West Point boxing team to face off against local Golden Gloves team at Fall River PAL Hall

Greg Sullivan
·3 min read

FALL RIVER — In the spirit of Veterans Day, Paul Morrissette has organized an amateur boxing show with a distinct military flavor.

The West Point Cadets Boxing Team, from the U.S. Military Academy, will face the Southern New England Golden Gloves Boxing Team on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Fall River PAL Hall, 31 Franklin St.

“A great opportunity presented itself,” said Morrissette, of Westport, the longtime SNEGG promoter and architect of this Nov. 19 event.

Morrissette learned from the Western New England Golden Gloves promoter that the West Point Cadets had competed in special bouts on WNEGG cards. He also learned that the Cadets coach is Jerry Hart, a former Golden Gloves champion. Along with his twin brother Chris, Jerry Hart fought out of Libby Medeiros’ Fall River PAL stable in the middle and late 1980s. In 1987, Jerry Hart was a SNEGG and New England GG champion and competed in the Golden Gloves Nationals.

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Both Harts, who commuted to the PAL from Westwood, attended the U.S. Military Academy. A retired lieutenant colonel, Jerry Hart is an associate professor at West Point.

Boxing is a required course for all West Point Cadets, female and male.

Morrissette said the West Point Cadets have 15 females and 18 males on their roster. As of this writing, Morrissette said the Nov. 19 card features 14 bouts, six female and eight male.

Ideally, Morrissette said, this boxing show would have been scheduled for the previous weekend. Veterans Day is Friday, Nov. 11. He said Hart told him Nov. 19 was the only open date. “He said because of his friendship with Libby Medeiros, he’d only do the show at the PAL,” Morrissette said.

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Boxers from the host PAL and Punishment Striking Systems in Swansea have already committed to the show, Morrissette said. Saadi Saade, a former Somerset Berkley Regional football standout lineman now training at Love Boxing on Shove Street in Fall River, is scheduled to fight a heavyweight bout.

Last April, the West Point Cadets men took first place and the women third place at the National Collegiate Boxing Association (NCBA) National Championships. Four Cadets, all underclassmen, won individual championships.

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Avant Hazard of Fall River and the Fall River PAL is scheduled to fight at 165 pounds when the Southern New England Golden Gloves team faces the West Point Cadets boxing Nov. 19 at the PAL.
Avant Hazard of Fall River and the Fall River PAL is scheduled to fight at 165 pounds when the Southern New England Golden Gloves team faces the West Point Cadets boxing Nov. 19 at the PAL.

Bouts on the Nov. 19 card will be run under NCBA college rules: Two-minute rounds. 12-ounce gloves.

According to Morrissette, members of Team SNEGG are pumped up for the big show. “They can’t wait for this to happen,” he said. “They’re training their butts off because they want to be in shape and don’t want to be embarrassed.”

By gym, here are the other Greater Fall River boxers scheduled to compete:

  • Fall River PAL: Mike Alves, 132 pounds; Avant Hazard, 165; Josh Sealey, 185.

  • Punishment Striking Systems: Hannah Doyle, 125; Joseph Brooks, 139; Jonathan Delgado, 150; Michael Brooks, 190.

Tickets ($30) for the show may be purchased by calling Morrissette at 508-491-6151. Admission is free for any child under age 12 and accompanied by a paying adult. Morrissette said he has already secured several sponsorships for the show and welcomes more.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: West Point, Southern New England Golden Gloves teams to fight Nov. 19