(JUNE 19)
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO – Youth
and experience will collide at USA Boxing's Pathway to Glory
Olympic Trials Qualifier I next week in Colorado Springs, Colo.
More than 250 boxers have registered to compete in the
tournament, June 22-27 at City Auditorium and the athlete
rosters boast a wide array of former youth stars and established
veterans in the sport.
Two-time world champions and
Youth Olympic Games gold medalists Shakur
Stevenson (Newark,
N.J.) and Jajaira
Gonzalez (Glendora,
Calif.) will lead the youth contingent making their transitions
to the elite age division in Colorado Springs. Gonzalez enters
the tournament fresh off her youth world title in May and the
recent high school graduate will face off with several top
opponents in the talent-laden women's lightweight division.
Stevenson will make his elite
division debut just one week short of his 18th birthday, and the
former AIBA junior boxer of the year hopes to celebrate with a
berth in the Olympic Trials in the men's bantamweight division.
2015 Youth World Championships
bronze medalist Ariel
Arismendez (Tolleson,
Ariz.) and 2013 Junior World Champion Caitlin
Orosco (Anaheim,
Calif.) will compete in the women's lightweight and flyweight
division respectively after boxing in the 2015 Youth World
Championships in Taiwan in late May.
2013 Youth National Champion and
2012 Olympic Training partner Gilbert
Renteria (Houston,
Texas) and newly crowned National Golden Gloves champion Ruben
Villa (Salinas,
Calif.) will also bring some young flavor to the event.
On the opposite side of the
spectrum, four former men's national champion will look to
clinch their Olympic Trials berths in Colorado Springs. A trio
of two-time national champions will compete in their respective
weight divisions with lightweight Genaro
Gamez (San
Diego, Calif.), welterweight Jose
Alday (Odessa,
Texas) and middleweight Leshawn
Rodriquez (Medford,
N.Y.) all boxing in the Olympic Trials qualifier. Four-time
super heavyweight national champion Cam
F. Awesome (Lenexa,
Kansas) will show off a new svelte frame in heavyweight division
action in Colorado Springs.
Despite all of the men's national
champions competing in Colorado Springs, the women's weight
divisions feature some of the most experienced boxers in the
tournament. Multi-time national champions Christina
Cruz (New
York, N.Y.) and Franchon
Crews (Baltimore,
Md.) will each move in to a different weight division than they
competed in at the 2015 USA Boxing National Championships. Both
boxers competed in the first-ever Olympic Team Trials for
Women's Boxing in 2012 and they will look to return in the
flyweight and middleweight divisions. Two-time light flyweight
national champion Alex
Love (Colorado
Springs, Colo.) and fellow 2012 Olympic Trials participants N'yteeyah
Sherman (Barberton,
Ohio) and Tika
Hemingway (Pittsburgh,
Pa.) are also back for another run at Olympic glory.
The tournament participants will
begin arriving in the Pikes Peak region on Saturday prior to the
general weigh-in and tournament draw on Sunday at the Hotel
Elegante. Preliminary competition will be contested at noon and
6 p.m., Monday-Thursday at City Auditorium prior to the
all-important semifinal bouts in two sessions on Friday and the
women's consolation bouts and event finals on Saturday.
For those that can't make it out
to Colorado Springs, the event will be available for purchase
via live stream at
https://livecoverage.flosports.tv/event/587-usa-boxing-trials-qualifier-pikes-peak-international-championships.
Tickets for the event start at
only $15 and can be purchased at the door at City Auditorium.
For more information about the event, go to
www.usaboxing.org.
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