The American Boys Boxing Team Website

Doug Grow: Boxing brothers seeking dreams in ring
Doug Grow, Star Tribune
June 20, 2004

The American Boys were allowing themselves to dream a little.

"Someday, we're going to have the biggest mansion in St. Paul," Allen Litzau was saying.

"It's gonna be $500,000, maybe more," said his brother Jason.

"We take care of each other," Allen said.

"We're always gonna be together," Jason said. "Someday, we're gonna raise our families together."

"Maybe we'll have side-by-side mansions, connected by a skyway," Allen said.

Back and forth they go. Speaking faster and faster. Jason's voice blending into Allen's. Allen's voice blending into Jason's.

The American Boys look out for each other. Speak for each other. Dream for each other.

This name -- the American Boys -- is a boxing marketing ploy to help sell the St. Paul brothers in the world of professional boxing. Allen is 22 and weighs slightly less than 130 pounds. He may have a shade less talent than Jason, but, in subtle ways, he's clearly the big brother. Jason's 21, slightly larger and slightly more experienced in the pro ring.

They believe boxing's going to be their way to fame and fortune. More importantly, boxing's been their home.

On this Father's Day, it should be noted that boxing, despite its often slimy reputation, seems to have had a role in the Litzau brothers' lives similar to that of a pretty good dad. It seems to have given them a sense of rules and self-discipline and appreciation for people who have done good things for them.

Clearly, there will be huge challenges in and out of the ring for the Litzaus.

But the fact is, the American Boys could have been the Lost Boys a long time ago. By most accounts -- including their own -- they had no real home. Their father, whom they currently watch over, was a drug addict, their mom an alcoholic. They bounced from relative to relative.

Almost from the beginning, the ring gave them recognition. At times, it even became their housing. For example, a few years ago, they spent six months living together in the back room of a boxing gym.

The gym was run by Jim Glancie, a wondrous St. Paul character.

"Jim Glancie was our old man," Jason said.

"It was nice in his gym," Allen said. "We pulled two cots together. It was like a big bed."

"It was like we had our own home," Jason said.

Glancie didn't just provide coaching that led to seven Upper Midwest Golden Gloves titles and cots. He provided direction.

"He said it's important to be nice kids," Jason said. "You think about it, when it comes your time to die, nobody will remember if you were a good boxer or not. But if you've lived right, they'll say, 'He was a good person.' That's the best."

They are rough around the edges. Their grammar isn't perfect. Sometimes it's hard to separate their self-promotion rap from what they really believe. (Boxers learn at tender ages how to market themselves.)

Yet sometimes the American Boys seem to have a wisdom way beyond their years.

For instance, they both show great pride in having graduated from Harding High on St. Paul's East Side.

"Lot of people said we'd never do that," Jason said. "We graduated. Not from some alternative school, either."

And they both claim to be powerfully opposed to partaking of the basic vices: drugs, alcohol, smoking.

Allen is especially eloquent on why abstinence is best. The brothers, he explains, have seen what drugs and alcohol can do to people who might otherwise have been good people.

"I observed things all of my life," Allen said. "Why would I want to follow that?"

"We're not saying everyone who smokes or drinks has a problem," Jason said. "But we just don't want to run the risk. We may have the addictive personality."

But what's most compelling about the American Boys is their genuine appreciation for people who have been around to help when they needed it most.

There was Glancie, who is now retired. There is their current manager/trainer, Bob Van Syckle, who is based in New Jersey. He's kept the American Boys together and arranged fights for them in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

And they also talk of a couple of uncles who were there when there was no other home for them to go to.

"We've had good people helping us," Allen said.

"Someday, maybe we can help them," Jason said.

"If we win the title ..." Allen started saying.

"When we win the title," Jason said, interrupting. "Ain't no doubt about it. It's when we win the title we're going to have a way to say thank you to all the good people who were there for us."

Friday night, there were a couple of thousand people there for the American Boys, who were on a boxing card at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood. The Boys didn't disappoint.

Allen won a four-round unanimous decision over Jesus Velasquez, running his record to 5-1. Jason, a crowd-pleaser with Ali-like charisma, won on a second-round technical knockout over Isidro Tejedor.

At the conclusion of Jason's fight, Allen hoisted him to his shoulders and carried him around the ring as the crowd cheered.

Doug Grow is at dgrow@startribune.com