Posted on 03/10/2022
By: Sean Crose
“We are excited to bring back our Premiere Tournament to the ‘Mecca of Boxing’,” says Ray Cuadrado, President of USA Boxing Metro on the eve of New York’s biggest amateur competition, “and New York City with a history of featuring action packed boxing cards and future superstars to welcoming crowds of spectators from all walks of life.” Sure enough, this year’s Tournament will be something of a return to form for USA Boxing Metro. Although the competition ran last year, Covid-19 impacted the proceedings. “All the boxing was done outside the city,” Vice President Sonya Lamonakis says. “It was tough, but we made it work.”
This year the Tournament will take place in and around the
city itself. This is a far cry from last year, or 2020 when Covid cut the
Tournament short. “We opened back up last year, and it’s been good. We did
Covid testing in every tournament,” says Lamonakis. “In the beginning it was a
little hard to get boxers.” Still, even during the pandemic, fighters ended up
competing. “By the time they opened up,” she says, everybody had already been vaccinated.” With
that in mind, Boxing Metro is looking forward to this year’s Tournament
schedule.
“I would say it’s really our third year,” says Lamonakis.
“We just kicked off registration. We have 14 events scheduled at various
locations.” Lamonakis goes on to point out there will be “double elimination
for the open class.” What’s more, the Tournament will be offering more
opportunities for participants this year. “We’re going to offer a novice
division for our tournament,” says Lamonakis, “because we don’t want to
discourage anyone.” After a rough few years, it appears things are finally
going to start running smoothly. “We’re expecting a huge turnout. We have a lot
of active members again,” Lamonakis says. “We also have out streaming with Smoker
Talk with Ticketlyfe.com. All shows will be streamed.” The price? $9.99, which
certainly isn’t bad in a world of expensive pay per views.
Aside from being back in New York, the Tournament will end
during one of the city’s biggest weekends. “Our finals will be in June, MSG
again,” says Lamonakis. “We usually coincide with the Puerto Rican Day parade.”
The Tournament, of course, offers opportunities not only for the contestants
but for those who like watching the big names of the future first make their
mark in the ring.
*Boxing Insider is pleased to be a sponsor of USA
Boxing Metro’s 2022 Tournament