Burgettstown boxer going the distance
Cameron Ekas, 17 of Burgettstown, is the 2014 and 2015 Pittsburgh Donnybrook and Golden Gloves champion, as well as the 2014 Pennsylvania Golden Gloves champion. Ekas is the top amateur boxer in his 132-pound weight class in Western Pennsylvania.
Cameron Ekas of Burgettstown trains in Board’s Boxing. Ekas attends cyber school which allows him more freedom in the hours he trains.
Cameron Ekas warms up before training at Board’s Boxing in Toronto, Ohio. Ekas started boxing in his early teens and now competes in amateur matches.
TORONTO, Ohio – Cameron Ekas completes a set of pull-ups in the back corner of the gym as coach Joe Board, standing three feet behind, observes his student complete each repetition to perfection. The two have been almost inseparable since they united as mentor and protégé 15 months ago.
Board, who boxed until a head injury ended his career at age 28, has trained approximately 1,000 fighters over 34 years. Ekas, a 17-year-old Burgettstown resident, is one of many aspiring boxers who Board has molded into a champion.
Their work is far from finished.
The gym, Board’s Boxing, is a converted pizza shop set on a winding road in Toronto, Ohio, and connected to a bar. It’s a reflection of its teacher and his fighters: blue collar. The walls are decorated with press clippings, medals and reminders of Board’s latest champions. Four signs hang above a speed bag honoring Ekas’ accomplishments.
The tournaments were spread across the region, but the results were the same: champion.
A large, one-inch thick rubber mat lies in the middle of the room with four posts and ropes to simulate a regulation-size boxing ring. Ekas straps on head gear, gloves and Board grabs punch mitts to absorb the quick, heavy blows from his young fighter. The smacks echo throughout the room.
Less than three days before, Ekas was defeated by Feliz Alvarado in a 3-2 decision at the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves State Championships in Philadelphia. Fighting at 132 pounds, Ekas was attempting to defend his title, but admits the third round cost him.
“I tried to start at a fast pace,” Ekas said. “I thought I got the first two rounds, but I lost energy in the third. I had to cut weight, but I’m not going to get into that, because I don’t make excuses.
“The third round didn’t go my way and … I think the judges saw the last round and judged the fight on that. Deep down, I thought I won the fight.”
One long car ride back to Burgettstown and one day away from the ring was the only break Ekas needed. He’s back with Board, attempting to schedule another fight as soon as possible – which will be his 38th organized bout – and build on a promising, young career.
Ekas has a 24-13 record.
Learning from a loss and working toward greatness make the long hours of training worthwhile. There are days when Ekas leaves the gym regretting an absorbed punch during sparring sessions or a lack of speed in his right hook. Learning is paramount, but a loss is enough to keep him coming back for more.
“I hadn’t lost for a while. I fought a tough kid, but that loss is a motivation for me to get back in the ring, train harder and feel sorry for the next kid,” Ekas said with a grin.
Ekas began boxing at age 14 after he grew tired of baseball. It is a journey that could have ended after just seven fights. Two years ago, Ekas sat in a make-shift locker room at the National Guard Armory in Dover, Ohio, with his father, Dan. He had just completed his sixth fight and it ended like the previous five: in defeat.
Ekas asked his father if he thought he should call it a career. They decided to give it one more fight.
“That was a tough fight,” Dan Ekas said of the loss. “We knew a lot of guys who had lost a lot of fights before they had gotten their first one, so it was really a character-building time to see if he was going to stick it out and where he was going to go after that.”
It was a good decision. Cameron Ekas won his next fight and 23 more since then. His first win came at a nightclub in New Castle, defeating an opponent by a standing 8-count. Ekas’ confidence rose with every bout.
“I finally felt what winning a boxing match was like,” Ekas said. “It was the happiest moment of my life and I kept going with it.”
He began to achieve major victories, including back-to-back wins at the Pittsburgh Donnybrook, which is a fundraising event that pits a team of Pittsburgh-area fighters against a team from Ireland led by 1992 Olympic gold medalist Michael Carrutth.
Ekas also has won the Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves championship in back-to-back years – he was named the tournament’s Fighter of the Night after collecting the only unanimous decision last month – and won the state championship as a 16-year-old. The Donnybrook, which was televised, earned him recognition among the local boxing community.
“Getting recognized was the coolest part about it,” Ekas said. “How many people from Burgettstown fight on TV? It was a big experience for me. It was one of my favorites, definitely.”
Prior to the Donnybrook last year, Ekas’ gym, West Allegheny Fighting Academy, unexpectedly closed. The Ekas family had to scramble to find a new training facility and coach.
Enter Board, who met Ekas when the longtime coach brought a few of his boxers to West Allegheny for sparing sessions. Board immediately grew fond of Ekas.
“He’s a very well-rounded boxer,” Board said. “He works behind a nice jab now. Behind that jab, he throws a beautiful straight right hand now; before it wasn’t. A strong right hook and a tremendous left hook. He’s just a tremendous boxer right now.
“Good things are in line for Cameron Ekas in the future.”
After the two united, Board corrected Cameron’s footwork and set up matches across the region. His career took off. Ekas is now the captain of Board’s Boxing and one of the coach’s most promising fighters.
Ekas, who began cyber school three years ago, is a senior and makes the trip to Toronto five or six days a week for two to three hours of training in between renovating houses with his father and completing school work.
He embraces the long days spent training and perfecting his craft. It’s all with one goal in mind: preparing for a professional boxing career, which he plans to embark on once he turns 19 in June of 2016.
The memories of the six consecutive losses are still present. He will do whatever it takes to avoid the devastating feeling of defeat, regain his state title and bring pride to his hometown.
“Living in Burgettstown, it’s a really small town and most people don’t get out of it,” Ekas said. “Coming out here everyday and trying to put the place on the map is a good accomplishment for me. I’m happy I get the name out there and mine out there as much as possible.”