17 Year Old Fights in the GOLDEN GLOVES Novice Division

  At the age of 13 Marcus Bates didn't really know if he wanted to be an Amateur Boxer. He would come to the gym off and on. This went on for a little while. Now at the age of 17, he has been a regular in the gym for the past 10 months and has a record of 4-1. All 4 wins came by way of stoppage by the referee and the 1 loss came by way of a highly questionable disqualification. Never the less Marcus has worked his way out of being your average teenage that sometimes gets in a little trouble into being a focused hard working kid. His hard work shows when he comes to the gym. He gets lots of sparring from team mates Jordan Peterson 7-3 (8 months experience) and Michael Peoples 4-3 (5years experience). Even though they are teams mates, they work hard with each other and give one another the push they need to last round after round. Sometimes the professional fighters at the gym work with Marcus's sparring and he listens and learns from them. This is what makes Marcus the good amateur fighter that he is today. Marcus is the son of Jonathan Marc Blaine " Coach Beaver. "

  Coach Beaver started boxing at the young age of 8. As he got older and more experienced as an amateur boxer, he started sparring with a lot of the star amateur and former professional fighters in the area. Coach Beaver uses his experience to train Marcus Bates, Jordan Peterson and Michael Peoples. These are just 3 of his current fighters. He trains more kids and also professionals. For the past 3 months they have been part of the Old School Boxing Gym. Before coming to Old School, they were at TONY'S Gym.

  The Golden Gloves has started up again and this Saturday February 25, 2012 Marcus will be going for his 5th win. Marcus will be fighting in the 123 lb weight class Novice Division. He will be facing Hector Soto of the DownUnder Gym. Marcus is a young guy that likes to be different and have his own style. So sometimes he likes to wear his pink boxing gear. Even during training he sometimes wears his pink boxing gloves. He does this to recognize BREAST CANCER AWARENESS. Sometimes looking and being different truly shows who you really are on the inside rather than on the outside.