Highland boxing gym owner advances to Missouri Golden Gloves semifinals

Highland boxing gym owner Travis Tilton has spent the past two decades enjoying his passion for boxing on the amateur level of competition.

On Feb. 28, Tilton completed his most recent foray into amateur boxing circles with a solid performance in the Missouri Golden Gloves competition held at the James Eagan Center in Florissant, Missouri.

Tilton, who has fought competitively for the past 12 years, competed in the Golden Gloves competition from Feb. 7 until the weekend of the 28th.

“The Golden Gloves started Feb. 7 this year and we had all the preliminary bouts and all that, and I advanced into the semifinal round which was held the weekend of Feb. 28,” Tilton said.

As a competitor in the Master Open Heavyweight, which is for fighters age 41 and over, Tilton advanced his way through the prelim rounds and the quarterfinal round the first two weekends of February with wins.

That winning streak ground to a halt Feb. 28, when he took on Burt Meyers in a semifinal round bout.

Tilton gave it his best shot against Myers for three 2-minute rounds in the semifinal match but Myers was awarded the decision based on the judges scoring that is done on the 10-point must system.

“It’s a 10-point must (system) in amateur boxing, so he won by decision. They don’t announce the score in amateur boxing and they just say who won,” Tilton said. “You have no idea, they just announce who won. It was a tough fight and he was pretty good.”

Although Tilton did not win his weight class last week, he enjoyed the experience and was thrilled to have several dozen friends and family as well as people from his gym in Highland — Alphas Gym, which he opened in 2018 — there to support him.

“It was great to have Highland coming out to support the Golden Gloves,” Tilton said.

Boxing had been a part of Tilton’s life since 2008 when he filled in for a workout pal during the annual Guns and Hoses event that raises funds to help first responders and their families.

He regularly participates in various charity boxing events to raise money for families dealing with serious life issues.

Next up is benefit for child fighting cancer

His next scheduled event will be a boxing fundraiser called Fighting for Mighty Maren on June 6 in Breese.

The event will benefit 3-year-old Maren Poettker and her family who has been fighting cancer since she was an infant.

“Maren is a little girl in Aviston, which is fairly close to Highland, and she’s battling childhood cancer. Last year we hosted a little boxing event for Ray Thomas that raised $120,000 and June 6, we’re hoping to do that for Maren,” Tilton said.

For more information on the Fighting for Mighty Maren event, visit Fighting for Mighty Maren on Facebook.