U.S. Championships

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Mar 2008, 00:50

The rosters are listed on the USA Boxing website. Of all the weight classes, the one that seems to have the most familiar names is the 201# class. There are 18 boxers listed and at least 13 of those have boxed in national tournaments in the past.

HEAVYWEIGHT/201 lbs/91 kg
Melvin A. Holland, Fairfield, Calif. - Central Pacific
Matt Monkewiczm, Honolulu, Hawaii - Hawaii
Andrew Shepherd, Fort Carson, Colo. - Army
Michael Bissett, Smyrna, Tenn. - Southeast
Joey Dawejko, Philadelphia, Pa. - PAL
Jeremiah Graziano, Lenexa, Kansas - Heartland
James Thomas, San Diego, Calif. - Great West
David Thompson, Brooklyn, N.Y. - Northeast
David Imoesiri, Seattle, Wash. - Pacific Northwest
Jerome Amato, Camp Lejeune, N.C. - USMC
Craig Baker, Baytown, Texas - Texas
Donnovan Dennis, Davenport, Iowa - North Mid-West
James Sterling Jr., APO - Air Force
Paul Koon, Philadelphia, Pa. - East Central
Yuwshua Zadok, Atlanta, Ga. - Southeast Coast
Craig Lewis, Detroit, Mich. - Great Lakes
Sifou Sua, Murray, Utah - Four Corners
David Carey, Anchorage, Alaska – At-large

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 04 Mar 2008, 01:50

I have two friends going at 178.

One who I've known since I was 16/17 from my gym in Maryland, and one from my current in Montana.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Mar 2008, 01:59

178 - I don't think I know either one of your friends. The names I know are DeRae Crane, Siju Shabazz and Lionell Thompson. Terrell Gausha also defeated 2 good boxers to win the Great Lakes regional - Derek Zugic and Kyle McNutt.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 04 Mar 2008, 04:16

amy wrote:Looks like there is potential for some good fights at 201 then.

I don't think that's possible.

Dennis, both of my friends are first timers at Nationals this year.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Mar 2008, 14:03

Kolya wrote:
amy wrote:Looks like there is potential for some good fights at 201 then.
I don't think that's possible.

Dennis, both of my friends are first timers at Nationals this year.

Some first timers do very well as long as they have a decent amount of experience before going to the nationals. The percentage of boxers that go to the nationals with under 20 bouts of experience and do well is fairly low.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Mar 2008, 14:06

amy wrote:Hey Dennis, do you know if there will be any officials clinics during Nationals?

Yes, there is supposed to be an Officials' Clinic and a Coaches' Clinic during the National Golden Gloves. I don't know what days yet, but it will be somewhere in the May 5-10 timeframe.

boxmel · Post by **boxmel** » 04 Mar 2008, 15:48

Amy - all officials working the Championships must attend an official's clinic (on Saturday, I think - my schedule is at home). There will also be Level 2 & 3 certification/maintenance clinics - Monday, I've heard.

The "new" computer sytem is no different from the piece of junk we have had for the past 8 years, except it's updated and works. I do hear the keypads are more sensitive to the touch. Other than that, the judges continue to press the buttons when they see legal effective shots - nothing's changed. Oh yeah - the system will automatically do the tiebreaker off the accepted score rather that us techs having to do it manually. YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Mar 2008, 16:58

amy wrote:Looks like there is potential for some good fights at 201 then.

I see the following boxers having the best chances of winning the U.S. Championships (in no particular order):
Paul Koon
Joey Dawejko
David Carey
Craig Lewis
Craig Baker
David Thompson
Jeremiah Graziano

Yuwshua Zadok is moving back up from 178, but I don't think he will win it. Donnovan Dennis is moving down from 201+. He did look good at the 2007 US Championships in a close bout he lost against Mike Wilson, but I haven't always been impressed by him. Jeremiah Graziano did not impress me at the '07 NGG, but he then won the '07 Nat'l PAL which is impressive. Joey Dawejko is coming back down from 201+ where he won the '07 Nat'l PAL. Joey against Jeremiah would be an interesting bout between two shorter heavyweights. David Thompson, David Carey and Craig Lewis are all the polar opposites of Joey and Jeremiah - meaning tall heavyweights. All 3 of them are around 6'4" or 6'5". Carey beat Lewis in the '07 US Chp, but I would like to see a rematch. They have both improved a lot over the last year. Paul Koon is very strong and athletic so he can mix it up with these other guys. Paul defeated Joey Dawejko in their LBC tourney, but now Joey comes in as the PAL representative. Craig Baker hasn't always impressed me, but he has done well and just defeated Quantis Graves and eeked out a victory over Craig Lewis last fall. I think there will be some very interesting bouts in this weight class. Some good boxers might lose during the first day or two of competition depending on the draw.

the_one · Post by **the_one** » 04 Mar 2008, 21:58

Dennis wrote:
amy wrote:Looks like there is potential for some good fights at 201 then.

I see the following boxers having the best chances of winning the U.S. Championships (in no particular order):
Paul Koon
Joey Dawejko
David Carey
Craig Lewis
Craig Baker
David Thompson
Jeremiah Graziano

Paul defeated Joey Dawejko in their LBC tourney, but now Joey comes in as the PAL representative.

yes paul did beat joey at the lbc, but if u were there u would of complained cause everybody did. it was the worst decision i have ever seen, paul had a flurry for 5 seconds in the 3rd round not hitting joey with anything, and for the rest of the round he ran, that was the most punches he ever threw out of the fight!! the decision was so rediculas, and then paul went to the regionals and almost lost again!! he fought nick kisner, and i thought the decision was another bad one, but i cant argue about everything. i just feel paul koon got a gift threw the whole tournament!!!! but he made it so good luck to him!!! hey dennis did jordan fight in this tournament??

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 04 Mar 2008, 23:28

Jordan lost a 3-2 split to Craig Lewis. The scorecards showed a margin of 1 point on the judges that had Lewis winning. That was a very close decision.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 07 Mar 2008, 15:02

I hope someone in CS, CO will post comments about the bouts on here. I am looking forward to hearing about the young phenom Louie Byrd - 106#. He may have some tough opposition with Keola McKee, Stephon Young, Gino Padilla and Malcolm Franklin.

112 - 2 Nat'l JO champs going up against Louie Padilla, Bruno Escalante, Terail Singleton, Daniel Lozano and others. Will these young guns make the cut at the next level?

119 - John Franklin, Teddy Padilla, John Franklin, Shawn Nichol, and David Clark all trying to dethrone Ronny Rios. Rios looked very good last year at the US Championships and the World Golden Gloves. He was very young so I think he may even be better this year.

125 - I don't think there are any clear favorites so I hope our hometown boxer, Ryan Schmidt, cleans up.

132 - This could be a tough class to win. Simmons, Carradine, Gonzalez are all from Ohio and are tough. Pagan, Fowler and Caferrero are therre too. Then you have a young gun in Cordaro Simpkins who is 18. He didn't do as well as I would have expected last year in the US Chp, but maybe this year will be his. However, this is a tough weight class.

141 - Sherard, O'Connor and Jamal James. Adrian Granados must be pretty good as he defeated some very good boxers to win the Great Lakes Regional.

152 - Glen Tapia, Javontae Starks, Leandre White, Wesley Padilla, Arturo Cresping and Greg Carter. There could be some newcomer that rises up too.

165 - Whitfield, Fort, Wade, Huggins, Arias and Porter. My guess is it will come down to Wade against Porter with Porter winning.

178 - Lionell Thompson, Dorian Anthony, Jeffery Spencer, Kelly Buchanan, Terrell Gausha, Siju Shabazz and DeRae Crane. I think it will come down to Gausha, Shabazz or Crane.

201 - As I said before, a lot of quality boxers here. Paul Koon, Joey Dawejko, David Carey, Craig Lewis, Craig Baker, David Thompson, and Jeremiah Graziano. Holland is raw, but strong. Shepherd is big and strong. Imoeseri has been around for quite a while. Donnovan Dennis looked good last year at 201+. Zadok has fought in a lot of national tourneys. My prediction is one of the big guys will win - oh wait they are all big! How about someone whose first or last name starts with a "C" or has the last name of a former world champion.

201+ - Not too many guys I know here. Tavon Sol is a young buck and then there is the track star Lenroy Thompson. Andrew Shepard out of Ft. Carson? There is also Andrew Shepherd out of Ft. Carson in the 201# class.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 07 Mar 2008, 16:05

At 125, I believe Vincent Montoya from Wyoming could do very well. He's grown a lot and fits well at that weight. 132 will be very tough and I think it could come down to Pagan and Caferro in the finals; he is so much more filled out and stronger at 132 than he was at 125. At 2178; although they are relative newcomers, I will be rooting for my friends and teammate/former teammate Adam Axelson and Thomas Williams. Williams I think has a good chance to surprise people-he's skilled and quite slick.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 07 Mar 2008, 19:10

2178 - those are some big boys! Lets hear other people's predictions or comments.

boxmel · Post by **boxmel** » 07 Mar 2008, 23:27

The current roster is not accurate, Dennis. David Clark and Mike Wilson are going home; abiut 1/2 of the Hawaii team are not coming. Stay tuned until regisration is finished tomirrow.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » 08 Mar 2008, 16:20

Why are David and Mike going home? They would be favorites in their weight classes. Is it the lack of funding? USAB used to help pay the travel and housing costs for the regional teams. Now the LBC's are given the burden to try and help out. The GG franchises all send teams to the NGG and that is part of what they are required to do. Maybe the LBC's need to start making more money or get money from USAB. USAB needs to keep getting sponsors so they can help fund amateur boxing.

debc · Post by **debc** » 08 Mar 2008, 16:27

Why are David and Mike going home?

David came home this morning because he did not want to do the championships again. He will go back beginning of April to work with the team. Last I heard is that Mike had to get his hand taken care of.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 09 Mar 2008, 01:08

Ok, I have some bouts here, mainly from the WYMONDAK region with one exception:

Vincent Montoya-Guy Robb Jr
Duran Caferro-Davontay Allen
Ryan Soft-Jarrod robinson
Wesley Padilla-Errol Spence
Andre Penn-Jesse Hart
Adam Axelson-Andrew Hernandez
Thomas Williams (East Central)-Jerry Martin
Theron Papas-Darlington Agha

And for the ladies:

114:
Amy Sowers-Keisher McCleod
Sacred Downing-Nicole Pasillas

189:
Angela Sperry-Whoever the PAL champion was.

boxmel · Post by **boxmel** » 09 Mar 2008, 02:40

David told me he had a cold and was going home to rest before the PR duAZl. Mike has to have surgery on his hand - some kind of bone problem that will also entail rehab. He'll go pro ariund the end of the year.

Kolya - if you'r in touch with Amy, make3 sure she meets me this week!!!!

the_one · Post by **the_one** » 09 Mar 2008, 13:21

How about someone whose first or last name starts with a "C" or has the last name of a former world champion.

hey dennis dont think that craig lewis is gonna win just cause he beat ur son at regionals!!! we'll see wat happens!!!

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 09 Mar 2008, 23:23

Well, one of my boys won and one lost. So goes boxing I guess, someone has to lose. Congrats to all the winners from today. Some of them I was sadly expecting and some I was surprised at.

squarering · Post by **squarering** » 09 Mar 2008, 23:44

Dennis, Keep an Iey on Manny(Emanual) Taylor. Lots of experience and has the tools to get the job done. His brother was right there knocking on the door but lost interest and had some bad distractions. Well over 200 bouts.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 10 Mar 2008, 00:01

squarering wrote:Dennis, Keep an Iey on Manny(Emanual) Taylor. Lots of experience and has the tools to get the job done. His brother was right there knocking on the door but lost interest and had some bad distractions. Well over 200 bouts.

Indeed, Manny is a hell of a fighter. Everyone back home talked about how good he is.

actionfan · Post by **actionfan** » 10 Mar 2008, 00:59

Here's some news: Shabazz is no longer in the Future Stars tournament.

boxmel · Post by **boxmel** » 10 Mar 2008, 01:42

Thanks for the breaking news - why? He is scheduled to compete tomorrow aftternoon.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » 10 Mar 2008, 01:58

Shabazz was scheduled to box my friend Thomas Williams tomorrow-if he's out, that should give TW a walkover and get him into the quaterfinals I believe. Great news for him.