By Sam Gregory – Headlining the main event and co-main event this Saturday night at the Valencia Ballroom in York, Pa. will be two of “York’s hometown heroes;” undefeated lightweight Carney “Beeper” Bowman 12-0 (5 KO’s), a 2001 graduate of West York High School and his best friend and 2002 graduate of York High, bantamweight fighter Eric Nemo 6-1 (2 KO’s).
Both of these fighters hosted an open workout at their home gym, the Lincolnway Sportscenter on W. Market Street in York, Pa. Joining these two fighters at the gym tonight was their trainer Julio Alvarez and someone that personally helped me out tonight, introducing me to the fighters, helping me get pictures and generally showing me around was Fred Vega of TKO Boxing Promotions.
Both of these fighters have extensive amateur careers. Eric Nemo, whose full name is Eric Nemo Rosado, became interested in boxing at the age of 13 because his mother was a big fight fan. “She watched all the televised fights, and she used to watch tapes of guys like Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali with me when I was growing up,” Eric said, “so I really developed a love for boxing at a very young age”.
Along with the help from a high school gym teacher who coax him into boxing, Eric had over 150 amateur fights. Along with winning the PAL title in 2001/2002, Nemo was a three time Pennsylvania Golden Glove Champion. Having fought most of his amateur career at the 119 pound weight limit, as a pro Nemo has moved between the super bantamweight and featherweight limits.
Carney “Beeper” Bowman is actually Carney Bowman III. His father, known as “Beep”, or Carney Bowman Jr, is the reason the 26 year old Carney is into boxing. The father, having been an amateur boxer himself, started teaching his son to box at a very young age. Julio Alvarez took over the training of “Beeper” 16 years ago and has been with him ever since.
Carney “Beeper” Bowman won the 1997 National PAL tour along with the National Silver Gloves title in 1998. He went on to win the 2000 Eastern trails of the Olympics and the 2003 National Golden Gloves.
When I asked these two young fighters about their workout routine, they told me about something they call the “Deer Run”. The deer run is between a 7 and 8 mile run. It starts in York City and goes to a place called Indian Rock Dam. I can tell you personally from living in York county Pennsylvania my whole life it’s not unusual to see herds of up to a dozen deer at a time in some of the more rural areas. Well that’s the whole point of the “Deer Run”; to run with as many deer as possible. Carney’s father Beep said he’s the one who encouraged them to do it. Well the way I see it, anybody that can run through these Pennsylvania hills and keep up with white tail deer through the snow and rocks and blistering cold; is definitely a force to be reckoned with. This Saturday night looks to be a great event that shouldn’t be missed!
