By KEITH GRANT
With what was widely described as the most impressive fight of the Golden Gloves finals, 19-year-old Kevin Boswell of Long Beach took home the Heavyweight Novice Division championship, and did it in championship-style. He knocked out his opponent, the third time in five tournament bouts that he did that.
Counting his five Golden Gloves tournament bouts, Boswell only has seven amateur fights to his credit, and yet is already building a name for himself. His coaches at the Freeport PAL gym, while not wanting to inflate a young man's ego, can't help but project the sky as the limit.
He's got nowhere to go but up, said trainer Joe Higgins, a decorated New York City firefighter. He has the potential to be one of the best to come out of Long Island. He impressed a lot of people in this tournament.
He hurts everyone he hits, Higgins added. And then he's the perfect gentleman afterwards. He's just a class kid.
A graduate of Uniondale High School who now lives on Shore Road, near the Boardwalk that he sometimes hits at 5:30 a.m. before classes at Nassau Community College, Boswell was first discovered barely two years ago by renowned local trainer George Corbitt, who trained Long Beach Golden Gloves contenders for a few decades. Despite initial misgivings on what the old-timer could teach him, Boswell learned quickly that Corbitt knew what he was doing. He had been introduced to Corbitt by a guy in his building that he said he noticed using a heavy bag one day. Corbitt took the kid under his wing and brought him to the Freeport gym.
Boswell now says the boxing veteran is like a father figure to him. Corbitt unfortunately took sick this past year, leaving Boswell in the hands of Higgins and Bernie Lenahan at the Freeport gym, where he now trains five times a week.
It just felt natural, he said of his introduction to the sport. I even won my first sparring match.
His talent is unquestioned by his trainers.
Power was never a problem for him, Lenahan said. What he needed to learn, Lenahan said, was how to settle down, not be wild in the early stages of the fight, which Boswell admitted happens when the other fighter comes out that way, himself. The wildness, though, is not a problem for long.
After the first round, he would settle down, Lenahan said. He'd get on track earlier and earlier as the tournament went along.
I'm a skillful boxer, Boswell says. I'm a technician. I don't believe in going in there and just throwing punches. I use my speed, my footwork. Attack from angles. I'm not just going in the ring and throwing punches.
What impresses his coaches is his commitment and willingness to learn. During the Golden Gloves, Higgins said, Boswell paid attention and improved with each fight.
He was really focused, he said. He went to another level. Lenahan added, Talent alone doesn't do it. He has talent, focus and he listens. He applies and he listens. That's why he's going to be very hard to beat.
New opponents will soon have an opportunity to find out at a match scheduled for Saturday in Hempstead, at a club show at the Freeport gym in May. While Boswell's mind drifts toward conquering the world, first he'll have to settle for the Empire State Games and PAL Nationals this summer, but an invite to the U.S. Nationals and a chance to compete for an Olympic team berth next year appear realistic goals to Boswell's coaches.
I think Kevin is going to mow everyone down, Higgins said. If he stays as committed as he is, I think Kevin is going to have quite the reputation before it's all said and done.
