New York
MEET THE MASTERS BOXER: Gleason’s Masters Tourney Attracts People, Like KAI PIEPER, From All Over the World
UPDATE: On Friday, Kai Pieper showed form and power galore, as his right hand dropped and stopped his foe during their scrap, in round one.
Kai also messaged me this follow up: “Masters boxing is becoming more and more popular in Germany. My Boxing Club BC Gütersloh is very active in developing and promoting Master Boxing. Last year we invented the “Boxing Masters Cup” in Germany, an annual national boxing tournament for older boxers. This year the tournament will be on Oct 26-27th (https://www.boxing-masters-
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The fifth annual Gleason's Gym Masters tournament is in high gear at the DUMBO, Brooklyn fight installation, which is run by the NYC living legend Bruce Silverglade.
Bruce snags persons from all corners of the world, and so it's always interesting and insightful to get to know some of the participants taking part a bit better. NYF reached out to 47 year old KAI PIEPER, who made the trek from Germany to test his mettle.
Gleason's Gym runs Masters boxing events, such as the Masters Tournament, their fifth annual.
“My grandfather was a boxer and he was one of the founders of the boxing club BC Gütersloh, my hometown,” Pieper told us. “I am in martial arts since 40 years now. I started with Judo and Kung Fu. I am doing boxing now since 30 years. Still fighting but I have also a trainers license. I am also doing Muay Thai, K1 and MMA.”
And, so what has he learned from boxing? “Self confidence and to be tough when it is necessary! It is the best sport in the world. Best full body workout and also good for self defense. I did a trainers license to motivate my kids to start with boxing.”
So, the first day of the Masters event at the most famous gym on Earth–what were his thoughts? “Nice gym. Had a lesson with Big John, ex pro, it was great. That showed me some differences in European and US boxing styles.”
Kai is married and has three kids, 7,10 and 13 years old, he informed us. “I run a small company in geoinformatics. We developed apps for outdoor navigation. We have one quite successful Android app in US called “US Topo! Maps. I am here with my wife and I have tomorrow (today!) my first fight.”
Readers, we will check in on Kai, see how that bout went; check back here for a follow-up!
