The UCLA Boxing team traveled to Seattle Washington this past weekend to compete in the NCBA National Championship tournament. This club has developed at a fast pace over the last few years with the current coach (Tony Gonzalez) only taking over in September 2014. His coaching led UCLA Boxing to two Regional Champions in Reno a couple of weeks before Nationals, wich was the first Regional Champions in UCLA Boxing history!
Three fighters travelled North with Head Coach Tony Gonzalez, Elizabeth Pratt (132lbs), Vlad Panin (156lbs) and Carlos Morales (132lbs). The club was also very lucky to have one of UCLA's previous coaches Ramon Espada, who was voted in over the weekend as the Chair of the West Region for the NCBA. Although the current coach for USC, Ramon has been part of the UCLA Boxing Club for years and decided to help because USC did not have fighters at this year's tournament. While his presence in UCLA's corner may have been a little confusing for die hard UCLA fans (see photos!), it was invaluable and speaks to one of the best things I have experienced at the event, which was the community and love for the sweet science of Boxing. Ramon is a very well respected member of the collegiate boxing scene and when he started talking in-between bouts or at the banquet other coaches and fighters listened intently. With Ramon As the new chair of the West Region of NCBA, I can only see College Boxing on the West Coast progressing to becoming a highlight of the college sporting world.
The community surrounding College Boxing surprised me. The first thing I noticed was how many people knew and respected each other. Everything was all smiles right up until the competitors stepped into the ring with each other, and as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of round 3 and the match smiles, hugs and respect were abundant amongst all the teams. This respect and joy was also found in coaches cornering other teams fighters when their coach could not (because there were two rings going on this happened a couple of times). UCLA Head Coach Tony Gonzalez jumped in to help coaches from UC Davis, UC Berkeley and San Jose state throughout the tournament.
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At the quarter finals on Thursday April 7th, Vlad won his match easily getting the fastest win of the tournament via technical knockout in sub 30 seconds! Elizabeth got a good draw and received a bye into the semis due to her victory in the Regionals and strength of her overall record. Carlos had a tough match, and it could have gone either way. Unfortunately he was unable to move past the quarter finals. Both Elizabeth and Vlad had tough matches in the semis, but they were both successful, putting two UCLA fighters into the finals on Saturday. Â
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As the matches proceeded they got more emotional and tighter with regards to ability. Several fighters stood out to me as having an excellent grasp of the sweet science and they had the drive to use it to win a National Championship. Two of those fighters were also from the UC System (UC Davis), both Azreal Nickens (119lbs)  and Vicki Zhao (112lbs) were victorious in their bids to be National Champions and did it with style! One other fighter was possibly my favorite at the event, James Porter (147lbs) from University of Washington. He fought in what I considered a style similar to Muhammad Ali! Using great footwork to dodge punches, using the ropes and upper body and head movement so effectively that it seemed every time he swung his loose left hook from around his torso it connected cleanly with ease! As we got through to the finals and the higher weights I also saw some great fighters coming out of University of Nevada-Reno and from the Military Academies.
On Saturday Elizabeth fought first and was matched up against the same girl she fought in the Regionals final (Zasha Sepulveda from University of Washington). While this may have seemed like an advantage knowing that she already had beaten this girl Elizabeth stayed cool. She realized that Chris Mendez (Head coach of Washington) would be helping Zasha make the changes she needed to beat Elizabeth. And changes she made apparently, there was no stopping Zasha coming forward, her stamina was incredibly impressive, and the three rounds were without doubt a battle. In the end Elizabeth's skill in both moving, sticking and using her talent as a great boxer won out and for the first time in history UCLA has a National Boxing Champion!
Vlad fought next and was up against Johnny Wells from the Air Force. In talking with coaches and administrators from NCBA, I discovered that the armed forces are dominant in this sport and this is no surprise as combat is their vocation! Johnny came out very strong and while I personally felt Vlad was the superior boxer, the assertiveness and aggressiveness of the Air Force fighter won out the day. Vlad takes silver which is still a great achievement in the field of boxers in his weight class.
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Please find the time to go to the UCLA Boxing Team Facebook page and congratulate them on a great tournament and especially to Elizabeth for her great achievement. To watch some of the fights from this years Championship Tournament head to the UCLA Martial Arts Facebook page where they will be posted soon.
