King of the Jungle
This past Saturday was Championship Day for the first annual National Latino Amateur Boxing Association ‘King of the Jungle’ National Tournament in Aurora, IL. The 4 day tournament ended with 29 quality match-ups with boxers representing several states throughout the US. Below are some highlights and thoughts on the action that took place.
_The second fight of the afternoon was an excellent match up between Deon Johnson from the Elgin Boxing Club versus Jorge Perez of the Chicago Youth Boxing Club. To me, this was a tale of two fights. I think Deon started out great, he landed the cleaner shots and his footwork was one step ahead earning him an 8 count. Jorge was game though and he answered every time and started to have more success later in the fight. At the end I thought Deon did enough in the first 2 rounds but either way it was a great bout.
_Chris Villafana from the Tallon’s Boxing Academy looked sharp landing clean shots and using his footwork to set up offense and defense.
_Felix Gonzalez had to put in some work to earn his win against the long and quick Kewon Burns.
_Zoe Glass from Texas displayed great technique with straight punches and quick footwork against ‘Toughest Female’ winner Elizabeth Helton.
_The Ryan Hamel and Josh Pagan fight was entertaining with Ryan having success early. Josh then made some adjustments after the first in route to an impressive stoppage win for the boxer from the Gallo Boxing Club.
_Marco Cruz from the Elgin Boxing Club took on Rick Ruiz from WI in a wild fight were the ring’s ropes were tested. Rick was very aggressive from bell to bell and had Marco on the ropes a good portion of the fight. Marco was able to use his long jab to set up a varied attack to the body and head as well as his footwork to avoid taking too much damage.It was a tough win for Marco.
_Manny Torres boxing out of Valencia Boxing gave a solid performance against quick Alexis Santana. Manny was able to stay light on his feet and utilize his body movement to stay one step ahead.
_Julian Newell had an excellent tournament where he competed everyday and displayed great skill earning him ‘Best Boxer’ in the 16 to 17 division as well claiming the 125 lbs. Open National Belt.
_Ariel Bello took on David Perez in a competitive fight but Ariel’s cleaner shots and precise countering paved the way to earning his National Belt in 123 lbs. Open division.
_Shout out to the Hammond Boxing Club who had 3 fighters competing with Rodolfo Ramirez taking the 201 lbs. Open division belt and teammates Anthony Fleming and Caleb Hernandez fighting each other. HBC as a team won that afternoon.
_Congratulations to Isaac Guaderrama of Beast Boxing Club for winning ‘Best Boxer’ in the 14 to 15 division.
Make sure to check out the National Latino Amateur Boxing Association website and social media pages for images of the event as well info on the next tournament. Overall it was a great event with some excellent fights showcasing some of the hard work all these young athletes put in on a daily basis!