(DEC 11) The 2016 USA Boxing
Elite and Youth National Championships and Junior Open came to a
close on Saturday night with 23 champions crowned after an
exciting week of competition. What began as 677 boxers looking
for a shot at national titles ended with a rambunctious crowd of
spectators cheering on the final two rings’ bouts at the KCI
Expo Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The final four youth
divisions took center stage to begin the evening session before
the elite men and women stepped into the ring for their final
bouts.
Local favorite Cam F. Awesome (Lenexa, Kansas) continued his
reign of dominance taking home his fifth national title in front
of screaming fans in the heavyweight division against Florida
native Blake Davis. 2016 Olympian Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles,
Calif.) and teammate Christiana Cruz (New York, N.Y.) each
grabbed back-to-back titles after wins in the same weight
divisions in 2015. Cruz was later named the Outstanding Female
Elite Boxer of the Tournament.
Fresh off a three-week stint in St. Petersburg, Russia, three
youth world championship members made a fierce start to their
careers in the elite category with title wins. Fernando Martinez
(Phoenix, Ariz.) was the first to take the championship win in
the 114 weight class. 2016 Youth World Champion Delante Johnson
(Cleveland, Ohio) became the nation’s first ranked elite
132-pound boxer less than two weeks after becoming the first in
the world in the same youth category. The last member of the St.
Petersburg squad to take to the ring was Freudis Rojas (Las
Vegas, Nev.) as he added a national and Outstanding Elite Boxer
of the Tournament titles to his resume. Fernando Diaz (N. Las
Vegas, Nevada) and Na’Shay Bradford (Toledo, Ohio) were named
Outstanding Junior Boxers of the Tournament as Diana Estrada
(Hillsboro, Oregon) and Lorenzo Simpson (Baltimore, Maryland)
took the honors in the youth category. The tournament closed a
successful year for USA Boxing as these athletes will look to
continue the prosperity of Team USA into the 2017 year at home
and abroad.
Saturday’s Championship Results
Youth/114 lbs: Derry Noblen, Vacaville, Calif., dec. Malik
Nelson, Avenel, N.J., 5-0
Youth/123 lbs: James Browning, Las Vegas, Nev., dec. Rogelio
Ortega, South Houston, Texas, 5-0
Youth/132 lbs: Eric Puente, Vista, Calif., dec. Mario Ramos, San
Diego, Calif., 5-0
Youth/141 lbs: Wesley DiAna, Las Vegas, Nev., dec. Christian
Roman, Mercedes, Texas, 4-1
Elite Female/106 lbs: Jacquelyn Cuddleback, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
dec. Hillary Perez, Arlington, Texas, 3-2
Elite/108 lbs: Nicholas Scaturchio, Hartsdale, N.Y., dec. Efrain
Sanchez, Garden City, Kans., 4-1
Elite Female/112 lbs: Virginia Fuchs, Kemah, Texas, dec. Marlen
Esparza, New York, N.Y., 5-0
Elite /114 lbs: Fernando Martinez, Phoenix, Ariz., dec.
Guillermo Gutierrez, San Antonio, Texas, 5-0
Elite Female/119 lbs: Christina Cruz, New York, N.Y., dec.
Rianna Rios, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3-2
Elite/123 lbs: Duke Ragan, Cincinnati, Ohio, dec. Shon
Mondragon, Commerce City, Colo., 5-0
Elite Female/125 lbs: Wendy Casey, Buffalo, N.Y., won by TKO
over Trudy Li, Brooklyn, N.Y., TKO-3
Elite/132 lbs: Delante Johnson, Cleveland, Ohio, dec. Aaron
Perez, Albuquerque, N.M., 5-0
Elite Female/132 lbs: Mikaela Mayer, Colorado Springs, Colo.,
dec. Rashida Ellis, Lynn, Mass., 5-0
Elite/141 lbs: Freudis Rojas, Las Vegas, Nev., dec. Frank
Martin, Indianapolis, Ind., 3-2
Elite Female/141 lbs: Stacia Suttles, Bronx, N.Y., dec. Amelia
Moore, Greenbelt, Md., 4-1
Elite/152 lbs: Quinton Randall, Katy, Texas, dec. Brian Ceballo,
New York, N.Y., 3-2
Elite Female/152 lbs: Stephanie Malone, Louisville, KY., dec.
Nisa Rodriguez, Bronx, N.Y., 3-2
Elite/165 lbs: Troy Isley, Alexandria, Va., dec. Javier
Martinez, Milwaukee, Wisc., 5-0
Elite Female/165 lbs: Oshe Jones, Toledo, Ohio, dec. Naomi
Graham, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4-1
Elite/178 lbs: Krystal Dixon, New Rochelle, N.Y., won by TKO
over Ariana Borrero, South San Francisco, Calif., TKO-1
Elite/178 lbs: Cymone Kearney, Beaumont, Texas, dec. Sean
Hemphill, New Orleans, Louis., 4-1
Elite/201 lbs: Cam Awesome, Lenexa, Kans., dec. Blake Davis,
Davie, Fla., 5-0
Elite/201+ lbs: Nkosi Solomon, Brooklyn, N.Y., dec. Daniel Bean,
Old Bridge, N.J., 5-0
