2007 Air Force Light Heavy Weight Champ

The Air Force Box-Offs were this weekend, I had two bouts and won both of them to stay the All-Air Force Light Heavy Weight Champ (178 Lbs). The first night I fought the defending Middle Weight Champ (165 Lbs) and won by decision after the bout lasted all four rounds (picture to left). Saturday night I faced a newcomer to the AF team who has over 40 fights in his amateur career. It was a great bout, I’m told, I haven’t watched the tape yet. We had sparred a lot so we spent the early part of the bout trying to get each other to make the mistakes we have noticed during our sparring sessions. Eventually, we started boxing and adjusting to the fact that we'd learned from earlier sparring and didn't want to make the same mistakes. The bout went all four rounds and I won by decision (picture below and right).

The Air Force Team will now compete in the San Antonio Regional Golden Gloves Tournament (20-24 Feb) to help us get ready for the Armed Forces Championships (6-10 Mar). The winners of the Armed Forces Championships will get automatic bids to the 2008 Olympic Trials to be held this fall in Colorado Springs. Being able to represent the US at the international level would be an amazing accomplishment and an awesome opportunity. I’m looking forward to continuing my training and hopefully earning a spot at the ’08 Olympic Trials.

After being awarded the gold medal at the 2006 AF Box-offs

Arrived In San Antonio

I made it to San Antonio last Thursday to work with the Air Force Boxing Team and hopefully earn a spot on the 2007 All-Air Force Roster. The camp has gone well so far, I think I came down in pretty good shape, but I've still been really sore from the workouts. Even though I was working out 2-3 times a day in Wyoming, I wasn't matching the intensity of the workouts that we're going through right now. It's amazing how much harder you work when the guy that you're competing against is working out alongside you. I really think this is the best way for me to prepare for the upcoming tournaments and hopefully earn a spot at the '08 Olympic Trials. The Air Force Box-Offs will be next week 16-17 Feb in San Antonio, I'll be sure to post the results.