A mother and son from Sarnia have pulled off the rare sports feat of simultaneously becoming Golden Gloves boxing champions.
Mandy Taylor-Bartley, 38, defeated a Toronto fighter to claim the light middleweight and 2014 Golden Gloves title in three rounds at the Ontario Boxing Association championship in Hamilton, April 25-27.
Meanwhile, son Dylan Taylor won his second straight Golden Gloves by defeating a Mississauga fighter with a straight left in the second round of the middleweight gold medal match.
Taylor was named best male fighter under 18 at the tournament, while his mom was named best female open fighter.
What’s more, Tim and Marilyn Taylor, who are the parents and grandparents respectively, coach the champs at the River City Boxing Club in Sarnia.
“There’s a lot of families in boxing but this really is special, being a mom and son together,” said Marilyn Taylor, whose husband is a former Canadian champion.
“They both fought really hard, and they both moved up and won out of their weight class.”
Men and women aren’t permitted to fight each other, Marilyn Taylor added, but mother and child do occasionally spar in the ring.
River City members Matthew Smythe, Ryan Huggett and Sereena Nahmabin also did well in the tournament; with Nahmabin losing a close split decision in the final.
- George Mathewson