The phrase "boxing hotbed" is one of those fight terms that gets thrown about with ease whether the user truly understands its meaning or not - like "shot," "exposed" and "ring generalship."
There aren't many boxing hotbeds around right now, be it for lack of overall interest in the sport, or maybe even times just not being quite as tough as in previous eras.
If asked which cities or regions of the U.S. frequently churn out young talent, the Great Lakes area probably wouldn't make the cut.
For instance, Minnesota's finest crop in the last 20 or more years has been Will Grigsby, Jason Litzau and maybe Matt Vanda - not exactly the Murderer's Row of the fight game.
Such wasn't always the case though. In the early 1900's, states like Wisconsin and Minnesota were not only producing respectable fighters (and a few very, very good ones), they were also included in the battle grounds of boxing legislation in that part of the country.