All posts by scott

2016 Stipe Miocic (Fighter of the Year)

News, Recent Hall of Fame Inductees, Uncategorized

Stipe Miocic is an outstanding fighter.
Stipe Miocic, also known as ‘The Silencer’ and ‘Stone Cold Stipe,’ is the current UFC World Heavyweight Champion.

Miocic was born to Croatian immigrants in Cleveland in 1982. He was an outstanding athlete, and he played baseball, football and wrestled while at Eastlake North High School. He attended Cleveland State University where he was scouted for Major League Baseball teams.

Miocic participated in the Cleveland Golden Gloves Tournament and won. As an amateur boxer, he has one loss. Under the tutelage of trainer Alex Cooper, Miocic debuted in MMA winning his first five fights by knockout.

Since Miocic signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC in 2011, he has dominated the sport. Working as a firefighter and paramedic, Miocic trains when he can under co-trainers of the year, Joe Dulguyd and Alex Cooper at the Old School Boxing/ Strongstyle Gym.

Miocic made his UFC debut against Joey Beltran on October 8, 2011 at UFC 136 and won the fight via unanimous decision. He then faced Phil De Fries on February 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger. Miocic won the fight via first round KO, and in the process won a “Knockout of the Night” award.

Miocic faced promotional newcomer Shane del Rosario on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146, and he won via TKO in the second round.

Miocic faced Stefan Struve on September 29, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 5. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. The performance earned both participants “Fight of the Night” honors.

This defeat inspired Miocic to train even harder. Within a short time, he was back in the ring with a string of victories.

Miocic recently faced Werdum at UFC 198 on May 14, 2016 in Brazil where he caught Werdum with a short right hook counter while backpedaling away from a flurry of punches in the first round, earning the championship and giving Werdum his first defeat since June 2011.

With this win, Miocic broke the 51-year-old Cleveland sports
curse. Miocic was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus for the fight.

In Memoriam: Thomas G. Salem

News, Uncategorized

In Memoriam:
Thomas G. Salem
October 21, 1932-August 31, 2015

Tommy Salem grew up on Bolivar Road in Cleveland‘s Little Syria.
His father ran an Arabic coffeehouse, a center of food and social life. He
trained to be a concert violinist and had won several art recognitions earning him a scholarship to Michigan State University. But Tommy wanted more. He figured he might as well get paid for the fighting he learned on the streets. He trained under manager, Jimmy Avon, at the Avon Athletic Club and Old Angle Gym.

At seventeen, he turned pro-fighting in the featherweight and
y lightweight divisions. The Korean War put his boxing career on hold from l95l-1953, but he trained the First Cavalry Army Boxing Team. which went undefeated in all service competitions and had two of his boxers becoming All-Army Champions. Upon his return, he fought some of the world’s best fighters with 48 fights, ll knockouts and 8 losses during his career I950-1958. In 1956, he fought for a shot for the lightweight title in New York’s Madison Square Garden against Carlos Ortiz, losing in a highly-disputed, one—point split decision. Ortiz noted in an interview with Ring Magazine that the fight with Salem was the toughest of his career and he would never fight Salem again.

Salem graduated from Cuyahoga Community College, attended
John Carroll and Fenn College, and completed the program at Cleveland Advertising Club. He worked in sales, advertising, and brokered ferrous metals. He was married for 43 years to Dr. Dorothy Salem, Emeritus Professor of Cuyahoga Community College. He has three daughters, Kelle, Beth, and Jennifer, six grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. During the last decade of his life, he increasingly suffered with frontotemporal dementia made worse from the brain trauma of boxing. During this time, his days were enriched by his three dogs providing the unconditional love and acceptance he cherished. Salem is in the Ohio State Former Boxers Hall of Fame and in the Greater
Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame

2015 Ron Tillman

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized

Ron Tillman to be honored with Officials Award. For the majority of his life, Elyria native Ron Tillman has never avoided “A Good Fight.” “I used to get into fights in school so I got into boxing,” Tillman said. He channeled his energy into boxing starting at ten years old on the South Side of Elyria, and he went on to amass an incredible record of 235 wins and 15 losses as an amateur boxer. He added several professional encounters to his ring career before taking off the gloves.

With the gloves off, Tillman continued serving the sport he loved as a referee on the amateur and professional levels before retiring in 1999. Tillman was born in Elyria in 1948, and he graduated from Midview High School. Following graduation, he worked at the B.F. Goodrich Plant in Avon Lake. Boxing has dominated Tillman’s life, and he describes how he got started in the sport.

“Early on in my career, as a 10-year old, there wasn’t much competition in my age group, but it gave me something to do. Several of us got together, and we didn’t have a club gym to train in, so we’d workout in a neighborhood garage. I made my ring debut as an 11 year old, 118 pounder,” Tillman said. Tillman said that his training paid off when he came under the tutelage of legendary trainer Joe Gentile. Under Gentile’s watchful eye Tillman’s reputation took off in 1974, with the 147-156 pound class fighter, winning consecutive Northern Ohio Amateur Athletic Union and Northern Ohio Golden Gloves titles, advancing him to consecutive AAU and Golden Gloves appearances. To earn his first trip to the AAU Nationals in Denver, Tillman defeated Chuck Morgan for the Northern Ohio 156-pound title. He was a member of the Ohio delegation which won the National AAU Team Award, losing in the semifinals to national champion, Ray Phillips of Ft. Worth, Texas.

Tillman’s second trip to the Golden Gloves Nationals in Knoxville, Tennessee came with a semi-final victory over Youngstown’s Jimmy Villers, followed by a Northern Ohio Golden Gloves title win over Rick Noggle. He won the National AAU title with a win against defending Northern Ohio AAU champion, Chuck Morgan.

Tillman had an incredible boxing career, and he continued in the sport that he loved as an official. During his refereeing career, Tillman was in the ring as the third man for the IBF middle weight champion Lindell Homes in 1975, and later bouts involving Michael Dokes, Greg Page, and Mitch Green, as well as Roberto Duran during a 1992 fight in Cleveland when the 41 year-old Duran improved his record to 89-9 (60 KOs) with a second round TKO over Ken Hulser.

His amateur refereeing career included appearances in the Golden Gloves in Chicago, Milwaukee, Little Rock, Denver, Knoxville and St. Louis. Tillman is receiving the Official of the Year Award along with Earl Jewell.

 

2015 William Futchi (Lifetime Achievement Award)

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized
2009 William Futchi

Futchi to receive Lifetime Achievement Award.

William Futchi moved to Cleveland as a child and he attended North High School in Eastlake where he had an outstanding athletic career. Futchi’s compassion for competitive sports continued once he joined the Army, where he won many wrestling championships. Futchi was a 4th Army wrestling champion at Fort Hood, Texas.

Boxing became more of an interest to Futchi after he won two fights at the old Navy Park Gym. These fights helped him reach the 1961 Golden Gloves finals where he went up against Ted Humphrey for the Novice heavyweight title at the old Cleveland Arena. Futchi had only three prior bouts, but he proved himself to be a great fighter when he beat Humphrey. After the fight, the Plain Dealer called him “Slugging Futchi” and he received the Samuel D. Otis Trophy. After working in the construction industry, Futchi retired with 35 years of service.

Aside from boxing, Futchi coached softball and wrestling, and his girls softball team won three championships. Futchi won seven Ohio championships and one U.S. championship in flag football. Futchi also refereed a Tough Man competition with the late referee Jackie Keough. In addition to being inducted into the Ohio State Former Boxers and Associates, Inc. Hall of Fame, Futchi is in the North High Sports Hall of Fame for wrestling and in the Touch Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the North High School Legends Hall of Fame. Currently, Futchi resides in Mentor with his wife Karen, of 48 years. They have one son and two daughters, and 5 grandchildren. His granddaughter, Gabriella, was on the 9th grade varsity state championship volleyball team.

Futchi is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award along with Tom Lorek, Paul LaBuda, and Joe Gentile.

2015 Terry Strowder

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized
2015 Terry Strowder

As a boxer, Terry Strowder was a crowd pleaser. June 14th, 1956 was a great day when Terry Strowder was born to the proud parents of Charlyn and Moses Strowder in Gary, Indiana. He was born into a family of two brothers and four sisters, and at an early age, Strowder and his family moved to Cleveland where five more siblings were added to the family. Finding his way in life as a young man, Strowder stumbled upon boxing at the age of 18. He started training under the tutelage of the late Chuck Watkins. A short time later, Strowder found his lifetime mentor and friend in boxing, the late legendary, Clint Martin, who was known as the “Godfather.” According to Strowder, he was a crowd pleaser, who was very flamboyant, and always had an entourage at his fights. “You either loved me or hated me,” Strowder said, “who always brought the crowds to their feet.”

After boxing for 14 years, Strowder compiled a record of 56 wins and 15 losses. According to Strowder, he disputes the 15 losses. His record included 10 championships and Golden Gloves runner-up three times. When Strowder ended his boxing career, he stayed away from boxing for 12 years while helping to raise his children: Terry, Dayrome, Chanel, and Sean. During the Glenville Festival in August of 2013, Strowder was recognized by Cleveland City Council for his inspirational contributions as a coach, and hype-man by Councilman Jeff Johnson.

According to Strowder, he learned a number of skills from boxing that he conveys to kids and young men. One skill is “that it doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from, what hardships in life you endure, we are all capable of second chances, to persevere, come back stronger.”

Strowder believes being inducted into the Hall of Fame does not come to those with the most wins or championships, but to those who bring something to the sport of boxing through coaching, their enthusiasm and engaging the fans to help even one boy fulfill a dream. “I am honored to receive this recognition and be among those that have preceded me. In closing I would just like to say `I’m the greatest’ your champ Krispy T,” Strowder said. Strowder is being inducted into the Ohio State Former Boxers and Associates, Inc. Hall of Fame along with Mike Milbar and Alex Cooper.

2015 Alex Cooper

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized


Alex Cooper is passionate about training boxers.

While other children were playing tag, Alex Cooper was watching every Mike Tyson fight as a young kid as he grew up to be a big boxing fan. Cooper was born on June 1, 1983, and he graduated from Mentor High School in 2001.

He later graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in finance in 2005, and he earned his M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve University. Cooper and his wife, Renee, have one daughter, Nora, who is 21 months old. While in college, Cooper played lacrosse, and following graduation he wanted to continue to pursue athletics as he joined King’s Gym in 2007 when he started training boxers under the tutelage of Robert Francis. By 2009, Cooper, alongside Francis, was training several fighters. During the past five years, Cooper trained Golden Gloves and Junior Olympic champions including Jeremy Abram and Aurel Love (Open Division boxers). Cooper traveled to Las Vegas in 2014 to coach Love in the Golden Gloves National Tournament where Love advanced to the quarter finals.

Currently, Cooper is the head amateur and assistant professional boxing coach at the Old School Boxing Club/ Strongstyle Fight Team in Independence under head coach Joe Delguyd. Copper’s duties include assisting Delguyd with his professional fighters as well as being the boxing coach for UFC fighters Jessica Eye and Stipe Miocic. Cooper is president of the Lake Erie Association, and he was secretary for the organization from 2013-2014.

According to Cooper, his favorite fighters are: Arturo Gatti, Keith Thurman, Mike Tyson and Marvin Hagler, and the greatest and his favorite fight of all time was Gatti vs. Ward 1. Cooper is vice president and relationship manager in the Middle Market Commercial Banking Group at Fifth Third Bank.

Cooper is a licensed USA Boxing judge, licensed professional cutman, trainer and manager. During the past four years, Cooper has acted as a matchmaker for about five amateur boxing shows a year. According to Cooper, “My goals are to bring more notoriety to the sport of boxing in the Cleveland areas and to make Cleveland area boxers more prevalent on the national scene.” Cooper is being inducted into the Ohio State Former Boxers And Associates, Inc., Hall of Fame along with Michael Melbar and Terry Strowder.

2015 Michael Melbar

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized
2016 Jon Melbar

Michael Melbar comes from a boxing family. Michael Melbar is a native Clevelander who was born at the old St. Alexis Hospital in 1966. As a young child, Melbar’s mother died. After her death, he and his brothers were raised by their grandparents, James and Genevieve Gray, until Melbar was eight years old. According to Melbar, his father took the responsibility to care for him and his brothers, Tony, Joey, Jim, and Johnny. “At nine years old,” Melbar said, “my first pair of boxing gloves were put on me by my father.”

Melbar and his brothers were trained by the late Jim Kelly at PAL 10 gym. According to Melbar, he had his first fight was at the old Navy Park. Melbar graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1984, and joined the United States Army. He served in the Army from 1984-1987. Melbar continued his boxing career in the Army and he is proud that he was a member of the `All Army Team’ of 1986 and 1987. Prior to an early retirement, Melbar was a machinist at Central Brass before the plant relocated overseas. According to Melbar, his biggest fan is his daughter, Destiny, who always been in his corner.

Melbar and his brother, John, were matched eight times against each other in the finals of the Tough Guy Competitions, and the brothers took turns so that the other could win. As a professional figher, Melbar got a late start in his career. He became a professional fighter at 38 years old. Melbar was trained by Gary Horath, and his first professional fight was against Robert Smart at St. Michael’s Hall in Cleveland in May of 2004, and he won the fight by a KO in the first found. In his second fight, he won it by a TKO in the first round 14 against Kelly Praterin in June of 2004 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Cleveland. Melbar fought five professional fights, and retired with a record of 2-3.

Melbar enjoys watching all kinds of sporting events, but most especially boxing matches. Melbar is being inducted into the Ohio State Former Boxers And Associates, Inc., Hall of Fame along with Alex Cooper and Terry Strowder.

2015 Earl Jewell (Official of the Year)

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized

jewell
Jewell honored as Official of the Year.

Earl Jewell started boxing as a way to enhance his athletic skills and to keep himself out of trouble as a teenager and use his time productively into develop into manhood. Jewell, 49 years old, started his amateur boxing career under the trainership of Ozell Dobbins at the PAL Gym at E. 79th St. and Woodland Avenue. With a total of 103 amateur fights, Jewell won the Cleveland Golden Gloves in 1973 in the 132 pounds division; 1974 in the 139 pounds division; and 1975 in the 139 pounds division.

In 1976 he won the National PAL Championship in the 147 pounds division. While as an amateur boxer, he fought and beat such world boxing champions as Aaron Pryor, Helmer Kenty, Harry Arroyo and J.B. Williamson. Although Jewell fought Sugar Ray Leonard as an amateur, he was not able to get a win over him. As a professional boxer, Jewell had a short lived career with two fights and two wins. After ending his boxing career, Jewell trained boxers for a brief period at the PAL #3 Gym.

Being active for more than 18 years as an amateur and professional boxing referee, Jewell is licensed by the Ohio Athletic Commission as a referee. He has refereed world title fights in Europe and South America for the World Boxing Organization. Receiving his formal education in the Cleveland Public School System, Jewell graduated from East Tech High School. He retired after being employed for 32 years by the City of Cleveland. Following his retirement, Jewell is financial services expert for Primerica. While meeting in high school, Jewell has been married to his “Sweetheart” Theresa Ann for 35 years, and they have two sons, Earl Jr. and Aaron, and three grandchildren.

He enjoys watching football, basketball, and boxing. Jewell was inducted into the Ohio State Former Boxers and Associates, Inc. Hall of Fame in 2003. “It was an honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. If you are dedicated and work hard, you will be rewarded,” Jewell said. He is being honored as Official of the Year.

 

2015 Paul LaBuda (Lifetime Achievement Award)

Hall of Fame, News, Uncategorized


LaBuda honored with Lifetime Achievement Award.

Although Paul LaBuda was an excellent athlete in a number of sports, he never boxed, but he always had a devotion to the sport and followed the careers of many amateur and professional boxers in the Cleveland area.

LaBuda was born and raised in Cleveland, and he attended the Cleveland Public Schools where he graduated from the old South High School. In high school, LaBuda was on the wrestling and decathlon teams. He received an associate’s degree in business from Cuyahoga Community College. Following graduation, LaBuda married his wife, Judy, and the couple has two sons, Stan and Gary. LaBuda began working at the Fisher Foods Warehouse in Bedford Heights when he became a union member. His union affiliations have been long and fruitful where he became a member of Teamster Local 507 for 24 years. During his association with the union, LaBuda held several union offices including: business agent, trustee, recording secretary, and vice president. His union affiliation continued and he has been a member of Baker’s Union Local No. 19 for 35 years. LaBuda served as president of the Baker’s Union for 15 years.

LaBuda was the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local Union general executive board member, Region II for 14 years, and he served as the vice president for the AFL-CIO, Ohio for 15 years. He has served as the treasurer for the Ohio Teamsters Credit Union, and executive vice president of BCTGM East Central States Council as well as holding the following positions in the organization: secretary treasurer; snack & pasta council trustee; trustee for the Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Health and Welfare and Pension Funds; and the Cleveland Bakers Local No. 19 Charitable, Education and Recreational Fund. LaBuda is an avid golfer, and he has played softball on several teams while serving as director of the Teamster & Bakers Softball league for 15 years.

LaBuda was inducted into South High School Hall of Fame and the Ohio State Former Boxers And Associates, Inc. Hall of Fame in 2007. LaBuda is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award along with Joe Gentile, Bill Futchi, and Tom Lorek.