KING CITY — Boxers from the King City and San Ardo Boxing Clubs will be competing for a week at the National Jr. Olympic Boxing Tournament that will be held June 22-29 in Wichita, Kan.
“We have been preparing for some time now for this tournament,” said King City and San Ardo Boxing Club coach Rodolfo Tapia. “This past weekend we traveled to Hanford to get some work against other boxers. These next few days will be our final days to train before we leave for Kansas.”
Competing at Wichita will be siblings Bryan and Grettel Cruz and Miguel Hernandez of the San Ardo Boxing Club, and Andre Mosqueda and Joel Lozoya of the King City Boxing Club.
Bryan Cruz, 11, will fight at 90 pounds, and Grettel Cruz, 15, will fight at 101 pounds. Veteran boxer Hernandez, 14, will fight at 90 pounds, while Mosqueda, 11, will fight at 90 pounds and Lozoya, 12, will fight at 95 pounds.
“Lozoya will be fighting in his first big tournament,” said Coach Tapia. “Hernandez has fought in many tournaments and Bryan Cruz (48 fights) has fought in four or five national tournaments. Because our boxers are very experienced and are close to each other’s weight, they really go at it when they are sparring. Our new club members learn a lot from watching them spar against each other. It is high quality boxing.”
Because the tournament runs for nearly a week, each fighter will be guaranteed three boxing matches.
