Jersey City's Gaglioti a rising star in women's pro boxing

Jenna Gaglioti had somewhat of a conventional life before two years ago. The 30-year-old Jersey City resident attended St. Peter’s University, graduating in 2013 with a degree in biology. Before enrolling at St. Peter’s, Gaglioti was a student at John Jay High School in New York, where she played basketball and softball. She credits her brother Michael and sister Danielle for giving her the inspiration to become an athlete. Back then, Gaglioti was all set to attend nursing school. But something sparked a fire in Gaglioti after she was mugged a handful of times near St. Peter’s and was physically assaulted by someone she had just ended a relationship with. “I was dealing with some rough phases in my life,” Gaglioti said. “My brother always taught me to defend myself. I tried power lifting and started to get into body building. But honestly, I found those things to be a little boring.” At that time, Gaglioti just happened to be walking past Gleason’s Gym in Manhattan and had a revelation. “I wanted to learn how to box,” Gaglioti said. “I used to follow boxing all the time. I was raised by good parents who always instilled in me that women could do whatever they wanted to do, as long as they put their mind to it. That was me.” Gaglioti trained for approximately two years before a friend of hers named Johnny Lopez said he was going to a gym in Jersey City at Public School No. 6. That’s how the unlikely pairing of aspiring boxer Gaglioti and respected local trainer Luis “Mosquito” Gonzalez took flight. Gonzalez has been working with aspiring boxers in Jersey City for the Jersey City Recreation program for the last 30 years. “Johnny introduced me to Mosquito and we instantly hit it off,” Gaglioti said. Gonzalez has worked with his fair share of female boxers over the years. “I guess I’ve had about 50 or so females of all ages,” Gonzalez said. “My doors are always open for females. I’ve been watching females get involved in the sport for a long time. I always treat them equally as I treat men. It’s crazy how I got involved with Jenna. Johnny walked into the gym and told me he had a friend who was interested in getting involved. I didn’t know who she was. I just needed to take a look at her to see how serious she was. And I could tell right away that she was a boxer. Jenna had no idea that Jersey City had a boxing program. Once she knew, she came to the gym every day. And I could see that she worked harder than most men. She just doesn’t stop.” Soon after the first meeting, Gonzalez asked Gaglioti about her goals with the sport. “She said she wanted to fight pro,” Gonzalez said. “I said to her, ‘Can you do this?’ I told her that it was all about her and whether she was willing to put in the time and the work. I could see right away that she had a very professional approach. She said she didn’t want to fight as an amateur. She wanted to step into the ring and see how it goes.” “When I go into the gym, I am very disciplined,” Gaglioti said. “I think I’m harder on myself than anybody. But I felt like I was ready.” Gonzalez wanted to make sure, so he brought Gaglioti to other local boxing people like trainer/promoter Bobby Rooney of Bayonne.

“Bobby liked her and thought she had a lot of potential,” Gonzalez said. “The feedback I got from people about Jenna was all positive. I didn’t hear anything negative.” There was only one obstacle. The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic put an absolute halt to the sports world, never mind an up-close-and-personal sport like boxing. So Gaglioti had to wait out the pandemic and see what transpired. After all, she wasn’t getting any younger. The clock was ticking on a pro boxing career. “When the pandemic hit, everything was stopped,” Gonzalez said, “But the Dominican Republic opened its doors to us.” Last October, Gaglioti had her first pro bout, a four-rounder in Sousa of the Dominican Republic, where the COVID rules were a little less stringent than those in the United States. Gaglioti fought at 155 pounds against Jeanmary Martinez Paulino and won via unanimous decision. Paulino had won all three of her previous fights and the promoters there probably thought that Gaglioti would be a pushover. No such luck. And in February, Gaglioti climbed into the ring for her second pro bout, another four-rounder, again in the Dominican Republic, this time fighting under the promotion of former WBC world middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Gaglioti won this bout via a technical knockout in the second round. Needless to say, Gaglioti is well on her way. “I just want people in Jersey City to know who she is,” Gonzalez said. “Everyone who sees her fight falls in love with her.” Her next fight is scheduled for May 21, also in the Dominican Republic against an unnamed opponent. “My goal is to get her one more fight in the D.R. and then find somewhere in the United States,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve already been offered a fight in Oakland for later this year. I want to be able to build her into a fighter that Jersey City could be proud of.” Gaglioti has a lot of family in New York and also in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, where her family originates. In the meantime, Gaglioti is keeping herself very busy in the other parts of her life. She works as a home health care aide, working with the rehabilitation of all kinds of patients. Gaglioti is also a personal trainer doing strength and conditioning with clients. She is also working with clothing brands and also dabbles as a model. Needless to say, she’s a very busy young lady. “I really would love to get into working with inner-city kids,” Gaglioti said. “I see the kids who come to work out with Mosquito’s other boxers and I don’t want to see these kids go into the streets. I want to help kids succeed in whatever they do.” And Gaglioti has now found a friend of a lifetime in a guy called Mosquito. “He’s helped me with so much,” Gaglioti said. “He’s more of a father figure to me. He’s not just my coach and trainer. He’s become a friend of mine. I think I’ve thanked him about a million times. He really pushes me hard. We’re just fine tuning things right now. The training will get a lot harder in April.”

Luis "Mosquito" Gonzalez (left) and his prized pupil Jenna Gaglioti Gonzalez is hoping to find a few people that would want to sponsor Gaglioti. If anyone or any business would be interested in sponsoring Gaglioti, you can contact Mosquito at mosquitoboxing@gmail.com. “We’re building a friendship, but it’s still very professional,” Gonzalez said. “I think she respects me for who I am. I’ll do anything for her. We do everything together. We’re a true team.” Gonzalez believes that Gaglioti’s star is certainly on the rise. “I really think she will make it,” Gonzalez said. “She does eight-to-10 rounds in training now. It’s still early in her career, but she has the desire to be among the best in the world. I think she needs about four or five fights before she can make a title bout. I think it helps that she’s getting more welk known. I see so much potential in Jenna. She’s very professional in everything she does. She takes everything so seriously. She really gets me going and makes me work harder. But she has the talent.” Gaglioti knows that the road ahead won’t be easy. But it’s a road in pro boxing that Jenna Gaglioti, the former nursing student at St. Peter’s College, is making a name for herself in pro boxing. “It’s kind of weird to think that I’m a professional boxer now,” Gaglioti said. “It’s also kind of shocking to the people who knew me when. I never thought I would become a professional. I just thought I was going to learn how to hit the bag.” Not anymore. She’s strictly into hitting opponents these days.

St. Peter's greats play 'Remember when'

Bob Fazio fondly recalls his days as a basketball player at a place that was then called St. Peter’s College. “When I played, we had some unbelievable teams and had some unbelievable times,” said Fazio, the school’s No. 5 all-time leading scorer with 1,590 points. “It was a great place to play. It was a lot of fun back then.” Fazio, the Union City native, had the great fortune of having played at the Jersey City Armory and Yanitelli Center when it first opened in 1976. As the Peacocks prepared to play in the biggest game in the school’s rich basketball history, facing Purdue in the NCAA Sweet 16, Fazio, now the president of the prestigious Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, recalled some of his favorite moments as a Peacock. “I remember playing Oregon with Ron Lee and Greg Ballard in the NIT in Madison Square Garden,” Fazio said. “And there were 19,500 fans chanting, ‘Let’s Go Peter’s.’ That was one of my best memories. I remember the first time we played in the Garden, we played Manhattan and they were ranked No. 15 in the country. It was the Saturday before Christmas and the Garden was sold out. We pulled off the victory and made the back page of the (New York) Daily News. Playing in the Garden was so special. I was on the team when we opened Yanitelli Center and I scored the first four points in the building’s history. I made sure no one else was getting the ball that game. My wife (Maureen) said to me the other day that I remember every play of every game and I honestly do.” That’s why Fazio had a gigantic sense of pride when the Peacocks advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, becoming this year’s media darlings, getting attention from all the major media markets like the New York Times, ESPN and the Dan Patrick Show. “I’m very proud and very happy,” Fazio said. “It’s a great thing for this team.” One of Fazio’s teammates was Ken Markowski, a Jersey City/Bayonne boy who was also a 1,000 point scorer at the place affectionately called “Harvard on the Boulevard.” “My hardest working teammate was Bobby Faz,” Markowski said. “He would fit in perfectly with the Peacocks of today.” Markowski currently lives in North Carolina, but his heart never left Jersey City. He fondly recalled one of the greatest Peacocks of all time, namely Elnardo Webster, who unfortunately and ironically passed away this week at the age of 74. “Guys like El were men compared to us,” Markowski said of Webster, who scored 1,163 points in just two varsity seasons with the Peacocks. Webster was part of the famed “Run Baby Run” Peacock team of 1968 that upset Duke in the NIT quarterfinals. “Guys like El, Harry (Laurie) and Teddy (Martiniuk) taught us to be tough. I remember going to practice in the Armory, but we had to wear sweatsuits, because it was always so cold.” Rick Baker was another member of those SPC teams with Markowski. “I remember going to watch those great St. Peter’s teams practice when I was in high school,” Baker said. “When I was a freshman with Marko and Keith (Cerruti), we would scrimmage against the older guys like Teddy Martiniuk and (former New Jersey state senator and later U.S. Congressman) Albio Sires.” Cerruti would go on to become a respected basketball official, but is more remembered for his on-the-court altercation with Larry Fogle of Canisius, who was the nation’s leading scorer at the time. “I enjoyed every minute of it,” C erruti said. “I remember Marko making a great 360-degree move in the NIT against Ron Lee in mid-air. It was one of the most unbelievable moves I’ve ever seen. Seeing my friends Marko and Ricky improve as much as they did was a thrill. It was a great time to be involved in college basketball.” Cerruti and Baker both literally grew up blocks from the SPC campus, so watching the current Peacocks do as well as they’re doing means a lot to both long-time friends and teammates. Another former Peacock great is Daren Rowe, a New Rochelle, N.Y. native who played for the Peacocks in the mid-1980s, eventually earning All-MAAC and All-Metropolitan New York/New Jersey his senior year playing for head coach Ted Fiore. “I’m really happy for this team, happy and proud, as proud as a Peacock,” said Rowe, who was an assistant coach at Montclair State under Fiore and eventually became Fiore’s replacement at Montclair State when Fiore retired seven years ago. “I think it’s great that this team is getting the recognition that they deserved. This team doesn’t back down to anyone. I’m just prideful, joyous and ecstatic for this team.” Rowe said that he has been able to connect with some of his former teammates, as well as other Peacock alumni, during the Peacocks’ improbable run to the Sweet 16. “I’m glad to see St. Peter’s finally getting some respect,” Rowe said. “I’m not surprised with what we’ve done. We’ve always been known as a defensive-minded, hard-nosed team. We’ve always been good defensively.” Rowe said that his teams always just “went out and played.” “This really has brought back a lot of great memories,” Rowe said. “Watching this team brought back thoughts of great teams, great teammates. We were a close-knit group.” Rowe’s coach Fiore didn’t want to detract from the incredible coaching job done by current St. Peter’s head coach Shaheen Holloway. “He deserves all the credit,” said Fiore, the second winningest coach in St. Peter’s basketball history. “Shaheen has done a great job with this team. He really got this team prepared to play in the tournament. I’m really happy for Shaheen and his team.” John Dunne, the current head coach at Marist College, was the head coach at St. Peter’s when the Peacocks last made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, ironically losing to Friday night’s opponent in Philadelphia Purdue. Dunne also has fond memories of his days coaching the Peacocks. “I think there’s always going to be a sense of pride,” Dunne said. “I think it’s fantastic, what they’re doing, representing the MAAC. It made me think back to the whirlwind that we went through (back in 2011). It was a frenzied time, but this is even more so. It’s intensified now because it’s the Sweet 16. But it certainly brings back memories, memories that last a lifetime.” Fazio is proof of that. “I am the greatest champion for St. Peter’s basketball,” Fazio said. “I loved the place. I love giving back to the school. You can’t buy the feelings I have for the school.” Feelings that obviously never fade long after the final buzzer sounds.

Union City's girls represent Hudson's last standing team

When the high school basketball season began a few months ago in early December, the Union City High School girls' team found themselves in a bit of a predicament. The Soaring Eagles lost their first five games of the new season. A year after having to miss a majority of their games due to COVID-19, the Soaring Eagles were on the wrong side of the ledger five straight times to begin the new campaign. A lot of other teams might have folded up the tents and given up on a season after five setbacks to start the season. But a lot of those teams aren't coached by Carlos Cueto. Cueto, the former St. Anthony High School and University of Richmond point guard, had made stops along the way coaching with the famed St. Michael's CYO program in his adopted hometown of Union City, where Cueto was raised. He then also was the head boys' coach at Secaucus High School before taking the position as girls' basketball coach in the district where he has been a long-time teacher. Cueto remained determined even after the brutal 0-5 start to the season. "The girls were all surprisingly upbeat even after the 0-5 start," Cueto said. "They just kept showing up for practice, kept their heads up and kept working hard. They never once quit. That says a lot." Sure does, because the Soaring Eagles made it all the way to the recent Hudson County Tournament finale, where they lost to Bayonne, 39-23, in a shocking offensive freefall. It was almost as if someone put a steel lid on top of the Soaring Eagles' basket and kept the ball from falling through the nets. That loss was on a Saturday afternoon. "We had not much time to be down on ourselves," Cueto said. "It was such a quick turnaround from Saturday to Monday." The Soaring Eagles earned the No. 1 seed in the NJSIAA's North Jersey Section 1, Group IV bracket, so that was good news. "We were the top seed, so it meant that we never had to leave playing at home," Cueto said. "We could just stay home and relax." Well, the Soaring Eagles didn't exactly take it easy in the postseason, taking their game to the state sectional without having to climb on a bus. They defeated Barringer, 62-32, in the opening round, then moved on to knock off Columbia of South Orange/Maplewood, 53-36 in the sectional quarterfinals, beat Paterson Eastside, 52-41, in the sectional semifinals and finally handled Morristown, 48-37, to capture the first-ever state sectional girls' basketball championship in school history.

Cueto gave credit to his senior class for making the state playoff run. "They showed a lot of leadership," Cueto said. "I think they deserve a lot of the credit. They kept winning and said, 'Why not us?' They believed in themselves." And now, later today, the Soaring Eagles will now have to board a bus to face Section 2 champion Westfield in the overall state Group IV semifinals at Franklin Township High School in Somerset. Game time is 5 p.m. The Soaring Eagles have now won 21 of their last 23 games, easily the hottest team in the Group IV bracket. True, Westfield defefated Bayonne in their sectional semifinals, so that doesn't play well for the Soaring Eagles. But that doesn't deter the Soaring Eagles in their quest for state immortality. "I think they saw what the boys did a couple of years ago (the Union City boys' team won the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV crown in 2020) and wanted to do the same," Cueto said. "I love my team. I love these kids. They have stuck together all year to get to this point." Senior Erika Mercedes has been the team's leader. Mercedes is averaging 15 points per game in her third straight All-Hudson County type of season. Fellow seniors include point guard Elainy Pichardo and forward Fernanda Young. Sophomore Jaylyn Orefice has been a solid second scorer, averaging 13.8 points per contest. Orefice tossed in a team-high 19 points in the sectional championship victory over Morristown. And another key contributor is Cueto's daughter Alyssa, a solid playmaking guard. So whatever happens later today happens. Nothing will ever take away the state sectional title the Soaring Eagles captured after the inconspicuous start. The rest of Hudson County's hoopsters have gone home for the spring. One team remains. All hail the Soaring Eagles.