web1_WBS-Penguins.jpg

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins edged out by Portland

web1_George_Tony_web_mug.jpg

Wilkes-Barre Mayor George recommends amending budget to avoid firefighter layoffs

<p>SCRANTON &#8212; The excitement in his voice was mixed with a twinge of sadness as reality hit home for Jimmy Kelleher.</p><p>The Irish Boxing Club star announced Friday he&#8217;ll enter the professional boxing ranks in May.</p><p>But that means his days of fighting on the same amateur boxing card with his three brothers will soon be over.</p><p>So when the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves quarterfinals arrive at the Mall at Steamtown on March 19, Kelleher will go one more round for old times&#8217; sake.</p><p>&#8220;There have been amateur fights where all four of the Kellehers&#8217; &#8212; we&#8217;re on the card,&#8221; Jimmy Kelleher said. &#8220;This will be the last time before I go pro I&#8217;ll get to fight on a card with my brothers.&#8221;</p><p>Scranton officials are hoping that landing the Golden Gloves will help revive boxing in a town where Friday night fights were once a regular occurrence and where former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes got his start by winning his first handful of professional fights at the old Scranton CYC.</p><p>&#8220;This is a fight town,&#8221; Lackawanna County commissioner Pat O&#8217;Malley &#8212; the son of former boxing trainer Hook O&#8217;Malley &#8212; said during a press conference in the middle of Steamtown. &#8220;And we should have fights here all the time. Let&#8217;s fill this mall up.&#8221;</p><p>The Golden Gloves card will be held in the upper level of the mall at the food court and will feature anywhere from 12 to 18 bouts. It is being promoted by Doug Long Productions and sponsored mainly by Dickson City Hyundai.</p><p>Winners of the quarterfinal rounds at the Mall at Steamtown will advance to regional championship bouts in April, leading to the Pennsylvania state championship on May 7 in Harrisburg. All Pennsylvania champions will advance to the national finals in Salt Lake City from May 15-22.</p><p>&#8220;This is the biggest press conference I&#8217;ve had in my career,&#8221; said Doug Long, a Scranton-based promoter who has been in that business for 30 years and promised a fabulous and fantastic setup complete with special lighting for the fights. &#8220;Having the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves is huge for the city of Scranton. I&#8217;m so glad to be part of it.&#8221;</p><p>Jimmy Kelleher will be part of it, too, as he enters the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves for the seventh and final time. He&#8217;s trained by Scranton native Irish Gene Reed, a former professional fighter and past Pennsylvania Golden Gloves champion who now runs the Irish Boxing Club in Scranton.</p><p>&#8220;I got to nationals,&#8221; Reed said, &#8220;and I met Floyd Mayweather Jr. He was just a little kid. I didn&#8217;t like him then and I don&#8217;t like him now. But the town (Scranton) is kind of like boxing &#8212; always fighting, making a comeback.&#8221;</p><p>Reed said Jimmy Kelleher will likely fight in the 165-pound weight class in the Golden Gloves, although he could drop to junior middleweight during the weeks leading to his first pro fight.</p><p>Kelleher, a 20-year-old from Coopersburg (near Allentown), first discovered the sport when his dad took him experience the old Larry Holmes Gym in Easton when he was 6 years old.</p><p>From there, he compiled an amateur record of 42-9, became a six-time Central Division Golden Gloves champion, a junior Olympic champion and boxed in the Olympic Trials. He figures he&#8217;s accomplished just about everything he wanted as an amateur, leading to his decision to turn pro.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just time,&#8221; Kelleher said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve fought 51 fights. Most of my sparring partners are now professionals. Boxing&#8217;s my life. I have big goals &#8212; to bring a world title back here.&#8221;</p><p>He plans to move to Scranton on Feb. 9, and train daily under Reed at the Irish Boxing Club.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very excited and happy to be moving here,&#8221; Kelleher said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the place to be.&#8221;</p><p>First, though, he&#8217;ll take one last shot at the Golden Gloves, with his boxing brothers Liam (18), Joseph (15) and Daniel (13).</p><p>&#8220;After this, I won&#8217;t be an amateur any more. I won&#8217;t be able to fight on a card with them again,&#8221; Jimmy Kelleher said. &#8220;I&#8217;m certainly going to miss it.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_Kelleher.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jimmy Kelleher will be turning pro in May after this year&#8217;s Pennsylvania Golden Gloves competition, which begins with quarterfinal rounds March 19 at the Mall at Steamtown. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_Kelleher.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jimmy Kelleher will be turning pro in May after this year&#8217;s Pennsylvania Golden Gloves competition, which begins with quarterfinal rounds March 19 at the Mall at Steamtown. </caption0><photoCredit0>Alicia Johnson | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

PA Golden Gloves coming to Mall at Steamtown, where Jimmy Kelleher announces he’s turning pro