Locally Trained Boxer Advances In Golden Gloves

It was a sweatbox Friday night in the gym at Gordon Tech High School and the only people appropriately dressed were the fighters in shorts and tank tops.

The dew point was an indicator as to the level of excitement at the . The house was packed. Those in attendance were eager for action and they were not disappointed.

Chris Hill, a 17-year-old senior at Cary-Grove High School and a member of , starved himself the day of the fight to make the 156-pound weight class in the novice division.

Hill was fighting Eric Brown, whom he had fought a month ago in a tune-up bout. Brown is a member of the DBB Boxing Club of Waukegan.

“He was tougher this time,” Hill said of his Friday-night bout against Brown. “He was in better shape.”

Hill easily schooled Brown in their first meeting, landing combinations of jabs, crosses and hooks virtually at will. The Eric Brown that showed up for the second fight was more elusive, bobbing, weaving, throwing a lot of uppercuts and hooks, landing many of them.

Hill used a stand-up orthodox style. But would drop his lead hand on occasion after the fashion of Archie Moore and Ken Norton.

“Chris did well,” Tony Prignits, Hill’s corner and trainer, said after the fight. “He can go all the way in this tournament. I’ve just got to get Chris to throw more jabs.”

Hill’s next fight in the Chicago Golden Gloves is March 21 at Gordon Tech. Fights start at 7 p.m.