Ever since Karl Dargan wrote an elementary school paper about how much he liked boxin', Naazim Richardson has teased his nephew about it.
"Not only did I teach him to box," Richardson said with a hearty laugh, "I taught him to spell, too."
It's been a family affair for Dargan, the nation's top-ranked amateur lightweight. First, he claimed the 132-pound Golden Gloves state title. Then, Dargan videotaped his cousin, 141-pounder Rock Allen, and his older brother, 152-pounder Michael, win crowns in succession.
The three Philadelphia fighters stole the show.
"That's what we do," Michael Dargan, 20, said. "We're trying to become the first brothers on the Olympic team since the Spinks. That's our goal."
The Dargans and Allen led the Philadelphia/Central region to a sweep at the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves state finals Saturday night at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
It was the first time the Golden Gloves state finals were held in Pittsburgh city limits since 1978. The winners advance to the Golden Gloves national championships May 26-31 at the Orleans Hotel and Arena in Las Vegas.
The Most Outstanding Boxer award, however, went to Carney Bowman of York, who was impressive in winning his fourth state title by beating Kennedy's Luke Chiovitti in the night's first bout, the 125-pound open final.
Karl Dargan defeated Donora's Steve Pagliari when he pinned Pagliari against the ropes and landed a succession of body shots. Referee Rick Steigerwald stopped the contest at 1:55 of the first round.
Dargan replaced Aliquippa's Verquan Kimbrough as the U.S. amateur national champion, and has already earned a berth in the Pan-American Games this summer and the Olympic Trials next summer.
"Being No. 1 is a lot of pressure," said Dargan, a senior at Strawberry Mansion High School. "They open up the (program) and see that and they're gunning for me. That makes me stay on top of my game."
Allen, ranked No. 4 at 141, followed that by scoring a decision over Mt. Lebanon's Mike Strauss, who fights out of Craig Wolfley's Bridgeville-based Wolfpack Club.
"I didn't know nothing about him," Allen said. "I'm pretty sure he knew who he was fighting. Those are the hardest to fight, because you don't know what they have."
Strauss withstood Allen's inside blows and tried to counter with combinations. Allen, however, won the fourth round decisively.
"He didn't punch hard, but physically he's strong," Strauss said. "Once I noticed he couldn't hurt me, I tried to trade punches with him."
Next up was Michael Dargan, who stopped Carrick's Mark Daley at 1:59 of the second round. Dargan said he was pumped after watching his brother and cousin win.
"With him being in the lower weight class," Michael said, "he goes in first and I'm fighting off the adrenaline from watching his fight."
Dargan caused Daley to take two standing eight counts in the round, first with a right hook to the head that caused Daley's knees to buckle, then with a straight right, left hook combo that dropped him.
Philadelphia's Omar Pittman beat Rob Strauss of Mt. Lebanon at 165 pounds; Vineland's Fidel Carter beat Ridgway's Rocco Tettis at 178; Philadelphia's Chazz Witherspoon, a first cousin of former heavyweight champion Tim, stopped Punxsutawney's Mark Powell at 201; and Reading's Travis Kauffman beat Altoona's Britan Hallinan in the super heavyweight division.
"They're strong fighters," Michael Dargan said of his Pittsburgh opponents. "It's good to see fighters show up. They've got a lot of heart."
In preliminary fights, Leslee Perella of Carrick scored a decision over Tiffany Rice of the Third Avenue Gym; and Jim Cress of the Butler Cubs and Brandon Rhodes of Weight Masters in Wilkinsburg fought in a demonstration.
