Kalispell's Golden opportunity

Seventy-year-old Ed Wettach will never forget his first Golden Gloves boxing tournament.

Great Falls, 1963. He was 22 years old. It was his first tournament of any kind, let alone one as prestigious as the Golden Gloves.

He ended up winning it all. From there he cultivated a lifelong love of the sport that included a successful stint on the Army boxing team and continues today in the form of training others.

Like so many others - Muhammed Ali, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya - it all started with Golden Gloves.

At the Outlaw Inn on Saturday, the legacy of the oldest and most renowned amateur boxing tournament in the country comes to Kalispell for the Montana Golden Gloves Boxing Championships. Local club Flathead Boxing is hosting the event, which is sanctioned by USA Boxing and has roughly 20 bouts scheduled. Doors open at 6 p.m.

"It's a big deal, the Golden Gloves. That's been the No. 1 tournament ever since I've been involved in it, and that's a long time," said Wettach, a Kalispell resident who helps kids and adults train at the Straight Blast Gym downtown.

"Just being able to say as a fighter that you boxed Golden Gloves is like a badge of honor. It means a lot."

Two local boxers are involved in official bouts - 24-year-old Kenny Guzman and 31-year-old Randy Kopchinsky.

As of Thursday, Kopchinsky's fight was the only Golden Gloves fight that will be contested. Kopchinsky will go up against Dave Otis from Bozeman. The winner will advance to regionals.

Guzman, a standout local fighter who enters with a 13-7 record, has already earned a seed to the regional tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah, in April because he does not have a sanctioned opponent at 132 pounds on Saturday. He will fight a fighter from another division.

Regardless, this will be his first bout at an official Golden Gloves event, and he isn't taking it for granted.

"I'm very excited. I've been working very hard and telling a lot of people. They're going to get a good show," he said.

"It's so exciting to have it here. It's all the best fighters in the state. We're not going to see any bad fights or any boring fights. We're going to see all the best of the best."

Guzman recently won the Inland Northwest Championship for his weight division along with two other teammates. Kopchinsky hiked his record to 4-0 with a title belt victory and 16-year-old Dalton Damm picked up a win as well, marking another impressive overall performance for Flathead Boxing.

"I see how these guys come in and work hard and they give the heart and it pays off," Guzman said. "The harder they work in the gym, the better they do and now it's showing."

Head trainer Phillip Moore hopes that same success will translate in the ring on Saturday.

But so far, it's always a big success just having the tournament here, he said.

A trend has spread across the country as well as in the state in recent years as boxing has seemingly shrunk to niche status in the sports world.

Moore and others across the state involved in local clubs are trying to reverse that.

With Saturday, they hope to showcase the sport they love.

"The main purpose we wanted to have it here is to continue to promote amateur boxing in the Flathead Valley," Moore said. "To kind of bring it back. I've heard that historically it was pretty big in this valley and then it disappeared.

"Our main goal is to show that this is something constructive and positive for the youth as well as adults."

Saturday will feature fighters from youth to adults from around the state as well as the region. Locals slated to compete are: 10-year-old Zeb Bedoian from Flathead Boxing and three from Jesse Uhde's gym in Lakeside, the Westshore Boxing Club, 9-year-old Skyler Eagle Deer, 13-year-old Kevin Katon and 8-year-old Shauna Uhde.

Perhaps 50 years down the road, these young boxers will look back on this weekend with the same fond memory that Wettach does.

He hopes so.

"I enjoy watching the kids get excited about something like this," Wettach said.