Fight night returns to Comenius gym in Fort Mill

Some of the region’s top amateur boxers will converge on Comenius School for Creative Leadership on Dec. 12, in an eight- to 12-card event.

Mario Noviello, an amateur boxer and owner of a boxing school and the Light Bright Boxing promotions brand, is hosting the event, which he hopes to draw 250 to 300 spectators.

“I’m excited for my boxers to get experience, but I’m also excited for the community turnout,” he said.

“We co-hosted a boxing event last year at the same place and it was an amazing success. Amateur boxing is growing in the area. South Carolina has tripled its athletes in the last four years and have gone from 75 fighters up to a couple of hundred fighters, so I’m excited to showcase some of the area’s best.”

Noviello began boxing on a club team at his college in Pennsylvania and boxed for six years while serving in the military. Several of the fighters from his boxing school will be on the card, which will have between eight to 12 matches depending on last-minute changes and boxers being able to make their weight.

One of the headliners is former North Carolina Golden Gloves champion Jacob Dillard, who fights at 178 pounds. Chester native Princeton Franklin is a 132-pound boxer with a 2-1 record and Rock Hill has at least two competitors in Garrett Blackwell and Chris Corrado, who is making his amateur debut at 152 pounds after more than two years of training for his first fight.

Corrado, 34, was working out at his gym one day when Noviello and he started talking. The two struck up a quick bond and after Noviello showed him some of the nuances of boxing, Corrado was hooked.

“He asked me if I was interested in becoming a boxer and I was right away,” Corrado said.

“I started training shortly after that and I haven’t stopped since. I spar once a week but throughout the week there’s running up to 20 miles a week, swimming, bag work and weight training that gets me prepared.”

Corrado, like many of the fighters on the card, has also made sacrifices in his diet to go with his training regimen. He has cut out alcohol, fried food, junk food like potato chips and has steadily increased and intensified his training.

While most of the other fighters on the card have experience, Corrado said as his first fight day approaches he is a little nervous but also excited to see what all his hard work can lead to.

“I feel confident enough to get in there right now,” he said.

“I’ve been training for this for more than two years now and at first I think I will be nervous and I may have to take one good hit to really get me going and get into it, but I’m ready for this.”

He’s scheduled to fight three two-minute rounds.

“The way I look at it is that I have six minutes to show everything that I have in that time and I think that’s what I’m focused on going into it.”

And if Noviello has his way, Corrado and the other fighters on the card should get many more chances to showcase their skills.

Although he co-hosted an event last year, this is Noviello’s first event on his own. Next year he hopes to do at least two more cards, and hopes to spread the word and increase sponsorship to get his fighters even more exposure.

Right now, Noviello passes out event flyers at the Rock Hill Gold’s Gym where he works. Some of the event sponsors pass out flyers and there is a social media presence, but if the first event goes well, many more could soon follow.

“We want to increase relationships and sponsorships with the local community,” Noviello said. “That leads to better turnouts, more fights with larger cards and it helps everyone including the fighters who have more opportunity to box.”

With the amateur ranks of the sport growing, boxing is seeing a revival in the state. Noviello hopes those in attendance on Dec. 12 can understand the beauty of amateur boxing and appreciate the work his fighters are putting in whether it’s their first fight or their 10th.

“You watch boxing on TV and see these professional fighters, but seeing where the amateur boxers come from and watching their improvement is great,” Noviello said. “It gives you a real appreciation for what these guys can do and gives you a grassroots look at a sport that’s growing across the state.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Fight night returns to Comenius gym in Fort Mill."