Champs Eastside Boxing Club

Champs Eastside Boxing Club saw action on two separate weekends in February 2009. On Feb. 13 and 14, Champs was in attendance at the Adirondack Golden Gloves in Oneida, NY. Representing Champs was Logan Swamp of St. Regis, NY in the Senior Men’s Novice (under 10 bouts), 178-lb. light-heavyweight division. In the USA at 17 years of age, a boxer is considered a “Senior” division boxer.

On Friday, Feb. 13, Swamp stopped James Stanley of Geneva, NY in the first round. Swamp used a rapier-like jab to set up combos and twice dropped his outgunned rival with thudding body shots. After the second knockdown, the referee was forced to stop the bout. Swamp proved to be a “Friday the 13th” monster for his opponent.

This moved Swamp into the finals on Saturday, Feb. 14. However, he was in tough with muscular 22-year-old Charles Jeeter of Kingston, NY. Charles came out aggressively early in round one and put Swamp on the back foot. However, near the end of the first round, Swamp started establishing his whip-like jab, scoring with 5–6 snapping lefts, and also scoring with 2–3 hard rights near round’s end. Swamp picked up where he left off in the second round, scoring well with his jabs and combos. Twice the referee administered standing 8-counts to his opponent. The third round saw a now-desperate Charles Jeeter go for broke in the first half of the round. Swamp covered up well and seemed to block and avoid the majority of punches. In the final minute, Swamp mounted a comeback against his now-gassed-out opponent, peppering Charles Jeeter with full arsenal of punches to close the show with another 8-count.

However, the “split decision” went in favour of Charles Jeeter. The crowd of over 1,000 booed the verdict heartily. Swamp received many compliments and condolences, including from his opponent and coach who felt they “lost” and were “lucky.” Champions rise from adversity, and a rematch will be in order for Swamp, who may still qualify for NY State finals.

On Feb. 28, Phil Hoftyzer of Champs Eastside squared off with Juan Aguilar of Kingston in a Senior Men’s Novice matchup at 178 lbs. This was a rematch of last October, where Phil stopped Juan Aguilar in Ottawa at the Rideau Carleton Racetrack. Phil got off to a good start in the first round, working off a good, straight jab, and occasionally catching Juan with a big right over his guard. Juan switched gears in the second round and backed Phil up. Phil kept his defence tight and countered well, but spent too much time on the ropes. In the third round it was rock ’em sock ’em robots as neither guy conceded an inch. Phil landed the cleaner shots and it was enough to salvage a close split decision. Coach Jorge Luis felt Phil stood in front of Juan too much at times and should have used his jab more and his legs more. Great bout for Phil and good learning experience. Phil has a lot of character and heart and his ring skills are improving.