Golden Gloves Proves Golden For Kitchener’s Destiny Boxing Club

April 9, 2009 - PRLog -- (Kitchener, Ontario)    Julius “Caesar” Bunda successfully defended his Golden Gloves title for the third time in front of a sold-out crowd at the 2009 Golden Gloves boxing main event held April 5 at the Delta Hotel in Kitchener.

Bunda, from Kitchener, was also named best overall boxer of the tournament and was awarded a $25,000 Primetime promotional package that kicks in when he turns pro this October.

The 2009 Golden Gloves featured over 100 boxers from across Ontario and was hosted by Syd “The Jewel” Vanderpool, who is founder and coach of Destiny Boxing, which trains out of the GameDay Fitness facility in downtown Kitchener.  

“In all my years as a professional boxer, fighting at the very highest levels of the sport, I can honestly say I have never seen such grit, determination and fighting spirit as I have witnessed at this Golden Gloves tournament,” said Syd Vanderpool, champion middleweight boxer. “These young men and women displayed the mental toughness and physical prowess that distinguishes boxing as one of the greatest of all sports, and they did it with unparalleled sportsmanship and enthusiasm.”

Team Destiny was a dominant force at the event with eight gold medal performances in the male and female categories.  Destiny boxers Elysha Van Muyen, Natasha Spence, Julius Bunda, Josh Murtland, Jennifer Fisher, Jessica Camara, Lucas Rowe and Shawn Murray took home gold medals while teammates Steve Killeleagh, Tom Kurdlowski, Sherry Grey and Slavko Saric were silver medalists in their bouts.  Bronze medals were awarded to Allyssa Wickens and Dylon Bryoson, also of Team Destiny.  Natasha “The Nightmare” Spence, who turns pro this fall, was named best novice boxer along with Rowe. Amanda Beaudin of the Hamilton Boxing club was named best female boxer in the open class.  The King Street School of Boxing out of London shared the overall top team award with Destiny Boxing for the club with the most accumulated points for their respective victories.

More than 1,000 people attended the four-day event which featured more than 65 fights and was capped off with a gala evening featuring celebrity auctions with some of the sport’s top people in attendance, including TSN’s Russ Anber and Ray “Mt Kilimanjaro” Olubowale, former Canadian heavy weight champion.  Olubowale was also in the ring refereeing many of the hard fought matches.  The thousands of dollars raised in the auction will go towards supporting youth boxing in Kitchener.

The Golden Gloves is the premier amateur boxing event that attracts the highest level of boxers and is sanctioned by the Ontario Boxing Association.  

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