Baldwin High's Conway Boys Compete at State Boxing Championships

Sometimes, less is more. Just ask Mike Conway.

Conway, 16 and a junior, fell out of the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves boxing championships when he lost a 145-pound cadet-class bout on April 9. On May 7, he found himself in the finals of that same tournament.

Huh?

You see; Conway, who was lugging 195 pounds around in November, last year, has dropped all the way down to 136 pounds. And as luck would have it, the state tournament needed a Pittsburgh representative at the 138-pound level on Saturday. In stepped Conway, also a wrestler at Baldwin High, for a second chance.

His luck ran out, though, as he drew a 6-foot-1 fighter from the Philadelphia area in the state final. Kieran Hooks, a Lawncrest Boxing Club representative, took it to Conway over three rounds on Saturday night at the Royal Place Restaurant on Route 88 and walked away with the state title by way of a three-round judges' decision. Conway is 5-foot-3.

"(Hooks) was good," said Conway's trainer Bob "Muscles" Healy, a resident who runs the South Park Boxing Club. "He knew how to use his height."

Healy said that Conway is going to eventually fight at the 132-pound level when he moves to the open class (top amateur classification) after his 17th birthday on August 27.

"I knew that Mike lost (on Saturday), but I was happy with Mike because, even though it was clear that he was going to get out-pointed, he kept pushing the fight.

"He actually fought better in the second round and third round than he did in the first.

"He knew he was getting out-pointed, but he kept fighting."

If Conway was upset about the decision, he need only to look to his own household for vindication. 

His brother, Matt, 15 and a Baldwin sophomore, took care of the Philadelphia area's Maurice Harris from Shuler's Gym on Saturday with a three-round decision in the 125-pound level that Healy said should have surprised no one.

"(Matt's) left hook was working," said Healy, who also trains Matt. "He was doing some nice body work and then finishing up top. I thought that he won clearly."

Unlike his brother, Matt was not the benefactor of a walkover to the state finals. He had to before besting Harris for the Pennsylvania crown on Saturday.

Matt now has a chance to compete in the national Golden Gloves championships in Nevada, starting this July.

Healy is not sure yet if they'll be making the trip.

"I definitely wanna go," Matt said. "My goal has been nationals. I got close to , so I want to get back to that level."

Disclaimer: Bob Healy is the author's father.