LOWELL — Sam LoRusso (Saugus High ’24) goes through life with a come-forward approach. After all, that was his fighting style with Saugus/Peabody’s co-op wrestling team when he recorded 100-plus wins.
It’s no different in the boxing ring.
LoRusso — an in-your-face fighter who won his first match just 10 months ago — became the 165-pound Central New England Golden Gloves champion after a 5-0 unanimous-decision victory against Haverhill’s John Maher at Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
“I love fighting and competing — there’s nothing really quite like it,” LoRusso said. “He (Maher) was a good opponent, but I saw his timing and it all slowed down for me. He started trying to exchange with me and I got him hurt really badly in the second round.”
With proud coaches Mike Penta and Travis Mazac Gamberdella ringside, LoRusso’s hand was raised.
“I actually didn’t sleep that night,” said the brawler.
Penta, another former Saugus/Peabody wrestler (’08 under Rudy Howard) who then coached LoRusso as a high school assistant, called it a classic performance.
“Very dominant fashion and a classic Sam LoRusso performance,” Penta said. “In the first round of the fight . . . we knew it was going to be a good night. And in the second round, we thought, ‘this one’s in the bag.’”
LoRusso credited Gamberdella as well.
“Travis has a very smart boxing mind — he’s like a computer. I have the best team and we kind of do our own thing.”
After high school graduation, LoRusso wasn’t too interested in college. At a non-profit gym in Revere, Penta asked LoRusso if he wanted to work more on boxing.
With no primary gym, the group bounces around and develops LoRusso’s skillset.
“I love it. It’s the best,” said LoRusso, who began to attend other gyms for sparring sessions. “I just kept training and stuck with it.”
“We immediately started to realize . . . his qualities and attributes he brought from wrestling were going to translate — explosiveness, conditioning, grit, mental toughness,” Penta said. “He finds a way to win, even when he’s not supposed to on paper.”
Well, he certainly found a way to win. LoRusso fought twice across the four-week Golden Gloves tournament with both matches won by unanimous decision.
“There’s a regional Golden Gloves and we’re waiting to hear about that,” said LoRusso, whose favorite boxers are Gennady Golovkin, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Oleksandr Usyk. “Hopefully, one day, you’ll see me as a pro.”
