New York Golden Gloves

The New York Golden Gloves boxing tournament was considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves. Named for the small golden gloves given out to the winners of each weight category, the New York Golden Gloves continued for decades under the sponsorship of the New York Daily News. Originally the tournament was known as "The New York Daily News Welfare Association's Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions" or simply "The New York Daily News Golden Gloves."

Prior to 1926, boxing in New York was limited to local intra-city bouts. Gambling and thrown matches were rampant. Boxing had a bad name. In fact, Chicago had run a Golden Gloves match for one year in 1922 before it was legislated out of existence in Illinois due to the illegal activities surrounding boxing.

In late 1926, Paul Gallico of the New York Daily News and fellow editors were having dinner. Gallico threw out the idea of an amateur boxing tournament, suggesting that it be called the New York Daily News Golden Gloves. Capt. Joseph M. Patterson, newspaper publisher, quickly approved of the name and idea, agreeing to the New York Daily News' sponsorship of the tournament. At that time there was little to write about during the winter season, and it would help the New York Daily News sell papers while giving its sports writers a wealth of articles to write about as they described the playoff matches and stories about the contenders. Gallico rented the Madison Square Garden for the tournament to be held on March 28, 1927. He advertised it in his newspaper column opening it up to anyone, boxing novices and experienced boxers alike, who wanted to participate. Receiving around 1,200 entries Gallico shortened the application period to limit the number of contestants. Overwhelmed with the enormous response, he called for help from fellow newsman, Al Copeland (organizer of the Silver Skates), and Dr. Thomas DeNaouley (who oversaw the physicals process). Playoffs were to take place at two local venues, but Copeland soon realized that two sites were not enough to complete the playoffs on time and added 15 more venues. Almost 22,000 people came to see the finals at Madison Square Garden, with nearly another 10,000 turned away. It was a huge success.

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