ST. PETERSBURG — James Chittenden fills just about every role boxing has to offer. He works as a timekeeper at professional matches, referees and judges amateur bouts, coaches and trains amateurs, and occasionally steps into the ring as a fighter himself.
That breadth of involvement — though not, it turns out, his own time throwing punches — earned Chittenden induction into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame on June 7 during a ceremony at the Hilton Lake Carillon Hotel. He was one of 20 boxers, officials and promoters with Florida ties honored that evening.
There is some irony in the distinction. Chittenden is not a young amateur chasing a pro career. He is 56 — and last year the Tampa resident won a national Golden Gloves title in the masters division.
“I did,” Chittenden said. “I competed in the Chicago Golden Gloves, and they hold an annual National Masters Championship. Masters is a category of amateur boxers 35 and older. I had just turned 56, and it was in the 203-plus weight class. And I won.”
Chittenden, who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, started boxing as a teenager.
“When I was 15, I complained to my father about fighting at school,” Chittenden said. “His response was that I was being ... pusillanimous. Actually, he called me an unpublishable cousin of that word, and then he took me to a boxing and martial arts club where we had ‘smoker’ fights. I returned to the sport at 36 and began competing in sanctioned amateur bouts.”
Chittenden never harbored dreams of turning pro, and his bouts were always sporadic.
“I first did it to stay in shape and work out tension,” he said. “Then, signing up for a competition required me to work hard, get faster and stronger, live clean and stay focused. I did not always win, but I always enjoyed the journey and the lifestyle that boxing requires.”
Counting the smoker fights from his teens (5-3), Chittenden has compiled a 6-4 record in USA Boxing Masters competition since 2008.
Still, it is his work away from the ropes — as a USA Boxing-certified referee and judge, a trainer and coach, and a timekeeper for professional cards — that earned him the Hall of Fame nod.
As a timekeeper at fight cards across Florida, Chittenden has worked some of the sport’s biggest names.
“I have done countless televised events on channels such as ESPN, DAZN and HBO PPV, with boxers such as Antonio Tarver, Hector Camacho in his last fight, Miguel Cotto, Jeff Lacy, Winky Wright, Canelo Alvarez, Keith Thurman’s professional debut, Jake Paul, Nate Campbell, Roy Jones Jr. and others,” he said.
The Florida Athletic Commission, which regulates combat sports including boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts, often assigns Chittenden to those events as well.
“The commission gives us assignments all over Florida, from Key West to Pensacola,” he said.
Those assignments have put Chittenden at the timekeeper’s table for some firsts, including Florida’s first bare-knuckle fights and its first slap-fighting events, along with UFC cards and other regional and national MMA promotions such as Bellator and Professional Fighting Championships.
“Boxing and MMA are very electric sports and keep the crowd engaged in ways that other sports cannot,” Chittenden said.
When he is not at ringside, Chittenden tends to his day job.
“My company is One Click Advisor,” he said. “We are a business plan platform. We write business plans for startups, small businesses and medium-sized businesses for a variety of purposes.”
For Chittenden, the Hall of Fame call is a payoff for years of work.
“It is certainly an honor,” he said. “I’m grateful to them for inducting me. Fighters are an eclectic and noble breed, and this is a celebration of that brotherhood.”
The honor reflects a philosophy he applies well beyond the ring.
“If you have ever wanted to do big things in the ring or in life, start now,” he said. “Take a step before you go to bed tonight. Then another. You can make a greater version of yourself through trial. Don’t end up regretting not trying. Don’t get to the end of your life only to glimpse what you always wanted to be.”
Hall of Fame Notes
Chittenden was among 20 inductees. Others included Michel Rush of Tampa, Zab Judah, Kenny Gould, Tampa’s Sakura Armstrong, China Smith, SiriusXM boxing show host Randy Gordon, boxing writer Bernard Fernandez Jr. and promoter Lou DiBella, who until recently owned the Montgomery Biscuits, the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Boxing notables on hand included former world heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas; former heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney, the featured speaker at a dinner; and Timothy Shipman, executive director of the Florida Athletic Commission.