2012 Armed Forces Boxing Finals Friday
Marine Corporal Tommy Roque has his arm raised in victory after defeating B4CN Angelo Davies of the Navy on Wednesday evening. Photo: Jim Wyatt
The finals of the Armed Forces Boxing Championships will be held 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 USA Boxing Team which will head to London, England for the 2012 Olympic Games.
You would think a ticket to the finals of such an event would cost a ton of money but it’s FREE and 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 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, on Tuesday, the US Army’s gold medalist and Olympic hopeful Sgt. Kenneth Blackwell defended his 2011 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 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)
Toribio Ramirez (R) has his arm raised in victory after defeating Dustin Southichack (L) in Bout #1. (L). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #1 – in the 132 pound Lightweight classification
The Army’s Sgt Toribio Ramirez, the 2011 defending champion, took care of business with Air Forces’ AIC Dustin Southichack.
Ramirez, who capitalized big time with the straight lefts to the head, was far and away the more active boxer and countered well with devastating lefts to the midsection.
Marine Cpl Tommy Roque (L) has his arm raised in victory after defeating the very game B4CN De Angelo Davies of the Navy’s Boxing Team. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #2 – in the 132 pound Lightweight classification
The Marine Corps’ Tommy Roque was able to handle Seabee B4CN DeAngelo Davies who at times appeared he was 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.
The end for Davies came in the second round after the referee issued him one eight count after another before halting the bout.
Representing the Marine Corps, Lance Corporal Johnathan Steel (L) defeated Sidney Williams (R) of the Army Boxing Team on Wednesday evening in Bout #3 on the second day of competition for the 2012 Armed Forces Boxing Championships held at Camp Pendleton, Ca. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #3 – in the 152 pound Super Welterweight class
This had to be the most thrilling bout of the night. The Army’s Spc Sidney Williams, with his husky build, bigger arms and legs, the 2009 Armed Forces champion, tried early to intimidate the Marine Corps’ Lance Corporal Johnathan Steel with his powerful blows to the head. To his credit, Steel stood his ground and after a while started landing some nice counters.
The raging battle went back and forth until Steel landed a few flush shots to Williams’ head and as a consequence, he was in trouble. The referee stepped in and issued Williams an eight count. Moments later, he was issuing a second, followed by a third. After the third eight, 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 round one and round two to get you so fire up?
Steel answered, “He winked at me. It reminded me of all the trash talking he was doing just prior to the fight.”
Rhonda McGee (L) the eventual winner, and Vanessa Guzman (R) await the judges decision for Bout #4. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #4 – in the 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 over 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 a standing 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,” and then stepped forward 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 the stoppage. ???? Guzman protested, but it did no good.
Bout #5 winner Steven Nelson ® has his arm raised after defeating Thomas Jacobs (l). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #5 – in the 178 pound Cruiserweight class
In the next bout, Army Spc Steven Nelson defeated TSgt Thomas Jacobs of the Air Force by staying small and compact like a tank, the very strategy Guzman needed to follow. Throughout the bout, he was busier and landed the crisper punches to get the victory.
On Wednesday evening, PFC Maximino Ramos (R) of the Army prepares to have his arm raised in victory after defeating OS2 Gary Philpot (L) of the Navy Boxing Team in Bout #6. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #6 – in the 141 pound Welterweight class
In this one PFC Maximino Ramos of the Army’s Boxing Team took apart OS2 Gary Philpot, a southpaw from the Navy’s boxing team. This was a clear mismatch as Ramos rarely missed his target and the referee was constantly interrupting the action to issue another eight count.
After their hotly contested match in Bout #7, the referee (C) has the two boxers, SRA Daniel Logan (R) of the Air Force Boxing Team and ABHAN Daniel Silva of the Navy Boxing Team touch fists. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #7 – in the 165 pound Super Middleweight Class
In the super middleweight division, SRA Daniel Logan of the Air Force faced ABHAN Daniel Silva of the Navy. Throughout this match, Silva, a gifted boxer with power in each hand, appeared to be in complete control throughout.
Two of his faithful supporters had observers chuckling when one yelled, “One, two, three, Danny!”
The gal beside him showed her support plus boxing savvy by shouting the same, “One, two, three, Danny!”
A gent to their left, unaware they were referring to his need to throw combinations, added, “More than three Danny.”
Completely spent from their grueling battle in Bout #8, HN Brandon Wicker (L) of the Navy Boxing Team looks over at his opponent, Corporal Darnell Price (right) of the U. S. Marine Corps Boxing Team. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #8 – in the 201 pound Heavyweight class
The final bout of the evening had CPL Darnell Price of the Marine Corps going up against the shorter, HN Brandon Wicker of the Navy.
In this one, Wicker got the nod over Price which was a bit of a mystery and drew the ire of the boo-birds in the audience. Twice along the way Wicker simply stopped throwing punches.
Meanwhile, Price, who looked impressive most of the time times, slowed down himself and tried to put the fight in cruise control. In round two, Wicker made him pay for his lolly-gagging and landed a solid left hook followed by a right cross.
After getting burnt in that second round, Price got back on his horse to impress the fans but apparently not enough for the finicky judges.
