LITH Teen Competes in First Boxing Match in Highland Park

Area boxing clubs met last Saturday night at in Highland Park to put on a show for an appreciative crowd.

, the gym's namesake, said "everybody had a good time" at the match.

"There were no complaints. Boxers like my big, 20-foot ring," Falcon said. "It gives them room to dance. We're going to have a lot more shows."

Falcon added with a laugh: "Even the guys that lost had a good time."

The card on this night included veteran and novice fighters.

Jimmy Gustafson, a 15-year-old Lake in the Hills boy of Crystal Lake’s Pug’s Boxing Club, had his first fight Saturday night.

"I'm not scared," Gustafson said before the fight. "I'm excited. This is my first fight. I don't want to sound cocky, but I'm pretty confident."

Gustafson showed a lot of mettle in losing a close decision to Andrew Avelar of the HACP Boxing Club in Round Lake.

Welterweights Daniel Sotelo and Bobby DeCore fought in what was probably the most exciting contest of the evening.  

Sotelo, from the gym in Highland Park, edged out DeCore, from Pug’s, in a close decision. In the last few months, DeCore had sparred many rounds with Sotelo at the Warehouse Gym.

"I was a little disappointed with the decision," DeCore said Sunday, after he had watched a video of the fight. "I clearly won the first two rounds. I landed some good body shots. But that Sotelo is a tough kid."