St. Louis is, if absolutely nothing else, a sports town.
St. Louis Blues and St. Louis City merchandise fill the city even when either sport is in the offseason. Busch Stadium is one of the first things seen when driving across the Mississippi River into the city. No thrift store is complete without a surplus of St. Louis Rams jerseys donated with resentment that practically radiates off the rack.
So, then, where is the love for the sport that has been around since the country’s founding? That is, of course, good old American boxing.
A reignited love for boxing is exactly what USA Boxing and matchmaker/promoter Earl McWilliams hopes to bring back to St. Louis with Uptown Saturday Night Fights (USNF). The most recent event, the 8th in the series, occurred on Jan. 25.
“Amateur boxing used to be glamourized,” McWilliams said. “The Golden Gloves used to be held at the Checkerdome, which held 20,000 fans; I want to help try to bring it back to that peak level.”
While good seats at St. Louis’ professional sports events can cost a pretty penny, USNF provides a cheaper and much more intimate experience, albeit at the cost of an amateur talent pool. Every ticket, starting at $20 a pop, has a good seat with a direct view of the action.
One can expect to watch over a dozen fights, (around 16-18), ranging wildly in gender, weight and age. In their last event, fights ranged from the 60 lb mark (a children’s bout to open up the evening) all the way up to a 203+ heavyweight main event.
What these fighters lack in professional talent, they make up for raw passion and energy. Many open their matches full-steam-ahead. While one could imagine their tank would subsequently run out of gas, they often treat each round with this degree of intensity, exerting every ounce of power they have.
Attendees will also save a significant amount on concessions, as USNF does not follow the big-venue obsession with ridiculous markups. Their menu features $3 hot dogs, $5 nachos and a $12 chicken dinner with wings and fries.
For the cost of what one could easily pay for parking and a water bottle at a Cardinals game, USNF provides a few solid hours of entertainment bursting with energy and passion from the crowd. Uppercuts are met with loud cheers from one corner and viscous “constructive criticism” from the corner on the receiving end of the abrasive hit.
Every fight looks entirely different, with the heavyweights delivering powerful strikes while their lighter weight contemporaries dance around the ring placing more methodical hits. With a pool of talent as large as this, the viewer is also almost guaranteed a range of fights from a razor thin talent disparity to an outright stomping, no matter which kind they prefer.
USNF’s next event is scheduled for April 19 and promises to be an enjoyable evening for those looking for a change of pace from St. Louis’ usual sports scene.
“It’s gonna be the best show I’ve ever done,” McWilliams said.
