By Julie Goldsticker of USA Boxing
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – The first-ever Junior World Team Open will kick off tonight at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nev. The junior division tournament will select the young male boxers who will represent the United States this summer at the 2013 AIBA Junior Men’s World Championships. The first-time event provides valuable competition experience for the nation’s 15 and 16-year-old athletes as the move through the developmental pipeline.
Tuesday’s competition will feature action in the male pinweight (101 lbs), male light flyweight (106 lbs), male bantamweight (119 lbs), and male light middleweight (154 lbs) divisions. Tonight’s action will also showcase the championship bout in the women’s featherweight division.
The male light bantamweight (114 lbs), male bantamweight (119 lbs), and male featherweight (125 lbs) boxers will compete on Wednesday, and Thursday will feature competition in all of the male weight classes with the exception of the middleweight (165 lbs) and heavyweight (176+ lbs) classes.
All of the male final round bouts will take place on Friday at the Sierra Grand Resort with the winners earning berths on the Junior World Championships team. Each session will begin nightly at 6 p.m.
The Junior World Team Open will be streamed live via Watch Me Sports and can be viewed on the USA Boxing website at teamusa.org/usa-boxing/watch-live. The full tournament stream can be purchased for only $14.95 online.
The full list of tournament brackets will be available later today on the USA Boxing website, www.usaboxing.org.
Tuesday Bout Sheet
101 lbs/male: Jose Cora, Abilene, Texas vs Shon Mondragon, Colorado
106 lbs/male: Izaiah Bautista, Hercules, Calif., vs. Kevin Montano, Concord, Calif.
106 lbs/male: Freudis Rojas, Nevada vs. Kristopher Alcos, Lihue, Hawaii
106 lbs/male: Daniel Gonzalez, Moreno Valley, Calif., vs. Isaac Perez, Albuquerque, N.M.
106 lbs/male: Adrian Servin, Phoenix, Ariz. vs. Saul Sanchez, N. Hollywood, Calif.
119 lbs/male: Adolfo Alanis, Edinburg, Texas vs. Enrique Manrajos, Ontario, Ore.
119 lbs/male: Andrew Weaver, Zanesville, Ohio vs. Alex Rodriguez, Sparks, Nev.
119 lbs/male: Isidro Ochoa, Compton, Calif., vs. Troy Isley, Alexandria, Va.
154 lbs/male: Edgar Berlanga, Brooklyn, N.Y. vs. Ferdinand Kerobyan, California
125 lbs/female championship bout: JaJaira Gonzalez, Glendora, Calif., vs. Anna Crutchfield, Travelers Rest, S.C.