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The tournament, which features both male and female amateur boxers ages 18 and up from across Southern California, will serve as a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympics in France.
“Golden Gloves is one of the most prestigious amateur boxing in the sport of amateur boxing,” said Fausto De La Torre, Pasadena recreation specialist and “king of the ring” with the Villa-Parke Community Center’s popular boxing program.
“It has paved the wave for many mini Olympians. And as well as mini-world champions. It’s a stepping stone for the Olympics, and it’s a stepping stone for boxers that want to pursue a professional career,” added De La Torre.
Four females and four males from the Villa-Parke boxing program will be competing at the Golden Gloves tournament from Feb. 23 through Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.
De La Torre said they underwent rigorous training for over 2 months.
“We have had a 10-week training camp, which consists of road work which includes conditioning, a lot of sparring and a lot of one-on-one training inside the gym.”
He pointed out that training for Olympic boxing is different from training for professional boxing.
The goal of olympic boxing, he said, is not to hurt your opponent but to “outsmart your opponent.”
“It’s how many blows I can score. They don’t have to be hard blows. There’s rarely anyone that gets hurt. It’s how many times, how many blows I could score before you score.”
According to De La Torre, the winners of the single-elimination tournament in each weight class will advance to the state finals in March and winners from that tournament will advance to the National Golden Gloves Championship.
“This is an advancing tournament. And we start here with Southern California and then we go to Northern and Central, which are the state finals.”
“So, this is our regional tournament here in Southern California, which is the LA area. But we are getting people from Oxnard, Santa Maria, San Diego. So, various people here in the LA area – the LA county, San Bernardino County, Ventura County. And then we go up north for the state finals in March. Then the winners at state finals in March [will advance] to the Nationals in Philadelphia.”
In 2017 and 2018, students under Dela Torre’s wing also joined the Golden Gloves tournament.
The tournament, which will happen from Feb. 23 through Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. is open to the public. A $20 donation should be paid at the door.
For more information about the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and its programs, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/parks-and-rec or call (626) 744-6530.
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