Youth boxing: ‘Jo Jo’ Awinongya becomes national Silver Gloves champion

JOLIET – Joseph Awinongya, a former professional boxer, had the opportunity during his career to make acquaintances with Angelo Dundee.

The former trainer and cornerman for Muhammad Ali imparted sage advice, advice that might have helped Awinongya’s 9-year-old son become a national Silver Gloves champion.

Young Joseph Awinongya, nicknamed Jo Jo, won all three of his bouts last week to claim the 8-9-year-old, 80-pound division title at the Silver Gloves Nationals in Independence, Missouri, outside Kansas City.

“I took [Jo Jo] to a fight in Harvey when he was younger,” the elder Joseph said Monday as he was about to put his son through a training session at Chicago Sports & Fitness Center in Joliet. “I just sat back and let him do it. I wanted him to learn to think about stuff. I wanted him to do it by himself.

“I went through it before in my career, where you have someone telling you to do this or do that throughout the fight. I learned from Angelo Dundee that it’s better to use your own mind in the ring. Even when [Jo Jo] is sparring, I just watch him.

“Most athletic minds are very slow. Athletes have to learn to think fast, react quickly. You start thinking too much and you will be in trouble.”

Jo Jo was not in trouble in any of his bouts at the Silver Gloves. All three went the distance, which for his division is three one-minute rounds. He beat a boxer from California in his second fight – his father said California, along with Texas, usually produces the best boxers – and then an opponent from the state of Washington to win the belt.

Asked what he felt his toughest fight was, Jo Jo said, “I think the last one. That kid threw more punches. That made me want to hit him more.

“I got an 8-count in the second fight. I’m happy with how I did in the whole tournament.”

“He made our area and the state of Illinois proud,” Joseph said. “Everyone from Illinois at the tournament lost except for him.”

Congratulations flowed at the Chicago Sports & Fitness Center as one patron after another came by to offer Jo Jo a handshake or high-five and admire his belt. Joseph said Hawk Chevrolet Cadillac of Joliet confirmed this week that it is on board as a corporate sponsor for Jo Jo.

A fourth-grader at Farragut Elementary School, Jo Jo will turn 10 in May. He had one fight each day at the nationals, so there was some free time.

“When I wasn’t fighting, I just watched TV, and I was moving around and seeing things,” he said. “This was my first time at the Silver Gloves Nationals, and it probably is the best tournament for me so far. The way it went, it does help me want to keep boxing.”

His long-range goal is the 2024 Olympics.

“Making the Olympics in 2024 is the goal,” his father confirmed. “That’s when he first will be eligible. He doesn’t go into the Golden Gloves until he is 17. I think he is going to win the Silver Gloves every year from now on.

“The Junior Olympics will be in Virginia in June or July. He is going there for sure, and he is going to win every tournament he goes to. I say that because boxing is fun for him. He likes the challenge.”

He always enjoys any sort of challenge.

“He can come in here and run two hours straight if he wants to,” Joseph said. “He is that dedicated. He likes challenges, too. The kids here will be jumping rope, and he will want to make it a competition.”

Awinongya emphasized he not only wants his son to enjoy his time in the ring, and in training to step into the ring, but the same goes for other kids in Joliet.

“Boxing is not so big in Joliet,” he said. “The kids here need something. I want to give kids in Joliet encouragement. Our city needs to step up and do that.

“[Jo Jo] knows what’s good and what’s bad. Other kids need to know that, too.”