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SALT LAKE CITY — A Boston Marathon bombing suspect killed in an overnight gun battle with police boxed in a national Golden Gloves tournament in Utah in 2009.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, lost his one and only fight in the 201-pound weight class in a decision to Lamar Fenner of Chicago, according to the Golden Gloves website. The loss eliminated him from the weeklong tournament held at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
Troy Fullmer, a longtime Utah boxing official, helped put on the event but said with hundreds of boxers in town he doesn't remember Tsarnaev.
Like all boxers who qualify for the national championships, Tsarnaev would have had to win his state and regional tournaments. He represented the New England region.
"You have to be really dedicated and be a really good boxer," Fullmer said.
"These kids are always good, hard-working kids. They come from a different background. Boxing is a colorful sport."
Tsarnaev came from a Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency that has carried out deadly bombings. He lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, according to the Associated Press.
The Lowell, Mass., Sun covered the fight and reported it this way:
"In Team New England's last bout of the night, Tamerlan Tsarnaev dropped a controversial decision to Lamar Fenner of Chicago in the 201-pound division. After flooring Fenner with a huge punch that required an eight count, it seemed that Tsarnaev was in control of the whole fight. Yet somehow the judges saw it differently and awarded Fenner the decision, a decision that drew boos from the crowd."
Fenner went on to lose in the finals.
Utah is scheduled to host the national Golden Gloves championships again next month.
