(MAR 27)
The 24 female athletes who competed in the first-ever U.S.
Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing will always hold their
own place in boxing and Olympic history and 17 of those ladies
are returning to Northern Quest Resort & Casino and Spokane,
Wash., for the 2013 USA Boxing National Championships, April
1-6. The roster of women slated to compete in Spokane boasts a
fantastic list of nationally and internationally experienced
athletes. All three female Olympians are back in 2013, including
gold medalist Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) and bronze
medalist Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas). Lightweight
Olympian Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) will enjoy the
opportunity to return to her home state for a second major
national tournament.
Yet the three
Olympians aren’t the only talented females taking the ring in
Spokane once again. Reigning world champion Tiara Brown
(Hyattsville, Md.) dropped down to the featherweight division
after competing in the Olympic Trials at the lightweight class.
Brown became only the third female world champion in USA Boxing
history last spring at the 2012 World Championships.
Two Olympic
Trials middleweight participants enjoyed international success
as well after changing weight classes for the 2012 National and
World Championships. Raquel Miller (San Francisco,
Calif.) moved down to the welterweight class while Franchon
Crews (Baltimore, Md.) stepped up to the light heavyweight
division. Both ladies, who will be competing at the middleweight
class in the 2013 event, won silver medals at the 2012 World
Championships.
Two additional
Olympic Trials participants won world championships hardware
after moving up in weight following the Olympic Trials.
Christina Cruz (New York, N.Y.) has chosen to stay at her
new bantamweight division after winning a bronze medal at the
recent World Championships. Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles,
Calif.) is ranked number one in the world at the light
welterweight class, but she is slated to return to the
jam-packed lightweight division for the 2013 USA Boxing National
Championships. Fans may recognize Mayer from the national Dr.
Pepper commercial featuring her one of a kind story.
Olympic Trials
participants N’yteeyah Sherman (Fairlawn, Ohio) and
Lisa Porter (Valley Village, Calif.) will join Brown,
Underwood, Mayer, and former national champion Melissa Parker
(Spring, Texas) in the talent-laden lightweight division.
Esparza could
face fellow Olympic Trials participant Virginia Fuchs
(Kemah, Texas) in their flyweight division with former flyweight
trials competitor Taversha Norwood (Oxnard, Calif.)
moving up to the featherweight class for the national
championships.
The elite
ladies aren’t the only talented women gearing up for the 2013
USA Boxing National Championships, the youth division will also
feature some future stars and potential Olympians. The new AIBA
rules dictate changes to the age groups, including the addition
of the youth division for athletes born in 1995 and 1996. The
youth division, which is making its debut at the USA Boxing
National Championships in Spokane, will include historic Olympic
Champion Shields and her fellow 2012 National PAL Champion
Rashida Ellis (Lynn, Mass.). Ellis and her brother,
Rashidi Ellis (Lynn, Mass.) won the PAL Championships
together in October, but Rashida will now take the ring in the
youth division in Spokane. Three younger boxers will be moving
up an age group after winning Junior Olympic titles in 2012.
Light flyweights Marisol Lopez (Stratford, Calif.) and
Monica Van Pelt (Toledo, Ohio) as well as welterweight
Samantha Kinchen (Lexington, Ky.) are all hoping to add
another national title to their resumes at the USA Boxing
National Championships.
USA Boxing has
been holding the men’s and women’s national championships
together since 2005, prior to that time, the events were held
separately. Northern Quest enjoys a space in the history of
women’s boxing and Olympic history, having held the first-ever
U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing in early 2012.
The 2013 USA
Boxing National Championships is being hosted by the Northern
Quest Resort & Casino in conjunction with The Hub Sports Center
and the Spokane Sports Commission. Athletes will arrive on March
30 and 31 with competition running from April 1-6. Tickets,
which start at only $5, are on sale now through the Northern
Quest box office and can be purchased at
www.northernquest.com.
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