient, if they have some experience under their belt and want to stay busy they will turn pro.

DF: In closing, what advice would you give to today’s amateur boxers?

BR: You need to have a good attitude, you need to be coachable. You have to have a lot of self-discipline. Your coach should not have to chase you to show up at the gym. Your coach isn’t going to wake you up to go running. You have to be motivated to do that yourself.

DF: Looking forward, what is the future of amateur boxing and the Olympics?

BR: Amateur boxing will survive COVID. We will hang in there. We will remain in the Olympics and the sport will be fine in the long run.

Boxing is Back!

Portland, ME - February 1, 2021

The Portland Boxing Club is reopening today, Monday February 1, pending weather conditions. We will be open our regular hours going forward, Monday through Friday 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 pm to 3:00 pm. The Friday Strength and Conditioning class will resume this Friday, February 5 and the Saturday Drop-In Beginner Class will resume this Saturday, February 6.

We will be following all state and USA Boxing COVID-19 protocols.

2021 News and events

Anti-discrimination statement

Portland Boxing Club

Hours

Subscribe to our newsletter

Member dues