Local Boxer Still Packs a Punch
 |
| Gail Grandchamp and Nathan Boutin (Photo By Glenn Drohan) |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Frustrated in her attempts to stage a comeback fight with female Super Middleweight champion Laila Ali, local boxing legend Gail Grandchamp has set her sights on new territory — seeking a Golden Gloves title for male boxer Nathan Boutin of North Adams.
Grandchamp made boxing history in 1992, when, after an eight-year court battle, she won the right for females to box as amateurs in Massachusetts — which led to the U.S. Amateur Boxing Federation being forced into making it legal nationwhide. Although she never fought as an amateur because she had passed the age limit during her court fight, she compiled a record of 12-5 as a professional. Her first fight, in front of a packed house at the Mohawk Theater on July 17, 1987, was also the first female professional bout in Massachusetts.
But since her last fight, in 1997, Grandchamp has concentrated on teaching boxing, martial arts, bodybuilding and personal fitness at Grandchamp's Boxing Club and Fitness Center, now on Spring Street in Adams. For the past year she has been training Boutin, 24, who has a "deceptive" 1-3 record as an amateur and hopes to ride the upcoming Golden Gloves competitions in Holyoke and Lowell to a professional career.
The Holyoke competition, during which a New England champion will be determined during a week of elimination bouts, starts Jan. 29 at the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club. "We're hoping for four fights (and four wins), and then it will be on to Lowell," Grandchamp said Tuesday.
"I think Nathan's got a good shot. He's got a great jab, and there aren't many good heavyweights out there." "I'm busting my butt training for this," said Boutin, who works full-time at Excelsior Printing. "If I didn't think I had a chance, I wouldn't be doing it."
He said a knee injury forced him to stop during one of his losses, and the other two were questionable decisions that trainers have told him should have been ruled in his favor. At 6 feet tall and 205 pounds, he's leaner and quicker than most other "super heavyweights (the minimum weight is 200 pounds). Boutin, who moved to North Adams from upstate New York in 2000, said he was inspired to box by the "Rocky" movies but wasn't able to pursue his passion until learning about Grandchamp's boxing club last year.
"I think he is a rising star in the fighting world," Grandchamp said. "Watch for him in the professional ranks in 2005."
She's also been training two other fighters, Bret Augello, 16, of Adams, and Caleb Christopher, 19, of North Adams, but they won't be taking part in the Golden Gloves this time around because they need to get more experience, she said.
Grandchamp said she had been promised a fight with Ali, daughter of the great champion Muhammad Ali, by her promoters last year, but they have since reneged.
"They kept saying, 'Oh, it's all set up; it's going to happen,' and then she [Ali] backed out," Grandchamp said. "I'm very disappointed. I trained hard for this fight, and I'm still ready to go. I never thought she would be a coward."
Efforts to reach Ali for comment were unsuccessful.
Grandchamp, in her attempts to get a title fight, even took out newspaper ads in Las Vegas, challenging and taunting the younger fighter to no avail. Ali, who will turn 27 on Dec. 30, has a record of 19-0 as a professional, with 16 knockouts. She fought three times in 2004, winning all three by knockout, with the last fight a third-round KO of Gwendolyn O'Neil on Sept. 24, according to her Web site.
But Grandchamp said Ali's record doesn't scare her.
"She fights who she wants to fight, and I actually think she's scared to fight me because she could lose the title," she said. "I'm a dedicated athlete. I may be older but I'm still in great shape. When I train for something, I train hard. I eat right, sleep well, don't drink alcohol — never have — and don't smoke. I believe in giving 100 percent."
She said she was frustrated with her 1997 loss, a bout televised by ESPN, because one of her teeth was broken in the first round and, because of the injury, she was not able to show her true talent.
"If I could get this one last fight, it would be a shot at the title, and I could take pride in being the champ," she said.
Although the prospects now look dim for the match, Grandchamp, who is known locally as "Champ," said she hasn't let it get her down. She has been busy with her boxing and fitness club, which she hopes to move to Eagle Street in North Adams next year. She has also run another business for the past nine years: G.G.'s Personal Service, which provides a number of services, ranging from dog-walking and house-sitting to grocery shopping and laundry for those unable or unwilling to do it themselves.
"No job is too big or too small," she said. "If you don't have the time to do it, I'll make the time to do it." Boxing and physical fitness remains a large part of her life, however, and her main thrust right now is to train a champion for the Golden Gloves.
"Hey, if I can't be the champ, maybe Nathan can be the champ," she said. "You never know how things are going to work out."
Information about the boxing club and fitness center: 743-4800; G.G.'s Personal Service, 664-0480.
Tags: boxing,
