Freeze and Beecher returned home as Golden Gloves Champions.
On March 16-17, years of hard work and
dedication paid off for two Savannah fighters, Holden Freeze and Robert Beecher
as they took part in the Georgia Golden Gloves tournament and came away as
champions by winning their respective divisions.
“These guys have been busting their
butts getting ready for this tournament,” said Muhsin Corbbrey, owner of
Champions Training Facility where the pair trains seven days a week for up to
four hours a day. “They both have worked really hard and put in the time,
energy and sweat and they came away with the coveted Golden Gloves
Championship. That’s a great step in their development as fighters.”
While the duo emerged victorious by
winning both of their respective three round fights, both boxers arrived at
their championships following slightly different paths. The 32 year old
Beecher, who stands at 6’5” 165 pounds, started boxing in May of 2008 and had four
fights before Golden Gloves.
“I was really prepared for this event,”
said Beecher. “When you have the best coaches, sparring partners and training
partners like I have here it gives you an advantage. It makes the actual fights
that much easier, even if I have a tendency to make things harder than they
should be sometimes for myself in the ring.”
In the championship fight
Beecher was pushed to the limit but the Champions Fighter was more than ready
for the challenge.
“He just kept coming at me,”
grinned Beecher, who won both of his fights by decision. “After all of the work
I had put in here at Champions though, I kind of knew what to expect. He didn’t
do anything that I had not seen before countless times when I was training so I
was able to counter what he was doing and win the fight.”
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| The Duo Had Strong Coaches in Their Corners Including Corbbrey, Bell and Jones |
Things were a little different for
Freeze. Even though he had been training for five years, the 6’3”, 150 pound
twenty-two year old would be stepping into the ring for the first time at the
Golden Gloves.
“These were my first organized fights
and so, to me my first fight was like a movie, “recalled Freeze. “Just walking
to the center ring before the fight for the handshake was almost surreal. Then,
I got in there and got worked on. After that it was a lot of fun, especially at
the end winning. It was really fulfilling to realize that all of that hard work
had paid off and that I was able to push myself and win.”
Like Beecher, Freeze credited his work
and preparation that he received at Champions for his success in Marietta.
“The training that I received at
champions helped immensely with my skills as well as my confidence,” said
Freeze. “I had been in the ring with pros like Muhsin and Norman Jones training
every day here at Champions. These are world-class fighters. So when I got to
the Golden Gloves, I knew that anything that came at me could not be better
than what I have seen every day in the gym. Once that sank in, it was easy to
remain focused and confident.”
He also remained powerful,
winning his first fight by TKO in the second round and then followed that up in
his next fight by winning the Golden Gloves Championship by TKO in the third
round. He now hopes to fight as often as possible in the hopes of earning a
shot to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
“Both of these men are
exceptional fighters,” explained Champions trainer Frank Bell. “They are both strong,
tall and rangy and are also great athletes. They bring a tremendous amount of
energy with them every day when they come here to work. They have become multi-dimensional
fighters and are progressing quite well.”
“Holden is really a special
kid,” said Bell. “He works really hard and his attitude is great. He has the
potential to go as far as he wants to go. Literally, the sky’s the limit for
this kid.”
“Robert is a little older and
the Olympics are also a goal for him,” continued Bell. “He’s ranked sixth in
the MMA in the state as an amateur so he has the skills to take the next step.”
“They are both very skilled
fighters who have come a long way,” added fellow trainer Norman Jones. “I think
that they were well conditioned and very well trained. They just needed to go
up there and show what they could do and not get overwhelmed by the big show
and they did that. I was very impressed with how they performed.”
