Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will be the special guest at Thursday’s 75th New England Golden Gloves finals at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, which will feature two Portland Boxing Club members in Novice division championships.
Bob Russo, the president of the New England Golden Gloves, said Tyson plans to meet the fighters, make a brief appearance and be introduced to the crowd, and “talk to the press a little bit.”
“A bit of backstory, Mike Tyson fought and won the New England Golden Gloves in 1983 but the thing is, he really wasn’t supposed to be in that tournament,” Russo said, noting that as an amateur Tyson trained in New York. “So the next year they didn’t let him in because they found out he wasn’t from New England.”
Tyson won the 1984 National Golden Gloves title.
The 13-fight card starts at 7 p.m., and doors open at 5:30.
“It’s close to a sellout. Tickets are going fast,” Russo said.
Ilyas Bashir of Auburn and the Portland Boxing Club, who just turned 18, improved to 10-1 with his semifinal win and will face Josue Maisonet of Southbridge, Massachusetts (33 Boxing) in the Novice Male 139-pound title fight, the third fight of the night. Bashir’s only loss was a decision against Maisonet last October.
Former Cheverus High and University of Connecticut football player Zordan Holman (3-0) will represent PBC in the Novice Male 203-plus pound division, the final fight of the night. Holman won the Northern New England title with a pair of first-round knockouts and won his New England semifinal by decision. He will fight Gilbert Kabamba of Boston and Broadway Boxing, the Central New England champ.
Seven of Thursday’s fights are in the Open/Elite division. Winners of those bouts will advance to the national Golden Gloves tournament. Novice winners do not advance to the nationals, Russo said.
Tickets are on sale now at lowellauditorium.com or by calling 1-800-657-8774.
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