Golden Gloves titles at stake in Mesquite

One of the biggest events in amateur boxing - the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions - is returning to Southern Nevada.

Monday through Saturday, the CasaBlanca Resort in Mesquite will host the Golden Gloves national tournament, featuring some of the country's best amateur boxers. The tournament is in Southern Nevada for the third time in its 84-year history and the first time since 2003 when Las Vegas played host.

Dawn Barry, who helped bring the Junior Golden Gloves to Mesquite in 2007 and has kept it there for the past six years, had to campaign hard to get the senior Golden Gloves event.

"There were several challenges in getting it to Mesquite, but the biggest one was money," Barry said. "It cost a lot to get the winning bid."

To that end, Barry received a big assist from Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is helping to underwrite the event with a donation of approximately $50,000. Mayweather, a three-time senior national Golden Gloves champion, has done this before. In 2008 he wrote a $200,000 check to save the event in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich.

"It's always important to support the amateur boxers," Mayweather said. "They are the future of boxing. When Dawn (Sanchez, Barry's daughter) asked for my help, I told her, 'Whatever you need.' "

Local boxers Jesse Magdaleno (2009) and Michael Hunter (2011) are recent Golden Gloves national champions. This year Nevada will be represented by Las Vegas' Jamey Swanson, who fights at 165 pounds, Mesquite's Daniel Ramirez (152) and Brandon Everett (178) and Reno's Alec McGee (114).

"I was hoping we'd have a couple of more local fighters," she said. "But this is a very tough competition. It's not easy to make it to the nationals. But I think Jamey has a chance to go far. He's in the gym every day, and he's improving all the time."

First bell for the card Monday through Friday is at 6 p.m. Saturday's championship round begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 for each day Monday through Friday and $17 for Saturday and are available at the CasaBlanca box office. The daily schedule of bouts and results can be found on the tournament's website - 2012nationalgoldengloves.com.

■ MAYWEATHER-COTTO OFFICIALS - The Nevada Athletic Commission selected Las Vegas' Tony Weeks to referee Saturday's WBA junior middleweight title fight between Mayweather (42-0, 26 knockouts) and Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden. The judges, all from Las Vegas, are Dave Moretti, Patricia Morse-Jarman and Robert Hoyle.

Jay Nady will referee the WBC junior middleweight title fight between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KOs) and Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) at the Grand Garden that night. The judges are C.J. Ross and Glenn Trowbridge of Las Vegas and Jesse Reyes of Texas.

■ HARD ROCK CARD - Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions are collaborating on a card Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel with former champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (42-4, 35 KOs) meeting Eduardo Lazcano (24-2, 11 KOs) in the 12-round super featherweight main event.

In the 10-round co-feature, Las Vegas junior middleweight Ishe Smith (22-5, 10 KOs) meets Derek Ennis (23-3-1, 13 KOs). Tickets are $25, and first bell for the card is at 6:30 p.m.

■ PETERSON-KHAN OFFICIALS - The NAC selected Las Vegas' Kenny Bayless to referee the May 19 rematch between WBA and IBF junior welterweight champ Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) and ex-champ Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KOs) at Mandalay Bay Events Center. The judges are Duane Ford and Adalaide Byrd of Las Vegas and Burt Clements of Reno.

■ FLORES SUSPENDED - Welterweight Javier Flores was suspended nine months and fined $750 after being found guilty of violating the NAC's drug policy in his Jan. 12 win over Alex Viramontes at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Flores, who scored a third-round technical knockout, tested positive following the fight for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid that is banned in Nevada. In addition to the suspension and fine (30 percent of his $2,500 purse), Flores' win was changed to a no contest.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.