A giant black, red and blue boxing ring took over Gold’s Gym for the day in Lagrange, NY. Boxers from the APJ Boxing Club climbed into the ring one by one to accept the challenge on October 1, 2022.
Photo Caption: APJ Boxing Champs and Coach from the True Boxers Championship event that occurred on October 1, 2022, at Gold's Gym in Lagrange, NY. (Emilio Torres, Matthew Mckeon, Coach Kariym Patterson, Ahmid Bey, and Damian Smith) Photo Credit: APJ Boxing
THE CHAMPS ARE HERE!
Over 200 hundred people turned out to support all of the fighters on their big day. Rev. Jesse Bottoms of Beulah Baptist Church blessed the event with an opening prayer before the fourteen bouts began. Fighters traveled from Hook Elite a boxing gym in Newburgh, Underdog Boxing in the Bronx, Capital Punishment boxing gym in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and many more boxing clubs in the Tri-state area.
“Boxing is a great sport, it changes lives.”
-Sonya Lamonakis, - Former IBO World Heavyweight Champion
Photo Caption: APJ Boxing Match on October 1, 2022, at Gold's Gym in Lagrange, NY. Photo Credit: Nile Clarke of The Goodie Drop.
APJ BOXING CLUB - POUGHKEEPSIE
APJ’s boxers have been training for months at the APJ Boxing Club located at 677 Dutchess Turnpike in Poughkeepsie, NY. Owner and operator Coach Kariym Patterson who made sure every fighter was prepped and ready to go at the sound of the bell.
Coach Kariym is a Poughkeepsian who has always had a passion for the ring. He grew up with his very own boxing coach, his father the late great Arthur Patterson Jr. of whom the gym is named after. Coach Kariym also organized this boxing event to benefit the youth in his program and open up more boxing opportunities in the Hudson Valley.
Photo Caption: Coach Kariym Patterson of APJ Boxing Club at the True Boxing Championship event on October 1, 2022, at Gold's Gym in Lagrange, NY. Photo Credit: Nile Clarke of The Goodie Drop.
During the event, The Goodie Drop caught up with Former IBO World Heavyweight Champion and USA Boxing Metro Vice President Sonya Lamonakis who also helped organize the boxing match location. The champ said, “I am excited to be here and bring a show up to Poughkeepsie for Kariym. He does a lot of great things for the kids. Anybody that supports kids, I support.” Lamonakis is a teacher in NYC. Lamonakis also added that, “Boxing is a great sport, it changes lives.”
Photo Caption: Former IBO World Heavyweight Champion and USA Boxing Metro Vice President Sonya Lamonakis at the True Boxers Championship at Golds Gym in Lagrange, NY on October 1, 2022.
The first fight of the day definitely set the tone for the competition as APJ fighter Ahmid Bey won the first match! The boxer said, “It feels great! APJ does it the best. We came out and got it done and got the win!” Watch some of the action and interviews with APJ boxers before their fights on October 1st.
VIDEO:
Video Caption: Video of the True Boxers Championship at Golds Gym in Lagrange, NY on October 1, 2022. Video Credit Nile Clarke of The Goodie Drop.
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