New Kensington girl among Pittsburgh-area youth boxers building the region's fighting legacy

Four years ago, Gea Fultz of New Kensington was an 11-year-old girl walking into a gym full of boys training to fight.

“It was really scary at first,” said Fultz, 15, now a sophomore at Valley High School. “I felt like I had to prove myself.”

The proof? In August, Fultz brought home her second national boxing title from the U.S. Women’s National Championships in Lafayette, La., where she took the top spot at 110 pounds in the 15-16-year-old division.

She is one of about 35 members of the Pittsburgh National Youth Boxing Team, competing in a USA Boxing tournament this week in Richmond, Va.

To prepare for it, Fultz and other team members were sparring and training last week at the Third Avenue Gym, which sits underneath a Subway sandwich shop in Downtown Pittsburgh.

James Hoy, who has been coaching the team for the past decade, found Fultz when she was a student at Arsenal Middle School in Pittsburgh.

“She was having some issues in school, and a teacher thought boxing might be a great outlet for her,” Hoy said.

Fultz said her sixth grade music teacher made the suggestion.

“She said she thought I’d be really good at it,” Fultz said. “It’s been hard, but it’s also rewarding being able to grow and see everyone else grow and accomplish things. It’s really fulfilling.”

The team boasts several two-time champions in addition to Fultz — Trinity Burke at 165 pounds in the 18-and-over division, Michael James at 176 pounds in the 15- and 16-year-old division and North Side native Sonny Taylor.

“Taylor and Trinity both took part in the (2023) U.S. Olympic trials, which has never happened in Pittsburgh before,” Hoy said.

The Third Avenue Gym is so small Hoy often has to split the group, with half practicing inside and the other half outside. That doesn’t stop it from attracting some of the region’s other coaches and teams.

“We benefit from all of the great gyms and coaches that Pittsburgh’s got,” Hoy said. “We’ve had some wonderful coaches send their kids with us to the national tournaments.”

Local boxer and coach Richie Cantolina, who owns Sanctuary Boxing Club in New Kensington, has taken his team to Third Avenue to spar and said Fultz is a special fighter.

“I was really impressed — and not just with her boxing skills,” Cantolina said. “She has that ‘it’ factor with boxing and with a great personality. That double combination is rare. She stayed after practice with one of my 8-year-olds who’s a southpaw like her. My girl’s jab was struggling, and Gea’s got one of the best jabs I’ve seen. She worked with her after everyone was gone, and I thought, what a cool experience for her to be able to work with a national champion.”

If Fultz comes out on top in this week’s tournament, Hoy said, she will join the Team USA boxing squad in Colorado Springs next summer as a member of the USA Boxing High Performance Jr. Team.

“They travel and compete internationally in preparation for the 2028 games in Paris,” Hoy said.

For Fultz, who only has traveled as far as Texas to box, the thought of potentially traveling to compete in the Olympic Games someday is a little too surreal to consider.

“People mention it to me about maybe making the team, and it seems crazy to think about,” she said. “I’m just really excited to have the opportunity to possibly be on that team.”

Hoy said his current group of fighters is among the most decorated in Pittsburgh-area history.

“We’ve had four two-time national champs and nine kids ranked in the top 10 in amateur boxing,” Hoy said. “But when you’re in the middle of it, you’re always preparing for the next fight, and you don’t always think about it until someone points it out. The success we’ve had is beyond belief.”