Camechis The Golden Greek

Being part Greek I always look forward to watching a fight where I know that one of the boxers is of Greek heritage. Last week on ESPN's Friday Night Fights I got a chance to watch Greek American, Brian "The Golden Greek" Camechis (17-0-0 8 KOs) who trains out of Sam's Gym in Glouster, Ohio in his first nationally televised fight. It turned out to be a real barnburner. In front of a sold-out crowd Camechis, a pressure fighter won a grueling 8-round unanimous decision victory over Puerto Rican journeyman Doel Carrasquillo. Camechis was down in the 4th round but beat the count, dug deep, got his legs back underneath himself and went on to win the fight. It was a good fight for Camechis, who although undefeated in his 16 previous bouts hadn't been tested.

In the past couple of years the only other Greeks I have seen fight in the US were Michael Katsidis one of NEP Boxing's fighters, a Greek boxer from Australia and Mike Arnaoutis from Athens, Greece who boxes out of Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the 1920s through 1940s you had Greek American Theodore "Anton the Greek" Antonopoulos, George Theodoratus, middleweight contender Steve "Golden Greek" Mamakos and 1941 National Boxing Association World light heavyweight champion Anton Christoforidis who were quite popular here.