(JUNE 13)
(CHARLESTON,
W. VA.) – An event that started with hundreds of boxers from
across the country concluded with 21 final round bouts on
Saturday in Charleston, W. Va. Thirty-two young boxers won bouts
in Friday's action at the 2015 Junior Olympic and Prep National
Championships before the final 21 champions were crowned on the
last day of tournament competition at the Charleston Civic
Center.
The best 15 and 16-year-old
boxers in the United States provided an early preview of the
talent that will vie for the 2020 Olympics in Saturday's junior
division gold medal matches. Three junior world champions and
one world championships silver medalist competed in 2015 Junior
Olympic National Championships fresh off their thrilling
victories in Taiwan. Light flyweight
Heaven Garcia
(El Monte, Calif.) was the only
world champion to win in Charleston, taking a unanimous decision
over
Amy Salinas
(Mesquite, N.M.) in the finals to
win a Junior Olympic national championship and the outstanding
boxer award for the smaller women's weight divisions.
In women's featherweight
competition,
Diana Estrada
(Hillsboro, Ore.) avenged his
loss to 2015 junior world champion
Zhane Crockett
(Toledo, Ohio), winning a split
decision for her first Junior Olympic National Championship.
Defending junior Olympic champion
Andrea Medina
(Chula Vista, Calif.) defeated a
second junior world champion in her lightweight championships
bout. Medina took a unanimous decision victory over lightweight
world titlist
Lupe Gutierrez
(Sacramento, Calif.) in their
final round match-up.
World Championships silver
medalist
Kylie Hall
(Fresno, Calif.) enjoyed more
luck in her welterweight title bout with
Sharahya Moreu
(Albuquerque, N.M.). Hall won a
unanimous decision in their match-up to take Junior Olympic gold
and the outstanding boxer award for the women's middle weight
divisions.
The men's division featured
several outstanding bouts in the day's championship round
action. In the men's pinweight bout,
Japthethlee Llamido
(Norwalk, Calif.) defeated Junior
Open champion
Jesse Rodriguez
(San Antonio, Texas) for the
first junior men's gold medal.
Junior Open and defending Junior
Olympic champion
Marc Castro
(Fresno, Calif.) added a third
junior division national championship to his resume, winning a
unanimous decision victory over
Christopher Zavala
(Bellflower, Calif.).
In the light bantamweight
division, 2015 Junior Open titlist
Otha Jones III
won a unanimous decision win over
Anthony Reyes
(Coachella, Calif.) to claim his
first Junior Olympic National Championship as well as the
outstanding boxer award for the lower men's age divisions.
With the loud support of the
Pennsylvania delegation behind him,
Joseph Adorno
(Philadelphia, Pa.) took gold in
the featherweight title bout. In the lightweight division bout,
David Kaminsky
(Tarzana, Calif.) upset 2015
Junior Open champion
Harley Maderos
(New York, N.Y.). Kaminsky won a
split decision victory over Maderos for the championship and the
outstanding boxer award in the men's middle weight divisions.
The men's light welterweight
division featured a match-up between the defending champion at
138 pounds,
Andres Borrego
(Arvada, Colo.) and Junior Open
light welterweight titlist
Leon Lawson III
(Flint, Mich.). It was Lawson
taking the split decision win for his second straight Junior
Olympic championship.
A new champion was crowned in
men's light heavyweight action with
Najee Lopez
(Lithonia, Ga.) taking the title
with his unanimous decision victory over
Daniel Gates
(Dyersburg, Tenn.).
The super heavyweights closed the
day and the tournament in one of the event's most exciting
bouts. Defending champion
Richard Torrez
(Tulare, Calif.) faced off with
Keshaun Davis
(Pearl, Miss.) in final round
competition. Heavy shots were flying throughout to the delight
of the crowd, which was ooohing and ahhing with every hard
punch. Torrez grabbed his second straight Junior Olympic
National Championship and the outstanding boxer award for the
heavier weight divisions with his unanimous decision win.
The 2015 event was the first-ever
USA Boxing Prep National Championships and over 600 athletes
registered to compete in the joint prep and Junior Olympic
event. Athletes as young as eight-years-old showcased their
talent and passion over the five-day tournament at the
Charleston Civic Center with over 130 age and weight divisions
being contested in the first-time event. For a list of all of
the week's results, go to
www.usaboxing.org.
USA Boxing’s Junior Olympic
program is a critical developmental pipeline for the
organization and has consistently produced future Olympians and
professional world champions. The last two Olympic gold
medalists from the United States, Claressa Shields and Andre
Ward both took part in the event before going on to Olympic
glory.
Saturday's Championship Results
Intermediate male/101 lbs: Jeremy
Adorno, Philadelphia, Pa., dec. Anthony Valdovinos, Hanford,
Calif., 3-0
Junior male/101 lbs: Japthethlee
Llamido, Norwalk, Calif., dec. Jesse Rodriguez, San Antonio,
Texas, 3-0
Junior male/106 lbs: Santos
Ortega, Coachella, Calif., dec. Angel Martinez, Rockford, Ill,
3-0
Junior female/106 lbs: Heaven
Garcia, El Monte, Calif., dec. Amy Salinas, Mesquite, N.M., 3-0
Junior male/110 lbs: Angel
Cordon, Martinez, Calif., dec. Jonathan Rodriguez, Albany, N.Y.,
3-0
Junior male/114 lbs: Romalin
Martinez, Houston, Texas dec. Kaitlyn Pruitt, Clarksville, Ark.,
3-0
Junior male/114 lbs: Otha Jones
III, Toledo, Ohio, dec. Anthony Reyes, Coachella, Calif., 3-0
Junior female/119 lbs: Jessica
Juarez, San Diego, Calif., won TKO over Aiyonah Williams,
Kirtland, N.M., TKO-2
Junior male/119 lbs: Marc Castro,
Fresno, Calif., dec. Christopher Zavala, Toledo, Ohio, 2-1
Junior femlae/125 lbs: Dianna
Estrada, Hillsboro, Ore., dec. Zhane Crockett, Toledo, Ohio, 2-1
Junior male/125 lbs: Joseph
Adorno, Philadelphia, Pa., dec. Nathan Gonzales, Palmdale,
Calif., 2-1
Junior male/132 lbs: David
Kaminsky, Tarzana, Calif., dec. Harley Maderos, New York, N.Y.,
2-1
Junior female/132 lbs: Andrea
Medina, Chula Vista, Calif., dec. Lupe Gutierrez, Sacramento,
Calif., 3-0
Junior male/138 lbs: Leon Lawson,
Flint, Mich., dec. Andres Borrego, Arvada, Colo., 2-1
Junior female/145 lbs: Kylie
Hall, Fresno, Calif., dec. Sharahya Moreu, Albuquerque, N.M.,
3-0
Junior male/145 lbs: Brandun Lee,
Coachella, Calif., dec. Alejandro Wagner, Lincoln Park, Mich.,
2-1
Junior female/154 lbs: Jaylin
Buckley, Davenport, Iowa, won on TKO over Belinda Zapote-Perez,
Wichita, Kansas, TKO-3
Junior male/154 lbs: Joey
Spencer, Linden, Mich., dec. Nicholas Gomes, Providence, R.I.,
2-1
Junior male/165 lbs: Lavan
Johnson, Detroit, Mich., dec. Muadh Abdus Salaam, Irvington,
N.J., 2-1
Junior male/176 lbs: Najee Lopez,
Lithonia, Ga., dec. Daniel Gates, Dyersburg, Tenn., 3-0
Junior male/176+ lbs: Richard
Torrez, Tulare, Calif., dec. Kashaun Davis, Pearl, Miss., 3-0