Team 412 Boxing has produced fighters who have often outclassed competition in the Pittsburgh area. Looking for a bigger challenge, three of its boxers took their talents south, looking to prove themselves against some of the top young boxers in the country.
Patrick Germaine, Niko Wilson and D’mir Flemings finished first, second and third in their respective weight classes at the 2026 Golden Gloves of America Junior & Youth Nationals on July 8-11 in Allen, Texas.
Team 412 fights out of 3rd Ave Boxing Gym and trains its fighters seven days a week. Germaine likes it that way.
“(Boxing) means a lot. I feel like it’s just comfort,” Germaine said. “I enjoy coming to practice and stuff. And if (I) get a day off, I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I miss it.’ And I’ll be eager to come back the next day.”
The team captain and Allderdice graduate won gold after going undefeated in the youth 143-pound class, with wins over Alabama state champion Juan Valdez in his semifinal match and 20-time national champion Nolan Huntley, who was 115-15, in the final.
Germaine defeated Huntley in the 2026 USA Boxing National Junior Olympics & Summer Festival in late June in Wichita, Kan., but had to beat him again to claim the title.
“Everybody was saying, ‘Oh, he got lucky, man. He ain’t gonna do that next time. Nolan let him beat him.’ … I’m gonna show him none of this I do is lucky,” Germaine said. “But it’s all hard work.
“I go in there, and I’m like, ‘No. 1, he’s not touching me. No. 2, I’m gonna hit him, and he’s gonna know I’m there.’ And after that, he’s not going to want to fight the whole fight, which is what I did.”
Germaine was USA Boxing’s seventh-ranked youth boxer at 143 pounds entering the competition, but Team 412 coach James Hoy expects Germaine to jump into the top five after the next rankings update.
“I’ve been coaching 42 years, and I’ve coached high school football, basketball (and) now boxing. He is, without a doubt, the hardest-working kid I’ve ever had, and he is very businesslike in his approach to his training,” Hoy said. “He is a get-in-early, get-out-and-get-it-done kind of kid, and he also has a very confident demeanor without being boisterous or drawing attention to himself. His fighting draws attention to him.”
Wilson won the silver medal at 114 pounds. The Allderdice junior started boxing at 9 years old and has been ranked in the top 10 for the last four years. Hoy also believes Wilson will go up a couple of spots when the next rankings update happens.
“He had a great tournament, and he kind of ran into a buzzsaw in the finals,” Hoy said. “He came home, and he’s committed himself to picking that up and figuring out, ‘Hey, how do we fight this kind of kid?’
“One of the great things about going to tournaments is we get to fight against Hispanic kids, and in USA Boxing, I think it’s like 47% Hispanic. We don’t have that opportunity here in Pittsburgh. There are very few, if any, local Hispanic boxers. So when we get to go to tournaments, especially in the southwest and Texas, California, we get to see really good Hispanic kids, and they have a different style, and it’s not something we’re well familiar with.”
Flemings took bronze in the 119-pound division, losing to the eventual champion in the semifinals.
“He comes all the way from Erie,” Hoy said. “And he’s a really dedicated kid and a big puncher and a real student of the sport.”
Hoy expects greatness from his boxers, often expressing his goal that they, especially Germaine, can rise to the level needed to participate and succeed in the 2028 Olympic trials like other Team 412 fighters, Sonny Taylor and Trinity Burke, who took part in the 2024 trials.
“You know who the good kids are. You know who the kids are on the Olympic team,” Hoy said. “You know what kids are going to be great, and every time we go to a tournament, the good kids always gravitate towards (Germaine). They all come and speak to him, and that says a lot about (him). Great athletes recognize other great athletes. … As a coach, that makes you know you’re doing the right thing.”
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