>> IT WILL BE AT THE LYRIC OPRA.

THE CHICAGO GOLDEN GLOVE AMATEUR BOXING TOURNAMENT IS CELEBRATING IT'S CENTENNIAL THIS YEAR.

THE BOXERS HAVE DUKED IT OUT FOR THE GOLDEN GLOVE, NAMES LIKE JOE LOUIS AND MUHAMMAD ALI.

BUT THEY HAVE HAD THEIR LIVES FOREVER CHANGED WHEN THEY WERE CROWNED GOLDEN GLOVE CHAMPIONS.

THE STORIES FROM THE RING SINCE 197 ON.

>> THEY KNEW ABOUT IT, THE FIRST, HE WAS THE GOLDEN GLOVE CHAMPION >> KIM ADAMS SAID THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS THE CHAMPION UNTIL HE BEGAN TELLING STORIES.

>> SO MANY THINGS TO SAY ABOUT MY FATHER, IT WAS JUST UNBELIEVABLE.

AND I'M SITTING THERE SUCKING ALL OF THIS IN.

I WANT TO BE THE GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPION.

>> Reporter: ADAM SAID THAT LEARNING THAT HIS FATHER, GEORGE, WAS THE 1943 GOLDEN GLOVE CHAMPION INSPIRED HIM TO TAKE A SWING AT BOXING HIMSELF.

>> ME AND MY FATHER, THAT IS WHERE I STARTED TRAINING AT.

>> Reporter: ADAMS ANSWERED THE CHICAGO GOLDEN GLOVE TOURNAMENT IN 1970 AS A NOVICE WHERE HE FINISHED SECOND.

>> THE GOLDEN GLOVE CHAMPIONSHIP, SO I ACHIEVED THAT.

AND THE LORD SAID WAIT, YOU HAVE TWO HANDS, SO I WON MY SECOND GOLDEN GLOVE CHAMPIONSHIP.

>> Reporter: ADAMS WON THE TITLE AND THE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP THE SAME YEAR, AROUND THE SAME TIME THAT HE WAS BECOMING A KING IN THE RING, FRANK SMITH WAS MAKING HIS OWN HISTORY.

HE WON THE FLY WEIGHT TITLE.

AND IN $1.74, AND IN 1975, >> BY THE NAME OF JESSE MARTIN, HE WAS A KID WITH -- I WAS JUST A LITTLE SKINNY KID, YOU KNOW, WHEN I TAKE OFF MY ROBE, EVERYBODY IN THE AUDIENCE, YOU CAN HEAR THEM, OH, THERE'S THE SKINNY KID, HE'S GOING TO GET HIS BUTT WHOOPED.

>> THAT SKINNY KID WOUND UP WINNING THE WHOLE THING, BECOMING THE FIRST FIGHTER TO WIN THREE TITLES IN THREE YEARS.

AND THIS YEAR, ADAMS AND SMITH WILL BE INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME AS THE TOURNAMENT MARKS 100 YEARS, THE FIRST COMPETITION SINCE 1923.

ADAMS SAID WHAT HE WAS A KID HIMSELF, BOXING WAS A BIG DEAL >> THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

I TALKED TO FRIENDS ABOUT THAT.

I CAN'T DO THIS.

JUST TO HEAR, HEY, DID YOU SEE THE FIGHT?

THAT'S BIG TIME STUFF.

>> HE CREDITS BOXING AND THE MAN WHO COACHED HIM FOR KEEPING HIM ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW.

>> MY MOM SAID OH, BOY, SHE SAID I NEEDED TO GO FIND SOME EXTRA-CURRICULAR INSTEAD OF GETTING IN TROUBLE, SO SHE TOOK ME UP TO MR. FERGUSON, WHICH WAS THE BOXING COACH AT THE FACILITY.

AND TRUST ME, IT COULD HAVE GONE THE OTHER WAY.

SO BOXING SAVED MY LIFE.

>> HE WENT ON TO DO THE SAME FOR THOUSANDS OF KIDS AND TEENAGERS, IN AS A CHICAGO DISTRICT BOXING COACH.

>> I LOVE THE TRAINING.

>> ADAMS BUILT A SECOND CAREER AS A BOXING REFEREE.

>> TRAVELING TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, AND GETTING TO THESE PEOPLE THAT YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO SEE ON TV.

JUST ALL OF THOSE.

>> AND THOUGH THEY BOTH HUNG UP THEIR GLOVES LONG AGO, THEY STILL LOOK AT THEIR BOXING DAYS AS A GOLDEN TIME.

>> HE WAS IT A CHAMPION, AND PEOPLE RECOGNIZED HIM.

IT WAS HUMBLING, BUT IT'S IN MY BLOOD.

>> Reporter: FOR "CHICAGO TONIGHT" BLACK VOICES, THIS IS ERICA DEMING.