Local Teacher and Amateur Boxer Prepares to Knockout the Competition at 2025 National Golden Gloves

By Thomas Tallarino

Click here for updates on this story

    UTICA, New York (WKTV) — A local teacher has punched her way to the National Golden Gloves Championship.

Katrina Scalzo is an elementary school teacher for the Utica City School District, and when she isn’t teaching kids, she is throwing haymakers in amateur boxing.

Her boxing journey started three years ago when she was working in Sauquoit Valley Central School District.

“I was a one on one for another school district and another teacher that was there was getting her coaching certification, and she encouraged me to come to a class,” Scalzo said. “So, I went and fell in love with the sport.”

When she started boxing, competing wasn’t a priority for her.

“I wanted to spar and then from sparring, I was like let me see how I can do in a fight,” Scalzo continued. “I started competing and wanted to see how good I could get.”

Since then, Katrina has won multiple titles and most recently won Buffalo’s Golden Gloves tournament.

Salvatore Ruggiero, Scalzo’s head coach and owner of Core Boxing, said she has come a long way since she started boxing.

“She wasn’t in boxer shape, so she had to go through the process of becoming a boxer and an athlete she didn’t have the coordination, yet it was new to her,” said Ruggiero.

She has a champion heart, and she is on the road to success by staying committed to what she is doing,” he added.

The traits needed to make a good boxer are also ones she teaches her students in the classroom.

“Hard work, perseverance, dedication, self-control, all of that I teach to my kids every day and that’s what you need in boxing too. It’s when it’s hard that you have to continue to keep trying and keep moving,” said Scalzo.

Scalzo was an athlete and ran cross country for Utica University, but it was her constituency that led to her competing in a national tournament.

“I was really proud that I have made it this far, I put a lot of hours in the gym and work really hard. I don’t really take any days off, and you never know when you are going to fight next,” said Scalzo.

Her story is still being written as she adds another chapter in her young career, fighting at the Golden Gloves National Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ruggiero said, “We have been putting in a lot of hard work, dedication consistency a lot of blood sweat and tears into this sport we have been elevating, and we are just on a path right now.”

Scalzo fights in the 143-weight class, and her first fight will take place on Monday, May 12.

Schedules for the fights haven’t been released yet, but if you would like to watch Scalzo fight, you can visit the stream on Golden Gloves USA.

If you would like to learn more about Core Boxing, you can visit their Facebook page or Instagram.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.