Last weekend 10-year-old Masen Keltner of Kalispell emerged from a regional boxing competition in Oregon as a rare qualifier for the National Silver Gloves competition in Kansas City.
Many of the top professional boxers in the sport competed in Silver Gloves, which pits some of the best youth boxers in the nation against one another. This year’s event begins Jan. 30.
Masen’s road to nationals began in Helena last month when he competed with six other boxers from Kalispell’s Burton Boxing. The local gym had three qualifiers advance to Hillsboro, Ore., for the Silver Gloves regional qualifier —Keltner, Zeb Bedoian and Jake Bedoian.
Burton Boxing is gathering sponsors to help send Keltner to the Silver Gloves competition. For more information call Burton Boxing, located at 905 Center Street, at 393-2247.