March 5, 2004
Despite fierce blows, boxers remain shipmates
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by JOSN Matt Jarvis
Trident Staff Writer
http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/trident/9_09/sports/27870-1.html
Brutal blows to the face and bloodied noses and lips are all part of a day's work inside the boxing ring. Competition is fierce and bruises are likely to appear everywhere, but what you won't find during brigade bouts are bruised spirits. Win or lose, boxers competed with fierce intensity and determination to win during the 63rd Brigade Championship Feb. 27, yet remained friends after the bell ended the last match of the evening.
"Fighting your friends is really difficult," said boxer Jeremy Biggs. "Being on the same team, you train together, practice together and really do everything with one another. Fighting is hard when it comes down to facing off with your buddy in the ring, but we have fun doing it."
In the 132-pound match-up, Biggs recorded a win by decision over Alex Kendris after a hard fought three rounds.
The crowd's apparent favorite match came later in the evening, when Amir Shareef took his corner opposite Chris Lonero, both weighing in at 175 pounds. The decision came down to the last punch, said Coach Jim McNally. "Lonero definitely rose to the occasion and boxed a great bout, fighting like a champ. I referee and judge on a national level and there has been many times at a championship fight where whoever lands the last punch won the bout. That is how it should be when you have two great boxers in the ring, and we saw a lot of that during the matches."
Spectators went crazy in the stands during this fight. McNally said Shareef won the first round and Lonero came back to win the second round. The third round went back and forth, with Shareef coming away with the win in a close call.
"Lonero had a really big crowd of fans that saw the potential upset happening," McNally said, "so everyone started running with the underdog because they saw him fighting for his life. He is a tough kid and he has no reason to be ashamed. He gave a great effort against a guy who is petty intimidating in the ring."
Another close fight was the championship's historic first women's bout. Maia Molina-Schaefer won by decision in a nail-biter against Amber Coleman. "It didn't really matter to me that much if I won or not," said Schaefer. "I just wanted to walk away from the fight knowing that I put everything I had into the match. I wanted everyone in the stands to be able to walk away from our fight and say, 'Wow, those girls know how to box.'"
"Coleman won the first round, Schaefer won the second round and the third round was a 'flip a coin' round," said McNally. "Schaefer landed one or two cleaner blows then Coleman did and that is all it takes when boxing. But it was an extremely close fight."
All the bouts were decided at the end of three rounds. In the 125-pound weight class Will Recalde brought everything he had against now four-time brigade champ A.J. Mallo. "Mallo has taught me almost everything I know; he brings a lot of experience to the ring and I look up to him," said Recalde. "At first I had a little bit of fear because I was thinking 'Oh man, I have to fight A.J., who is one of the greatest boxers on the team.' I just told myself that if I want to be the best, I am going to have to learn from the best so I might as well fight him."
Mallo walked away from the ring with the Tony Rubino trophy, awarded to four-time brigade champions. Mallo is now the 11th four-time champ in the 63 year history of the fight night.
At 119 pounds, Nick Tawil in the blue corner pummeled Jonathan Liang; in the 147-pound bracket, B.J. Richardson pounded Josh Strubeck. Weighing in at 156 pounds, Nick Carter got the best of Alejandro Loya, and at 185 pounds, David Rainey battered Dan Martinez.
In the 139 weight class, Fernando Garcia trounced Adrian Evangelista in another close fight of the night. "It was a three-two split decision," said McNally. "These two were sparring each other all week. They have probably sparred one another a hundred times before so they know each other's style very well."
"I think that is what made the fight so good is that we knew each others' techniques," said Garcia. "We have been sparring each other all year so when I went out there I just had to put it in my mind that this was just another spar and that kind of helped me out a little bit."
Throughout the night McNally said everyone fought for the win. "All the brawls were good bouts. I couldn't ask for anything more out of my boxers. Everyone in the ring gave more than a 100 percent effort. I don't think there is one person who fought in the championship that could say they left something in the ring or that they should have given it more in the third round. Everyone fought their hearts out."
"You tell yourself before the fight it doesn't matter that you're fighting a friend," said boxer Kevin O'Donnell. "Then when you get in the ring and look across at your opponent, you don't see someone you want to punch in the face. You see someone whom you've trained with all year and respect as a boxer."
Hence, some matches may begin rather tentatively, he said, but that hesitancy fades when the first punch is thrown.
"Once that happens, you don't view him as a friend any more. He is your opponent. But at the end of a round I am always thinking about how well he did or how hard he busted my chops."
O'Donnell beat Josh Sanborn in the 165 pound bout. Finishing off the night with the 195-pound match, Greg Watten took it right to opponent Dale Crowner.
"In brigade boxing nobody backs down. You didn't see one person throughout the entire night give up," said McNally. "They all gave it everything they had because each person wanted to win as much as his or her opponent did. A lot of youngsters stepped it up a notch and rose to the challenge."
The winners of the Brigade Championships will go on to fight in the Regional Championships March 18-19 at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Winners of the regional bouts will then advance to the national championships April 1-3 at the University of Nevada in Reno.