Wrestlers shine with Golden Gloves

Richard Tedesco

Giorgi Seturidze and Merab Dvalishvili emigrated halfway around the world to New Hyde Park from their native Georgia one year ago with the dream of eventually competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A year later the two men have taken several large steps toward that goal with the aid of a Garden City Park boxing facility.

Dvalishvili is challenging for the New York State Golden Gloves championship as a junior welterweight and Seturidze won three matches before losing in the quarter-finals of the heavyweight division.

“I’m comfortable and I’m ready. I’m close to the final destination and my confidence is growing stronger,” Dvalishvili said through Seturidze, who translated for him.

Seturidze, 20, and Dvalishvili, 22, had modest experience in mixed martial arts competition in their home country before meeting Michael Corleone, owner of Kayo Boxing in Garden City Park. 

Corleone started training them at Kayo Boxing, which is located in Synergy Gym at 190 Broadway, last December for their first Golden Gloves matches in February.

“The first couple of days I worked with them, I realized they were very conditioned athletes,” Corleone said.

Seturidze had read an article about Corleone’s son in a mixed martial arts magazine, and the two men sought him out to train them to box.

“We are a country of wrestling,” Seturidze said of Georgia.  “We were mixed martial arts guys and we wanted to learn stand-up boxing.”

Seturidze was a judo wrestler before migrating and his good friend Dvalishvili was a sambo wrestler. 

Corleone said they lacked boxing skills and both proved to be very fast learners.

“What makes them such exceptional students is that whatever I tell them to do, they do,” said Corleone, who is both trainer and manager for them.

Dvalishvili, competing in the 141-pound junior welterweight class, has one technical knockout and three decisions to his credit thus far in the three-round novice class Golden Gloves tournament. On March 26, he will fight a semifinal match for a shot at a match that could make him a New York State champ.
Beyond that, regional and national rounds of competition could await the man Corleone has nicknamed “The Tornado” for his furious fighting style.

Seturidze made a remarkable transition from competing in a muay thai match at 225 pounds on Feb. 23 to making the 201 pound weight for his first heavyweight Golden Gloves match five days later. He said he fasted for four days, drinking a half-gallon of water a day and running five miles each night.

He knocked out his first opponent and the next two he faced, losing on a technical knockout in a quarter-final match, ending his run in the tournament.

“His opponents didn’t last too long. He knocked them out in one round,” said Corleone, who has nicknamed Seturidze “The Gorilla.” 

Seturidze, is grateful for the opportunity he had to compete, saying, “I want to thank God that I had a great coach. And I thank God that I have good hands.”

The Georgian dynamic duo carries a strong sense of national pride into the ring with them.

“When we enter the ring, we are not just fighting for us. We’re fighting for our country,” Dvalishvili said.

Whatever happens next month, both men plan to compete in the Golden Gloves again next year. Corleone said he thinks Dvalishvili will become a Golden Gloves champ this year and predicted both will wear out their opponents next time around.

“I truly believe that they will be Golden Gloves champions next year,” he said. “They’re so young, there’s no rush to turn pro.”

Corleone, who has operated the Kayo Gym for the past seven years, has been a professional kick boxer since 1992 and a professional boxer since 1994. Now he’s become a full-time trainer.

“My wife says I’m retired,” he said.

Seturidze said he and Dvalishvili aspire to compete as pros in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which they saw on television in their native Georgia. 

He said their New Hyde Park landlord, Boris Saralidze, whose brother Nikoloz coached them in Georgia, sponsored their immigration to the U.S. and is supporting them as they work toward their goal.

“We were wrestlers and it was combat. It was fascinating to see UFC fights,” Seturidze said. “It’s a manly sport.” 

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