By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Instead of hockey or a business conference, the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena was the home of one of the most prominent boxing events in the Southeast on Saturday, March 1.

The Yellowhammer Boxing Classic featured dozens of amateur fighters duking it out in the ring. Crowds filled the stands to see brutal knockouts and intense matches between up and coming talent in the sport of boxing.

The event was presented by Champions Boxing, a local gym based in Pelham that trained many of the fighters who participated in the event, which is now in its second year.

Akash Chand, the owner and president of Champions Boxing, thought that the Yellowhammer Boxing Classic was a success once again, building off of the momentum of is inaugural installment a year ago.

“I thought it went really well,” Chand said. “A lot of the matches we had were really evenly matched. There wasn’t really any sort of lopsidedness in these matches. I thought all the fighters were really skilled. I thought it went really well from a competition standpoint.”

Chand also was impressed by the event’s attendance, believing it exceeded Champions Boxing’s expectations.

“The venue was super great and the attendance numbers were really good,” Chand said. “It really kind of exceeded what we thought it was going to be.”

Talen Rucker-Daley and Rickie McConnico were some of the winners from the evening. This was McConnico’s last amateur bout, as he is set to begin a pro career in April. Isaac Ornelas, one of the event’s youngest fighters at 12 years old, also won his match.

Chand expressed the importance of the event and how it affects the Alabama boxing scene as a whole.

“It gives a lot of these local state gyms an opportunity to showcase their skills without having to travel outside (of the state),” Chand said. “It gives them a lot of exposure that they don’t usually get. Usually when you do travel out of state, you’re not really guaranteed a match… we showcase a lot of Alabama talent no matter what gym you’re from. Having these local shows gives them the experience that they need when they go to a national level.”

Chand added that the interest in Alabama state boxing has grown since the first Yellowhammer Boxing Classic.

“In our first event we had a lot of out-of-state representatives,” Chand said. “This year we had a lot of Alabama boxers. So now, there’s a lot of Alabama boxers that fill our cards as opposed to going out of state to fill our cards.”

Chand remains excited for the future of the Yellowhammer Boxing Classic, believing it can and will continue to grow.

“In the future you will probably see even more fights and a lot of growth when it comes to the venue and attendance,” Chand said. “(It’s) just a real pure growth of the sport of boxing.”

For more information on Champions Boxing, visit its Facebook page at Facebook.com/championsboxingAL.