Collegiate Boxing Tournament at Santa Clara University

Dominated by the Air Force Academy

San Jose Ca. By:  Jeff Townsend, BASD Boxing and MMA Writer
Bayareasportsdrive.com
04-01-08
 

The NCBA Western Region Amateur College Boxing Championships was held over three days at Santa Clara University this past weekend.  The quarterfinals took place on Thursday, the Semi-finals on Friday and the Finals occurred on Saturday.   Six colleges, plus the United States Air Force Academy, participated in the tournament.  The colleges included:  University of San Francisco (USF), UC Berkeley (Cal), Santa Clara University (SCU), San Jose State University (SJSU), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). 

Even though amateur fights are only scheduled for three, two-minute rounds, this format required some of the fighters to fight on two consecutive nights.   A few fighters were lucky enough to only have to fight in the finals due to a lack of opponents in their weight class.  

The real stand-out of the tournament was the Air Force Academy (AFA) as a whole.   They are known for having very good boxing coaches and an intense training routine. Their fighters won eight out of the 11 divisions, broken down by weight class.  The two  divisions that AFA did not win, they took second place.  They did not fight in the 132 pound division.  That is near total domination.  The AFA fighters possessed the superior boxing skills and were clearly in great shape.   

One of the most skilled fighters of the tournament had to be Harvey White from the Air Force Academy.   White has an aggressive, effective style that makes him exciting to watch.  Fighting in the 125 pound division, he dominated Aaron Fung (Cal) in the semi-finals and scored a convincing win over Alejandro Cuadra (SJSU) in the finals.   

The winners of the final matches will compete at the National Championships which take place at the University of Nevada, Reno in mid-April. 

Here are the results, broken down by weight class:

112-lbs.: Dean Chuva (Air Force) decisioned Jason Morris (UNLV)

119-lbs.: Jesse Horton (Air Force) won via stoppage Ian Fletcher (Santa Clara)

125-lbs.: Harvey White (Air Force) decisioned Alejandro Cuadra (San Jose State)

132-lbs. David Schacter (UNR) decisioned Jerome Foster (UNLV)

139-lbs.: Brian Navin (Air Force) decisioned David Keegan (Cal)

147-lbs.: Thomas Gennaro (UNR) decisioned Nathan Liptak (Air Force)

156-lbs.: Daryn Nelson (Air Force) decisioned Ryan Kotey (UNR)

165-lbs.: Clifford Moore (Air Force) decisioned Alan Cheng (San Jose State)

175-lbs.: Kenny Dyer-Redner (UNR) decisioned Lucas Gagliardi (Air Force)

185-lbs.: Boyce Loomis (Air Force) won via stoppage Charles Blackwell (UNLV)

195-lbs.: Chris Johnson (Air Force) decisioned Karl Berta (Cal)

Click below for a link to a photo gallery from the fights.  Pictures taken by Jon Swenson from sharkspage.com.  http://sharkspage.com/galleries/2008_scu_boxing1/

Thanks to Shane Alborz, Vice President of the Santa Clara University Boxing Club, for providing the necessary information on the fights.