NORTH SHORE KNOCKOUT: Olivar, who trains in Middleton, crowned New England Golden Gloves heavyweight champ

Apr. 20—Derick Olivar was just 14 years old when he first strapped on his boxing gloves. But up until this past year, the recently turned 29-year-old had yet to try his hands at the renowned Golden Gloves in Lowell.

Training with his older cousin, Danny, out of Sonny's Boxing and Fitness in Middleton over the past year, Olivar decided it was finally time to step in that ring and experience a new level of the sport. The 6-foot-5, 203-pound heavyweight wasn't throwing his name in the tournament just for kicks though; he wanted to win the whole thing and was wildly confident in his ability to do so.

The road wouldn't be an easy one, however.

"Almost one year ago I was in a motorcycle accident on Route 1 and that kind of set me back a bit," admitted Oliver, who began competing in boxing in his mid-20s. "After that I kind of reset my mind and really grinded it out in the gym. We knew the Gloves were coming up in January and we just said, 'Hey, let's go win this thing.' We had some great sparring, I have a great team there at Sonny's and we just worked our butts off to get where we are."

Whether or not the accident served as increased motivation or not, it was clear that Olivar was in the right state of mind for the daunting task in front of him.

Flash forward to January of this year and Olivar had gotten his first of three massive wins under his belt. His first fight on the road to the Golden Gloves championship proved to be a dominant triumph, one that would catapult Olivar into the Central New England finals.

"We got a first round stoppage about a minute and 40 seconds into the first round," Olivar recalled. "We stopped him twice and after the ref gave him a standing 8 count for the second time he wasn't able to fight anymore and we got the win."

Moving on to that Central New England title fight back at Lowell Auditorium, Olivar dropped his opponent just 10 seconds into the bout before going the distance and winning by major decision.

"I hit him with a right hand and sat him down quick," said Oliver. "It was another great fight, ended up going all three rounds and I won that one by majority decision."

Olivar was rolling, and with just one more triumph he'd be crowned the heavyweight champ.

Matched up against Vermont's Ian Gill back on March 3, Olivar continued to prove why he belonged in the title fight. He and his team went in with a plan, executed it to perfection and walked away as the New England heavyweight champ.

"It was another good fight and honestly, we just out-boxed him," said Olivar. "The kid tried moving around but we stayed long, out boxed him and won by unanimous decision.

"I was very confident the whole time and I'm always confident in myself," he added. "We had a great team and it was always the goal to win. We achieved that so it was definitely an awesome feeling."

Now that he's won in Lowell, Olivar said this is just the beginning. He's hungry for more and plans to step back in the ring competitively in early May in Londonderry, NH.

Residing in Malden with his girlfriend, Olivar works at Dorchester's Feeney Brothers Utility Services during the day and leaves to train at Sonny's in the evenings.

"I'm just going to try to run it up this year with fights, keep taking New England by surprise and probably do the Gloves next year in the Open division," he said.

While Olivar is the one competing, he knows he wouldn't have the success he's had without his tremendous team in his corner. Between his head coach Danny, another cornerman and strength and conditioning coach Larry, as well as friends and fellow fighters like Rob Debonis (who competes at 178) and MMA heavyweight fighter Terrance Jean- Jacques (T-Bone), Olivar is in good hands.

"It's great sparring, great training and the atmosphere in the gym is awesome," said Olivar. "I definitely have more room to improve but overall right now I feel really good. I'm ready to keep leveling up and see what's next for us."

Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.

Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.