This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Mid-Ring Crisis: Older Boxers to Battle

Two amateur pugilists with a combined age of 100 are scheduled to fight at a boxing match at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday.

M&T Bank Stadium’s first-ever boxing event on Saturday will be underscored by an unusual pairing—two fighters whose combined age is an even 100.

The older of the middle-aged pugilists is Jim Traband of Carney, a 52-year-old father of two and a grandfather of nine who has been married for more than 30 years. The other, Patrick Cornelius, is a 48-year-old Federal Hill resident who is single with no children and works as a chef at Bistro Rx in Patterson Park.

They’ll be fighting for the Masters' Maryland State championship in an Olympic-style amateur bout as part of "Federal Hill Fight Fest," a boxing card starting at 4 p.m., in section N of the stadium's parking lot. Gates open at 2 p.m.

Amazingly, it’s not even the first time these two amateurs will have had a go at each other. About three months ago, Traband bested Cornelius.

“It was a pretty good brawl,” said Traband, owner of High Tech Contracting. “So I shook his hand and gave him a hug because I thought that he gave me a pretty good fight."

“It was close,” Traband added, “so this time, I'm just going to go out there and fight. I hear that he's training pretty hard, but so am I. And if I have my way, I'm going to go out there and kick his butt again."

The 205-pound Cornelius hopes to cook up the first win in two amateur fights during his heavyweight clash with the 191-pound Traband.

The card, being promoted by Jake Smith’s Baltimore Boxing Promotions, has eight fights listed so far on the promoter’s website, Baltimoreboxing.com.

"It’s not every day that the opportunity comes up to do a show in this kind of environment," said Smith, who trains several fighters at Baltimore Boxing and Fitness.

"My company’s been doing shows for a number of years," Smith said. "But this is by far the most excited I’ve ever been about promoting a card."

Former Mike Tyson trainer Kevin Rooney and former world champion Vinny Pazienza are expected to be assisting in the corners for some of the fighters.

A native of Cherry Hill, NJ, Cornelius played college football 30 years ago.

“I went to Elon University in 1981 on a football scholarship [and] played two years as a defensive lineman on a team where we won the NAIA Division I National Championship," Cornelius said.

After getting hurt at Elon, Cornelius transferred to Old Dominion, and after graduation, went to culinary school at Johnson and Wales.

“At Bistro, I'm mostly responsible for hot and cold appetizers and desserts in a casual fine dining restaurant," Cornelius said.  "I have been training with a boxing trainer for four or five years, but with my schedule for work beginning at 1 p.m., five days a week, it takes some juggling."

The same can be said of Traband, who has been active, athletically, for years, including in martial arts.

"I've been boxing now for about a year I guess,” Traband said. “A buddy of mine started, so I got into it. I got tired of my buddy beating me up."

Another fighter on Saturday’s card is 28-year-old Derek Blazer of Canton, who, like Cornelius, is competing as a heavyweight, works in a restaurant and is attempting to win his first match in two bouts.

"I have been working in restaurants and bars since I was 15 years old, and I am currently the general manager of Mad River Bar and Grille," said Blazer. "I run the business, which includes staffing, ordering, paying bills, promotions, parties and pretty much a little of everything in the operations."

During his youth, Blazer was active in youth in baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, swimming, skateboarding, BMX racing and karate.

A single father of 3-year-old Brody, Blazer works his training around caring for his son and his duties at work.

"If I run, I run first thing in the morning, then eat breakfast. Then I'm off to work at 11 a.m. I work all day, take lunch midday, and then I will leave around 5:45 to get to gym by 6," said Blazer.

"I work out until 8 p.m. eat dinner," said Blazer. "Then I either go back to close the bar if it is a busy night, or sleep to prepare for the next day."

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door; reserved tables cost $350, and VIP costs $500. To buy tickets, call 443-848-6059.

A percentage of the proceeds will go to Ronald "Dink" Wilburn, Smith's close friend who is battling lymphoma. For more information, go to Baltimoreboxing.com or contact publicist Matt Yanofsky at 551-206-0578.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Parkville-Overlea