The finals of the Armed Forces Boxing Championships will be held today, Friday, February 3, 2012 starting at 6 p.m. at the Paige Fieldhouse, Building 1110, on Camp Pendleton’s Mainside. Not only are these bouts important within the four branches of the Military, they have major ramifications in the selection process for this year’s selection of the members of USA Boxing Team to represent the U. S. at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.
You would think a ticket to the finals of such an event would cost a ton of money but it’s FREE, open to all active duty, dependents, DoD, and their guests. With this being said, seating will be limited to a first come, first serve basis.
In the competition held thus far, seven bouts on Tuesday and eight bouts on Wednesday, the Army secured five wins, the Marine Corps four, while the Navy and Air Force have three.
In a fight that demonstrates just how strong these inter-service rivalries are, the US Army’s gold medalist and Olympic hopeful Sgt. Kenneth Blackwell defended his championship against the Navy’s 2011 silver medalist HN Brandon Wicker by the thinnest of margins, 13-11.
The complete results from Tuesday:
123 pound Featherweight Class
The U.S. Air Forces’ AIC Kenneth DeJesus Cruz defeated the U. S. Marine Corps’ Lance Corporal Jesus Toro, 32-17.
141 pound Welterweight Class
The USAF’s SRA Adan Hassan defeated the Navy’s OS2 Gary Philpot, 23-3.
141 pound Welterweight Class
The Marine Corps’ Sgt. Jamal Herring not only defeated the the very tough United States Army’s PFC Maximino Ramos, 22-3, he surprised everyone by knocking him off his feet.
165 pound Super Middleweight Class
The Marine Corps’ Lance Corporal Felix Magallanez defeated the Air Force’s SRA Daniel Logan, 14-10.
165 pound Super Middleweight Class
The Army’s PV2 Marquis Moore defeated the Navy’s ABHAN Daniel Silva, 31-17.
201 pound Heavyweight Class
The Air Force’s SRA Kent Brinson defeated Marine Corps Corporal Darnell Price, 4-3.
201 pound Heavyweight Class
The Army’s Sgt. Charles Blackwell defeated the Navy’s HN Brandon Wicker, 13-11.
Wednesday’s results (8 matches)
132 pound Lightweight Class
The Army’s Sgt Toribio Ramirez, the 2011 defending champion, defeated the Air Forces’ AIC Dustin Southichack.
Ramirez capitalized big time with straight lefts to the head and was far and away the more active boxer countering well with lefts to the midsection.
132 pound Lightweight Class
The Marine Corps’ Tommy Roque handled Seabee B4CN DeAngelo Davies who at times appeared ready to take his head off. He had the attitude, but lacked the skills to trade blows with the more experienced Roque who ended up giving him a boxing lesson.
When the bell sounded to end round one, Davies, still very much frustrated, hit Roque after the bell and Roque reciprocated in kind.
The end for Davies came in the second round after the referee issued him one eight count after another before halting the bout.
152 pound Super Welterweight Class
This had to be the most thrilling bout of the night. The Army’s Specialist Sidney Williams, with his husky build, bigger arms and legs and 2009 Armed Forces champion, tried early to intimidate the Marine Corps’ Lance Corporal Johnathan Steel with powerful shots to the head. To his credit, Steel stood his ground and after a while started landing some nice counters.
The battle went back and forth until Steel landed a few flush shots to Williams’ head and as a consequence had him in trouble. The referee stepped in and issued Williams an eight count. Moments later he issued a second, followed by a third. After the third eight count, you’re automatically disqualified.
After the match, one the show’s announcers stepped forward to ask Steel about his amazing comeback in the fight. “Where did you get the inspiration? What happened between rounds one and two to get you so fire up?
Steel answered, “He winked at me. That reminded me of all the trash talking he did prior to the fight.”
112 pound Female Super Flyweight Class
This one featured Vanessa Guzman a civilian from the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista going up against Rhonda McGee of the Navy who is stationed at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Air Station, Cuba.
Instead of staying small and working the body, the much shorter Guzman tried her best to go up top and stood toe to toe with her opponent. McGee, with the longer reach and straighter punches, simply outworked Guzman.
By the second round, Guzman had been issued an eight count and was risking everything while trying in vain to land that one big overhand right.
For whatever reason, the match went into a fourth round and early on, the referee called out “stop,” then stepped in between the boxers to issue Guzman another eight count. At this point, McGee landed a hard punch to Guzman’s face. Instead of penalizing McGee for the punch, the referee called for a stoppage. ???? Guzman protested, but it did no good.
178 pound Cruiserweight Class
In the next bout, Army Specialist Steven Nelson defeated Tech Sergeant Thomas Jacobs of the Air Force by staying compact like a tank, the very strategy Guzman needed to use. Throughout the bout, he was much busier and landed the crisper punches to get the victory.
141 pound Welterweight Class
In this one PFC Maximino Ramos of the Army took apart OS2 Gary Philpot, a Navy southpaw. This was a clear mismatch as Ramos rarely missed and the referee was constantly interrupting the action to issue eight counts.
165 pound Super Middleweight Class
In the super middleweight class, SRA Daniel Logan of the Air Force faced ABHAN Daniel Silva of the Navy. Throughout this match, Silva appeared to be in complete control.
Two of his supporters in the crowd had people chuckling when one yelled, “One, two, three, Danny!”
The gal beside him agreed and started shouting, “One, two, three, Danny!”
A gent to their left, unaware they were referring to his need to throw combinations, added, “More than three Danny.”
201 pound Heavyweight Class
The final bout of the evening featured CPL Darnell Price of the Marine Corps boxing team going up against HN Brandon Wicker of the Navy.
In this one, Wicker got lucky. Getting the nod over Price will remain a mystery and of course drew the ire of the boo-birds in the audience. Twice along the way he simply stopped throwing punches. Meanwhile, Price looked impressive, but he too slowed up and tried to put the bout in cruise control.
In round two, Wicker made Price pay for his lolly-gagging and landed a solid left followed by a right cross.
After getting surprised late in the second round, Price got back to impressing the boxing fans in the third, but it appears, he didn’t do enough to impress the judges.
Comments