Day 2 USA Amateur Boxing’s Jr Olympics Regional competition

Early Sunday morning on May 22, 2016, the loyal crew of the Bound Boxing Academy on Palomar Street in Chula Vista were scurrying about their gym setting up for Day 2 of the Western Regional tournament. With 22 bouts decided on Day 1, and only six bouts being contested on Day 2, this would certainly be a walk in the park.

Bout #1: To start things off, it was Steven Navarro of Team Garcia Boxing, South Central Los Angeles, Calif., going up against Robert Meriwether III representing Las Vegas, Nevada’s LBC 49 in the 70 pound, 11/12-year-old division. As he did on Saturday, Navarro was the busier and slicker of the two and won easily on all three scorecards to earn a unanimous decision victory.

After his victory over Robert Meriwether III (l), great things are expected of Steven Navarro (r) as he moves on to the USA National Tournament in Dallas, Texas.

In Bout #2, it was Jan Carlo Meza of the host gym, the Bound Boxing Academy, Chula Vista, Calif. going up against Akeem Cheatham (54-11) representing the KO Kings & Queens Boxing Club of Las Vegas, Nevada in the 75 pound, 12-year-old division.

In round one, both boxers went full bore with Plan A, exerting every ounce of energy to establish who was the stronger of the two. As they settled into round two, it was clear Meza preferred to slow things down and box while Cheatham stayed focused on going full bore to pulverize his opponent. By round three, it was clear Cheatham held the upper hand and was outscoring his opponent to secure the unanimous decision victory.

At the conclusion of Bout #2, we see Akeem Cheatham (right) and Jan Carlo Meza (left) awaiting the judges’ decision.

Despite the unanimous decision loss, Jan Carlos Meza (l) remained in good spirits, knowing that he had been beaten by one of the best, Akeem Cheatham (r).

Bout #3 featured Art Barrera of Longbeach, Calif. going up against Emiliano “Savage” Vargas (18-3) of the Feroz Fight Factory, Las Vegas, Nevada in the 85 pound, 12-year-old division. In the end, it was Vargas winning by a split decision.

What a scrap this turned out to be. Art Barrera (red trunks) battling Emiliano “Savage” Vargas, the son of boxing legend, Fernando “El Feroz” Vargas.

After their grueling battle, Art Barrera (l) and Emiliano Vargas (r) are joined by Emiliano’s proud coach and father, Fernando Vargas.

Bout #4 featured Amed Medina (26 bouts) of the Azteca Boxing Club, Indio, Calif. facing Daniel Morales of the Bomber Squad Academy, El Cajon, Calif. in the 85 pound, 14-year-old category.

At the close of Bout #4, we see referee Gerald Cheatham standing between Amed Medina (l) and Daniel Morales (r) who are obviously wishing and a hoping for the victory in their close, well-fought match which ended in a split decision.

At the conclusion of Bout #4, the victorious Amed Medina (r) and Daniel Morales (l) pose for one last photo.

Bout #5 was a rematch between two of the top amateurs in the country. It featured Fernando Diaz (47-4) of the Richard Steele Boxing Club, Las Vegas, Nevada going up against “The Mexican” Julian Esteban Rojas of the Bound Boxing Academy, Chula Vista, Calif. in the 14-year-old, 95-pound category.

This is what is known as trading punches. In round one of Bout #5, Fernando Diaz (l) is shown landing a solid left hook to the chin of “The Mexican” Julian Esteban Rojas. At the same time, Rojas is landing a hard left hook to the side of Fernando Diaz’s head.

At the conclusion of their hard fought battle, Fernando Diaz (l) and Julian Rojas (r) await the judges’ decision. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Diaz.

The victorious Fernando Diaz (r) and Julian Rojas (l) pose for one last photo. With this win Diaz moves on to Dallas where he is likely to win another National Championship. Presently, he is in the double digits as far as National Championships.

In the final bout of the day, Bout #6, it was Jose Silva Ayala (50-7) of the Battle Born Boxing Club, Reno, Nevada going up against Alfred Vargas (28 bouts) of the Bomber Squad Academy, El Cajon, Calif. in the 101 pound/15-year-old division. On the previous day, Vargas had used this non-aesthetically pleasing strategy of hitting and then holding. Normally, the prevention of its use is left up to the presiding referee. If the head of officials feels the referee is being negligent, he or she can advise the referee to either stop it or issue a point deduction. On Sunday, the referee allowed Vargas to do the same thing he did on Saturday, hit his opponent and then smother or grab his opponent’s arms. In his split decision win over Raymond Otanez on Saturday, Vargas must have felt quite confident in this strategy. Sure enough, Vargas tried the same tactic on Sunday, but with an opposite result. We all saw Jose Silva Ayala land fewer punches than Vargas who was continually holding throughout the match. Question: Was this matter a major concern and was it discussed between the officials overnight? If so, then prior to Sunday’s bout, both Vargas and Ayala should have been advised.

At the conclusion of Bout #6, we see the referee raising the arm of the victorious Jose Silva Ayala the Nevada LBC 49 representative.

What worked one day, had no relevance on what happened on the following day. At the conclusion of Bout #6, it was Jose Silva Ayala (l) winning a unanimous decision victory over the inconsolable Alfred Vargas.

It appears the entertainment never stops at the Bound Boxing Academy. If you left early you missed the gymnastic team doing their death-defying flips and tumbles.

“Great show and by the way, things go better with CocaCola or a lollipop made with real chocolate from the Willy Wonka Chocolate factory.”