Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

English major ‘cannot wait’ for fi rst professional boxing match

The moment the announcement was made that his opponent had spontaneously forfeited, Bill Hutchinson’s heart sank. It was an amateur boxing match being held in the summer of 2010 at The Three Rivers Casino on the North Shore, and Hutchinson was hyped and ready to go.”It was terrible,” Hutchinson said with a look of continued frustration in his features. “I had trained for about 10 months for that fight. I had sold over 600 tickets, and then I didn’t even get to fight. Technically it’s a win, but it really didn’t feel like it.”Hutchinson, 22, is a senior English major at Point Park University and will be making his professional boxing debut at the indoor arena of Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore on Saturday, April 23.As the match draws near, Hutchinson looks back on a life he chose to leave behind by taking up the gloved sport.”When I was young I was getting into a lot of trouble,” Hutchinson said. “I used it as a way to help me with my discipline and get rid of all my energy.”Hutchinson’s interest in the sport was first ignited when he and his father took a trip to a Golden Gloves boxing match, which was held in the basement of a church in Pittsburgh. The moment that Hutchinson saw the fighters, he decided that that sport was what he wanted to do.”It was extreme. It was a sport that was man-on-man,” Hutchinson said. “You don’t have anyone else to blame, and it’s all on you. All the glory is yours or all the failure is yours.”Mere days after that match, Hutchinson began training with the Police Athletic League in Pittsburgh’s West End. He was coached by light welterweight boxer Darren Dolby.Hutchinson’s first fight was held at Tequila Willie’s Nightclub in Downtown where a Golden Gloves event was held before the club opened. He was 13years old and had only been training for two months. He succeeded in knocking out his opponent in the first round.”It felt great. It felt like this was something that I could succeed in and something that I could continue to do well in, and it just felt like all the training was worth it,” he said.Hutchinson began pursuing his English degree at Point Park in the fall of 2007. He said he has thoroughly enjoyed his time here, especially being able to live in the city, and has also enjoyed the teachings of his favorite professor, Dr. Portia Weston, of the department of Humanities and Human Sciences.”I think he’s an intense guy who likes to live intensely,” Weston said. “He’s a smart guy, and when he works at his [literature] he does well.”Boxing has always been a sport with a reputation for violence and injuries. Viewers of the sport find the thrills through the auras radiated by the two fighters. Andrew Bowersox, a sport, arts and entertainment management senior, said true talent is determined by the amount of preparation that each boxer goes through.”It’s all about how they prepare,” Bowersox said. “It’s not two guys just going at it and throwing punches. They have to plan out a game plan against their opponents and hope to come out on top.”Hutchinson said when he fights his nerves are actually calmer than when he trains.”When you’re training, you think about all the possible things that could go wrong during the fight,” Hutchinson said. “Then once the fight is actually happening, it’s just kind of like second nature … I don’t think that there’s any actual fear or nervousness during the actual fight.”Fortunately, Hutchinson has never been knocked out during any of his matches, though he said he has lost matches before, adding that a match can be lost based on points or judges decisions. Ten points wins the round, nine points loses the round and if one gets knocked down one can lose with eight points. Points are scored through clean punches and being in control of the ring.”There’s a lot we train on for defense,” Hutchinson said about the matter of safety during a match. “[It includes] head movements, keeping your hands up and giving the fighter different angles so that you’re not just a sitting target.”Hutchinson’s upcoming match will be his first ever professional fight. A series of contracts will prevent a repeat of his cancelled amateur match at the casino. He has been trained by Tom Yankello, who has worked the corner for over 65 regional and world title fights. Hutchinson has been training with him since spring of 2010 and knows that his experience will propel him to the championships.Posters for Hutchinson’s match at Stage AE will be hung around campus in the near future. Tickets for the event have yet to go on sale and will range from $35 for general admission to $100 for ringside.”I’m hoping some students will make it out to the fight and support me,” said Hutchinson. “It’s going to be a great show and I cannot wait to fight.”

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