Two left hooks helped Joe Calvello, a 2007 Binghamton University graduate, to the Syracuse Golden Gloves amateur light heavyweight title he came so close to a year ago.

Calvello, 22, defeated Joe Fratelli, 20, in a unanimous 5-0 decision to win the 178-pound class on April 12 at the Pepsi International Building at the State Fairgrounds. He has a 4-3 record and is 4-1 in his last five fights.

Calvello lost 3-2 in the finals of the same tournament last year.

“Last year I was a little bit bitter, a little bit upset,” Calvello said. “I trained as hard as I could and I came up short. All that raw emotion and all that upset, I turned it into energy and took it all this year.”

Fratelli, at 6-foot-1-inch, is an inch taller than Calvello, who himself is tall for his class. Calvello, however, used his speed to his advantage.

“The game plan was to throw my jab and keep my distance so I’d be out of range of his punches,” Calvello said. “I tried to wear him down with my jab.”

Calvello’s left hook garnered him two eight-counts, the first about 30 seconds into the second two-minute round, the second about 35 seconds into the final third round.

Fratelli, who fell to 6-3, entered with a reputation of being a hard-hitter, winning four decisions by knockout. He threw about 35 punches and landed about 22, according to Calvello. Calvello threw about 55 and landed about 22.

Calvello was supposed to fight in a semifinal, but his opponent failed to show up for the fight, which was scheduled two weeks before the championship. That allowed Calvello to enter the championship bout fresh. Last year, Calvello had to fight three times leading up to the finals, which he said left him tired.

“I felt like my fatigue from the night before was a big issue,” he said. “I was just on the other end of the spectrum and ended up winning.”

Calvello did not have to qualify this year by virtue of his finish in the finals last year. There were seven participants in the light heavyweight class. Entrants had to be ages 16 to 25.

Calvello, who works out at the Triple Cities Championship Boxing Club on Binghamton’s North Side, trained for three hours a day, six days a week for the six weeks leading up to the fight.

A PPL major at Binghamton, he works for the mayor’s office as a community organizer, acting as a liaison between the city and residents.