Students that compete in the Olympic style-boxing event are given membership to a Southside boxing gym.
By J. Del Valle
jdelvalle1@alamo.student.com
Sixteen students took the stage to compete in the Olypmic style-boxing event hosted by the office of student life Oct. 11 in the mall.
About 300 students signed up for the four-week training and 60 students showed up for practice.
Focus, discipline and defense are the three components Ramos seeks when choosing students to compete in the Olympic style-boxing event.
Ramos has been coaching the boxing team at this college for six years.
“I try to make it fun and competitive,” Ramos said.
The workouts consist of cardio, polymetric workouts and defense, such as blocking and bobbing.
“The first week of training, I tell the students it’s going to be boring teaching the students their boxing stance,” Ramos said.
“I was raised around boxing. My older brother was a boxer, and I would go to the gym with him and my dad,” Ramos said.
“My first boxing match was at eight years old, and I went pro at 26 years old,” Ramos said. “Did two years as professional, and, at 28 years old, I stopped competing.”
The boxing program is an after-school activity for students.
The program gets bigger every year, Ramos said.
“The last six years I’ve been coaching this program, I have had five golden gloves champions who are all females,” Ramos said.
For the fighters who competed in the Olympic style-boxing and still want to pursue fighting after the boxing program, they can work out at Ramos Boxing Gym at no charge.
The boxing program uniforms have been used for seven years. “We try to get new uniforms, but they cut the budget every year,” Ramos said.
Students who participate in the boxing program fundraise throughout the year by selling sausage wraps, chips or drinks. The funds they raise go toward sweaters and T-shirts for students who compete in the event, or the funds are spent on team-bonding meals.
Business administration sophomore Adelita Vecera is a first-year participant in the boxing event.
“The program taught me the rules of boxing because I used to do kick-boxing.” Vecera said. “The sport is similar but the rules are different.”
This year’s event had one female bout and the remaining seven were males.
“When sparring the males, they were a bit nervous cause they were scared I was going to get hurt from their punches or I was to rough with them,” Vecera said. “I told them it’s boxing, I’m going to get hit.”
Biology pre-nursing freshman Carlos Lopez is a first-year student participating in the boxing event.
“I wanted to try something new,” Lopez said. “I also wanted discipline, and self-reaching goals is the reason why I joined the boxing program this semester.”
Each fighter had three rounds with one minute of fighting in the ring.
The cost to host the event totaled $4,050 dollars: $900 for the boxing ring rental, $350 for the on-site doctor, $1,600 for the sanctioned fight, and $1,200 for registration of the 16 fighters at $75 each.
For more information on the boxing program, call student life at 210-486-0125.
Olympic-Style Boxing: Oct. 11, 2017
Justin Tipton, electrical engineering and plasma physics sophomore, jabs engineering sophomore Francisco Cardona in his headgear Oct. 11 during the 14th annual Olympic-Style Boxing event in the mall. Tipton won the match. This was the first time either had boxed at this college. The office of student life hosted the event, which according to the numbers from Carrie Hernandez, senior student success specialist, the event cost $4,050. Practices are 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday in the craft room of Loftin, but to participate, students must be enrolled in at least six hours with a 2.0 GPA. Brianna Rodrigue
