Boyce Boxing in Plum is gearing up for a big night as its fighters will feature prominently in a 12-bout card Saturday at Gloria’s Gym in the Monroeville Mall.
“I have some guys with no fights and it will be their debut, and others who are open class with 10 or more fights,”said Boyce trainer Ryan Flora, who has six of his boxers on the card.
“This is good for Boyce because we’ve never really had our own card at Gloria’s. We’ve had Golden Gloves fights and things like that, but this is our card and our fundraiser. We go to other people’s shows and fight and compete. Now this is our chance to host an event and have everyone come to our show. That is nice. There are guys from 11 years old all the way up to 30 years old fighting.”
The 11-year-old is Nate Rebovich, a sixth grader at Holiday Park Elementary who has trained since April and hopes to make his fight debut Saturday.
His initial opponent, a young fighter from Butler, is not able to fight that night. Event officials this week are trying to find Rebovich an opponent.
Another one of Flora’s boxers, Plum graduate Anthony Carlisano, 20, is fighting in the open class at 139 pounds against Davion Basemore from 5 Stones Fight Club in Annville, just east of Harrisburg.
Carlisano comes into the fight with a 10-6 overall record.
“He’s still going strong with it,” Flora said. “He fought in Harrisburg (July 20) and lost by decision. It was a close one and one he could’ve had. But that happens. He’s coming back and looking for a good performance Aug. 3.”
Preston Nixdorf, 17, a rising senior at Plum trained by Boyce’s Ricky Carter, has trained and boxed for a year and a half. He has four fights under his belt, with one most recently in the Golden Gloves tournament in March.
Nixdorf, who will fight at 130 pounds against Maddox Smith from Ellwood City Boxing, is eager to pick up his first victory.
“I don’t really know anything about the kid,” said Nixdorf, who gets down to Boyce three days a week. “I am just going to go in and trust everything that I have done with training in the gym.
“I am excited because it is our crowd and our gym. It’s nice to be on a card with everyone I’ve worked with. We’re ready to support each other.”
Carter said his five fighters are ready to compete and show what they can do in front of what he expects to be a large and enthusiastic crowd.
“It should be a really strong card with some pretty competitive fights,” Carter said. “It will be a nice experience for people to come and watch. There are fighters coming in from around the Pittsburgh area and also from out of state. That will be pretty cool.”
Saturday’s card is subject to change.
Doors open at 5 p.m. with the first bell at 6. Tickets are $25 at the door.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.