The main event of the first round of the 2015 Buffalo Golden Gloves tournament was a heavyweight affair, between Buffalo's own Drew Grazadei and Brandon Lynch of Albany, New York. It was the last fight of the night and after 20 fights, usually, most of audience has left the venue. Not tonight. The crowd heard the buzz that Drew Grazadei was going to close out the show.
If you don't know Drew Grazadei, here it is. Grazadei is a fan favorite. He's a little off in the ring and that scares people. Two years ago, in the Buffalo Golden Gloves finals, he fought Eric Rogers, a strong heavyweight out of Northwest. It was an anticipated match up.Right before the bell to start the first round, Drew got into a 3-point football stance, that turned the crowd into a bunch of screaming maniacs. It got loud. He brings that type of excitement to amateur boxing. Three years ago at the Gloves, he took straight shots to the head at the end of the second round, with his arms down and shook his head at his opponent like "you can't hurt me". That is who Drew Grazadei is. Needless to say, I like to see this kid fight. He is the 2014 Buffalo Golden Gloves Super-heavyweight Champion. I was there when he competed in the 2014 Golden Gloves National tournament in Las Vegas, NV. In Vegas, his was focused and actually scouted the other heavyweights before his fight. He went out in the first round of the tournament, but he turned a lot of heads in his fight. Drew left Vegas with the respect of the other fighters, because he fought a good fight against a good fighter.
In the other corner was Brandon Lynch of Albany, New York. I don't know too much about Lynch because he fought in the, highly competitive, New York Metro Golden Gloves tournament in 2014. What I do know is, he won the 2014 New York Metro super-heavyweight novice division and he fights out of the legendary Quail Street Gym in Albany, New York. The head coach is Jerreck Jones and he's coached some the best fighter in the country. Such as Amir Imam, a nationally ranked amateur and an undefeated pro. Jerrick wouldn't travel to Buffalo from Albany, to bring a kid that couldn't fight.
I watched this fight about 10 times, because I never seen Drew get put on the canvas. I really wanted to see what went wrong. I seen him fight quite a few times and he wasn't the "Drew" I'm use to seeing. It all started at the stare down before the fight. Drew gave Brandon that mean mug, but Brandon was not phased. At that point, I knew it was about to "get good". In the first round Lynch showed off some great offense. He was scoring with his jab and he was landing his left hook. Drew ate some good shots, but he landed a few hooks and a straight right-hand. Lynch set himself apart from Grazadei by going to the body and he was consistent. His body attack was the game-changer in this Super Heavyweight fight. If you've never been hit in the body by a well trained fighter... it's like diving on the floor with your hands out, stomach first. Grazadei fought back, but Lynch had good head movement to avoid Drew's counter punches. By the end of the round Grazadei was breathing heavy from the body shots. I stop filming when the fighters get to their stool and I watch their breathing. You get 60 seconds to drink water, get instructions, and catch your breath. You're in trouble if you're still breathing heavy at the end of those 60 seconds. At the start of the second round Lynch continued his "body-head" attack on Grazadei. By the end of the round Grazadei fell into ropes and when he bounced off he threw a hook at the same time as Lynch threw his. Lynches' hook got there first. Lynch wins by TKO in the second round.
I would like to congratulate Brandon Lynch on his victory and advancing in the 2015 Buffalo Golden Gloves. Jerrick Jones and the Quail Street boxing club and their entries in this tournament. I would like to thank Drew Grazadei for defending his title and bringing excitement to the ring. I know we will see him again, leaner, meaner, and ready to rumble. See you at the second round of the Buffalo Golden Gloves, February 28, 2015 at the Tralf Music Hall.
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