Top Glove turns a quarter century

Food, friends, and fights were on the card for Top Glove Boxing Academy's 25th anniversary gala on Jan. 30.

Current and former club members turned up in great numbers, many of whom dressed in shirt and tie, but the club's founder Gordon Apolloni was found milling about the crowd in his familiar track suit.

Apolloni opened the club's doors back in January of 1991 with no thought that he would become synonymous with boxing in Sudbury.

“At that time we were just trying to get our own little club going,” said Apolloni. “I had two boxers, Mike Stewart and Ray Paquette that were under my wing at that time and we found a spot and just started growing from there.”

The club's owner has coached Olympians, trained actors for roles in films, and even appeared on the silver screen himself in A Fighting Man, but he says that over the course of a quarter of a century, it's the people he's met and friendships he's made that stand out the most.

“People like John Scopazzi who unfortunately passed away, but he's here in soul, Omar Gagnon, and former Deputy Mayor Ron Dupuis who is here helping out tonight, and just anyone who has given themselves and their time to supporting Olympic-style boxing here in Sudbury,” said Apolloni.

The $100 ticket treated those in attendance to food cooked by Gordon's mother, music by the Bluez Brothers, and of course, some boxing.

Silent auctions were held as well during the evening, and all the money raised on the evening will go towards helping Sudbury youth get involved in the sport of boxing.

“We've got kids who can't afford a heck of a lot, for example we have a big tournament we're going to next week and we're taking 18 boxers with us and some of them can't really afford to be going, so events like this help cover their costs for travel and memberships and so on,” Apolloni said.

The 54-year-old boxing enthusiast still has plenty to give back to the community and says that he hopes to keep the club for another 25 years.