KING CITY — Boxers from King City and Sun-Ard Boxing Club will compete in the National Junior Olympic Boxing Tournament, which will be held June 22-29 in Wichita, Kansas, for a week.
“We've been preparing for this tournament for a long time,” said Rodolfo Tapia, coach at King City and San Ardo Boxing Club. “Last weekend we went to Hanford to train with the other boxers. These next few days will be our last training days before we leave for Kansas.”
Competing in Wichita will be siblings Brian and Gretel Cruz and Miguel Hernandez of the San Ardo Boxing Club, and Andre Mosqueda and Joel Lozoya of the King City Boxing Club.
Brian Cruz, 11, will fight at 90 pounds and Gretel Cruz, 15, will fight at 101. Veteran boxer Hernandez, 14, will fight at 90 pounds, Mosqueda, 11, at 90 pounds and Lozoya, 12, at 95 pounds.
“Lozoya will be fighting in his first big tournament,” Tapia said. “Hernandez has fought in many tournaments and Brian Cruz (48 bouts) has fought in four or five national tournaments. Our boxers are very experienced and close in weight, so they will really go all out in sparring. Our new club members will learn a lot from watching them spar with each other. This is quality boxing.”
The tournament will take place over nearly a week, meaning that each fighter is guaranteed to have three boxing matches.
