Medford's Schurko brothers earn Golden Gloves glory

LOWELL - Oh brother, what an an effective 1-2 punch.

Fraternal twins Anthony and Christian Schurko are putting their hometown of Medford back on the boxing map, one haymaker at a time.

The boxing brothers came out swinging, both earning victories in the final round of the 79th All New England Golden Gloves Championships Thursday at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.  

Anthony earned a unanimous decision over Somerset slugger Mike Alves in a 132-pound open tilt.  Meanwhile, Christian more than held his own picking up a 4-1 split decision against Xavier Diaz for the 121-pound open title. The pair now advance to fight in the Golden Glove Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in December.

“It feels great,” said Anthony, 22, a 2024 Golden Gloves All New England champ who was eager to reclaim his belt. “I came up short in this fight last year, so it was good to get it done.”

Fighting seventh on a 14-bout card, Anthony, who is the older brother by a minute, was excited to watch Christian do battle later that night.

“My brother is going out there to get the next one,” he said. “We plan on going to Oklahoma together.”

His kid brother didn’t disappoint. Christian literally punched his own ticket to the big dance roughly an hour later.

“This is amazing,” said Christian, 22. “We both won the All New England’s once before, so for us to be going back to nationals together is just a dream come true.”

Born and raised in Medford, the Schurko brothers attended Medford High School and Medford Vocational School, where they majored in construction. But it's clear they’ve also done their homework studying the sweet science.  

“We run Medford,” said Anthony. “We're the only boxers [here] from Medford. We're [proud to be] the face of that.”

Golden Gloves regulars for the past four years, the Schurko brothers put that in-the-ring experience to great use. The LFG Fitness fanatics went undefeated over the nine-week tournament. Reaching the finals was no easy task. The pair had to exorcise some demons, beating several familiar foes from the past.

Anthony was all business in his title fight with Mike Alves. He kept the Somerset slugger on the defensive with some heavy roundhouse rights to the head in the second round. However it was his stunning array of thunderous body shots that did most of the damage.

“I was really banging his body hard,” said Anthony. “[Alves] is a tough fighter. This is the fifth time we’ve fought. That's 15 rounds in the bank together. We knew each other very well. He's a hard pressure fighter that comes forward. I just banged the [crap] out of his body and he was stuck in the mud.”

A 2024 Golden Gloves champ, Anthony earned his place back to the finals defeating defending champ Ilya Bashir a week earlier in the semifinals by unanimous decision.

"Ilya's a great fighter and great opponent,” said Anthony. “I just trained even harder. I went back in the gym, worked on a lot of [stuff] and got more polished. We last fought in November. I beat him then and I knew I had it in me to beat him again. I got it done.”

Christian literally had a tiger by the tail in his title bout with Xavier Diaz.

Nicknamed "Tiger," Diaz clawed out a win over Christian his first year at age 18, making this another grudge match. Diaz was the aggressor in the opening round sporting a stinging left. Christian regrouped in the second round, finding his footing and unleashing several toe-to-toe spurts. He cornered Diaz in the third round, putting his opponent away.

“I feel like I came out very strong with my jab,” said Christian. “I used my height advantage very well. I didn’t let him get inside. He was all on top of me that last fight, but I didn’t let him get near me. I was jabbing his head off and landing some great shots.”

Despite their rough and tumble tactics in the ring, the Schurko brothers have been total gentlemen during their time in Lowell.

“They’re tough guys, both of them,” said Bob Russo, National President of the Golden Gloves of America. “And they bring it each time.”

The pair have a dedicated fan base that also helped put the 3,000-seat building to capacity on most nights.

“They’re both really good kids, real gentlemen and good people,” said Russo. “You like to support kids like that.”

Prior to nationals, both brothers are expected to stay sharp competing at an LFG Fitness show March 21 in Salem, New Hampshire.

In the meantime, they'll stay busy with their day jobs, working as HVAC technicians.

“I’ll be going back to work at 5 a.m. in the morning,” said Christian, with a smile

Maybe a little battered and bruised, but still smiling.

Other matches

Watertown's Fahad Khan opened the card scoring a split decision over Angel Valle Villanueva in the 110-pound novice championship. Villanueva showcased lightning speed firing off several tight flurries but was no match for Khan's heavy counter-punches.

Taunton's Anderson Montrond took a split decision over Connecticut's Kwali Rhodes in the novice 154-pound bracket. Lexington's Shereen Salem manhandled Apiyo Charles in a unanimous decision in the 112-pound female division.

Fiery redhead Aidan Feeney ignited excitement with his unanimous decision over Rajwayne Palmer in the 143-pound open. The Walpole southpaw outhit his opponent on several exchanges. He also withstood some of Palmer's best stuff in the second round.

X marked the spot for Xavier Bass. The Waterbury, Conn., slugger proved too much for Wareham's Dylan Goulart in the 187-pound open battle. Bass struck with a quick left-right combo in the first round setting the tone, in a unanimous decision.

Another Golden Gloves favorite, Boston's Gilbert Kabamba reigned supreme in the 198-plus-pound open final, topping Gary Charles by unanimous decision. A free swinger, Kabamba scored a standing eight-count in the second. Lynn's Malik Johnson leveled Abbas Ngoboka by unanimous decision in the 154-pound open. Saugus native Sam LoRusso also shined winning a split decision over Portland, Maine’s Samuel Mbemba in the 165-pound novice fracas.