Ellenville came out in a big way for the opening night of Manny's Old School Boxing Exposition this past Saturday. Families, lots of little children scampering through the aisles, and a general buzz of excitement filled the air at the Norbury Hall on Ellenville's Center Street.

Most of the boxers on the card lacked proper registration papers, however, which are required for a sanctioned bout in New York State. That meant that they were disqualified from boxing on the night. Still, despite these issues, the crowd of about a hundred people kept an upbeat mood, sitting quietly while the DJ spun some tunes for about an hour, with a mix that covered several musical genres and included the usual sporting event suspects, like Queen's "We Will Rock You."

The format for these bouts is that of Boxing USA's amateur rules, with three judges on different sides of the ring, thus getting different views of the action. There were two rounds, each of three minutes duration.

In the first bout, in the 142-pound, novice weight class, Tod Irwin of Newburgh in the blue corner was pitted against Emmanuel Guzman of Middletown in the red.

This had the making of the classic matchup, with the tall, lanky Irwin against the smaller, squared-off Guzman. And from the opening bell, the bout ran along the expected lines. Irwin, with the longer reach, depended on his jab to keep the more aggressive, shorter Guzman at bay, and score points. This kind of fight always rewards the tall fighter with a great jab. However, Irwin struggled to find that jab that night, and Guzman continued to press inside, where he landed some telling punches to the body, racking up points. It being a novice bout, there were a lot of clinches, and a bit of grappling, but the crowd was completely absorbed by the action.

Both fighters were visibly tiring in the second round, and Irwin's jab had become ineffective. Thus, at the end of the bout, to no one's real surprise, Guzman was declared the winner on points by the judges.

With the conclusion of the first bout, the DJ's music resumed, while the family-atmosphere in the hall continued, with children dancing in the aisles while their elders socialized.

Soon, the second bout of the evening was announced. Local hero Lorenzo Santos was pitted against Stiven Bujas of the Bronx. This was a 200-pound weight class bout, and both fighters came out swinging.

It quickly became apparent that Santos wasn't hearing the words of his trainer. He was searching for a knockout blow, with somewhat wild overhand hooks that were missing the target. Since knockouts are very rare in amateur boxing � where the gloves are made to absorb energy, and fighters wear protective head gear � this is not a productive strategy. In amateur boxing, fighters win by scoring points, landing punches in the right places.

Bujas pressed the fight, was active inside, scored occasionally with the right hand to Santos's head and body, and was clearly winning from the early going.

His strategy not working, Santos fell back on clinching and grappling, and soon earned a rebuke from the referee. By the end of the first round, Bujas was well ahead on points.

The fight continued on the same lines in the second round and Bujas punished Santos with some shots to the body. Santos clinched, fouled, and grappled, and was rebuked twice more by the referee, who then called the fight, disqualifying Santos for persistent fouling and grappling.

Thus ended the primary action for the night, and much, but not all of the audience left the hall.

After a short delay, spectators were treated to an exhibition by some of the younger boxers in the hall.

The first bout was in the 85-pound weight class and featured ten-year-old Brandon Indigo against eleven-year-old Bretton McThee. The second was at the 90-pound weight class, and pitted eleven-year-old Matthew Smith against twelve-year-old Quasean Lee.

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