Golden Gloves card is set for Saturday

HIBBING—This is the one time the Iron Range Boxing team gets their time to shine.

That’s because seven boxers get the chance to show their wares at home when the Range Golden Gloves Homecoming show will be held at the Hibbing Memorial Arena Saturday, beginning with the first bell at 4 p.m. The doors open at 3 p.m.

Iron Range Boxing coach AJ Grove said the team has to travel many miles to compete, so he makes sure his team gets to perform in front of the hometown crowd.

“It’s a big deal,” Grove said. “Boxing at home, in front of your peers, in front of your family, in front of your home community, which makes the program possible, it’s big. They’ve probably been working harder in the last month than they have all year.

“It’s the only show in Hibbing that we have. We are the furthest boxing team in the north. Duluth is the closest, so to compete, we have to travel. That’s why we do one show a year.”

That’s why Grove does his best to make this show a big one.

“It’s a Golden Glove sanctioned, USA Boxing sanctioned event,” Grove said. “We try to give our boxers an opportunity to compete at home to show their talents. They’ve been working hard all year, and they’re looking forward to it.”

There’s another intriguing factor to the show—it’s a belt show.

“This is Minnesota’s first belt show,” Grove said. “Every bout is for the Iron Range Ironman Belt, that’s given away at the end. It’s an invitation-only type of thing. You get invited to it.

“I’m hoping to build it to where people are knocking on the door to be here. I had to turn many, many teams away seeing as it’s the first belt show here. They want that strap.”

At the moment, Grove is expecting to have 18 bouts, but that could change come bell time.

Teams are coming in from Sioux Falls, S.D., Fargo, N.D., Wisconsin and all of Minnesota.

“With 18 bouts come 36 boxers and 36 shoulders that can be injured,” Grove said with a laugh. “Things change. They’re changing as we speak as a matter of fact.”

Competing for Iron Range Boxing will be Giovanna Impiciato, Dustin Hippolt, Austin Schmelzer, Trenton Pope, Isaiah Phillips, Nash “Bam Bam” Adams and Ryder Grove.

“We have the biggest amount on the home card than I can remember,” Grove said. “We have seven boxers from Iron Range Boxing competing in the show, God-willing.”

Impiciatom, who is a Foreign Exchange student, will be competing in the second match of her career. Hippolt is only 15-years-old, Schmelzer will be making his boxing debut at home. Pope is one of Grove’s more experienced fighters.

Phillips is in his first season of competition, Adams just won the Minnesota/North Dakota belt earlier this year, and Grove will be making a comeback after taking a few years off.

Grove believes these seven boxers all have a shot at gaining that belt.

“Every one of them has a winnable fight,” he said. “There’s some of them, like Austin, where we don’t know much about his opponent. They all have a good shot at winning that first Ironman Belt.

“I know for a fact, because we do it state-wide, that they’re going to represent well. Everybody here knows how to box. They know how to be gritty. They know what it takes. I’m looking forward to good things from them.”

According to Grove, there’s more to boxing than winning or losing a match.

“That’s the biggest thing,” Grove said. “There’s a saying in boxing that you never lose. You either learn or you win. That’s true. You’re not going to win every fight you’re in. If you can handle yourself with dignity, you can represent your community with pride.

“That’s the key. It’s molding them for later in life. There’s going to be disappointment. There’s something about the sport of boxing where you can’t fake it.

“If you didn’t do the work in the gym, you’re going to know it in the ring. When you go in there, win or lose, if you conduct yourself in a manner that you’re proud of, then you’re a winner.”