These boxing brothers make for quite the one-two punch.
Tottenville residents Carmine and James Gentile have one another’s backs in and out of the ring, but last month they each managed to take care of business on their own at USA Boxing’s Ring Masters Championships. The event, featuring the top amateur fighters in the metro area, was held at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn on April 22.
Carmine, 17, claimed the 145-pound open division crown. The Tottenville HS junior won via third-round stoppage against Nikita Marko. James, 15, captured the 132-pound novice division title with a dominant showing and won via unanimous decision over Larenzo Bougherdani.
“I just wanted to prove something…I was ready,” said Carmine, who credited his right hand and admitted that he ran into a little trouble in the first round. “He jumped on me a little bit. After that, I settled in. I landed one good body shot and hurt him with it and I kind of took over from there.”
“I knew he was going to come in aggressive. I got composed and was able to pick my shots,” he added.
James acknowledged the “long road” leading up to fight night — and, similarly to his big brother, ran into a fiery opponent in the opening round.
“It was a long road. I was training really hard for two months straight,” acknowledged James. “In the first round, (he) came out strong. After I adjusted, I was fine and dominated the rest (of the fight). I had a really good right hand and hook and I rocked him with that the whole fight.”
“I knew how hard I trained, so I wasn’t really worried about (pressure),” he continued.
James loads up to unleash a hook (Photo by: @patrickjcherilus_photo)
Carmine fights out of the NYC Cops and Kids gym at the Berry Homes under trainer Pat Basciano, while James, a freshman at Tottenville, trains under Richie Lam at Team Real Gym. Despite that, they remain sparring partners and often train with one another — routinely serving as the other’s hype man before a big…
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