BROCKPORT — "It was a war."

That’s all Mike Faragon could say to sum up his fight with rival Darnell Jiles at the Empire State Games. Jiles won a 5-0 decision over Faragon but, with the way the fight went, the tally on the five judges’ score cards must have been close.
"I came to fight and he came to fight," Faragon said. "There is nothing else you can do."

Faragon went toe-to-toe, punch-for-punch with Jiles for the third time in the last year. Faragon had beaten him twice, including a controversial decision at the National Golden Gloves Tournament.

Faragon, a Guilderland High School graduate, left the Empire State Games boxing event at the State University of New York College at Brockport with a bronze medal in the 141-pound class.
"He is two-and-one against him," said Andy Faragon, Faragon’s father and one of his trainers. "Last time they fought, there was a riot after. The thing with this fight is it could be fought 10 times and each time there could be a different outcome. He was number-one in the world two years ago," the elder Faragon said of Jiles.

Jiles, a native of Rochester, will be leaving the ranks of amateur boxing next month when he makes his professional debut in Saratoga.
"He has a little more flash," Mike Faragon said. "He throws a lot of pitter-patter stuff that really doesn’t do much. But they count and he knows how to work the system."
"I’m happy with the fight," Andy Faragon said. "I think he fought better than the last match he had with him," he said of his son.

The fight was a bit of a mismatch for Faragon because of his style of fighting.
"Mike has to get inside and he’s going to take shots," Andy Faragon said. "He’s not a typical boxer in that he is long and thin. He’s a boxer that needs to get inside and bomb."

"Fighting is his life"

Next up for the Faragons is a trip to California in September so Mike can fight in the Police Activities League tournament.

But for Faragon, the future is the Olympic Trials and then a shot at turning professional.
"We want to be in what we call the Elite Eight," Andy Faragon said. "That is the Olympic trials. Then you have to win three fights in that tournament to make the Olympic team. Fighting is his life and we’ll go wherever we can to get a fight."

Though they have Mike’s future set, Andy Faragon knows that there is a ways to go before they are ready to reach the pinnacle.
"I’m happy as hell," Andy Faragon said about the Empire State Games. "But I’m Mike’s biggest critic. I’m hard to please. But we came into his [Jiles’s] backyard and fought with intensity. It was a tough match."
"It was a close decision," said Andy Schott, Faragon’s other trainer. "But in close fights, he has stepped up. He has improved himself from the outset and now he has a shot at the Olympic team. The top 20 make the Olympic team but we’re looking for that extra edge. There will be two or three guys battling for that number-one spot. We are looking at the 2012 Olympics"
"Mike is willing to make it," Schott added. "He is a special athlete and he has such determination."

Mike Faragon has amassed a 73-13 record for his career in the amateur ranks.
"He is not losing to Smurfs," Andy Faragon said. "He is on the right track. In amateurs, you are going to lose. Nobody goes unbeaten. What we are doing is preparing him for the pros."