One To Watch #4 Ray Ximenez

Our next featured boxer in One To Watch comes from the Lone Star state and home of the team I love to hate, those Dallas Cowboys (had to do it, it’s Redskins-Dallas Week). However, I do love to watch this boxer in action. I’ve only been able to see 16-year-old Ray Ximenez live just recently, but I have started to make sure that I add his bouts to my collection. He has a promising future in front of him. I first saw Ray two years ago as a 14-year-old sparring future 2008 Olympian and fellow Texan Luis Yanez and I didn't forget the name. You can do the math on their ages, but like I said, I didn't forget the name. Ray is now the 2007 National Silver Gloves Champion, 2007 National PAL Champion, 2009 National PAL Champion, 2009 National Silver Gloves Champion, 2009 National JO Champion and most recently lost a rubber match to 2009 National PAL Champion to the inaugural One To Watch featured boxer Tramaine Williams.

Ray is a monster in the ring with a very methodical and deliberate boxing style—workmanlike. Boxing out of the Dallas PAL under the watchful eye of Ray Ximenez Sr., Ray has been in the ring with great boxers and received much needed international experience in this past May at the AIBA World Junior Championship in Yerevan, Armenia. He faced the best 21 Junior boxers in the World. Ximenez won 2 bouts before losing in the semifinals—but gained invaluable international experience, which is a must for Olympic hopefuls. My collection isn’t that big on Ray, but I’m sure I’ll see plenty of him over the next few years as he gets gets closer to earning a spot on the 2012 US Olympic Team and the XXX Olympiad.

One To Watch #3 - Kevin Rivers

The DMV’s (DC/Maryland/Virginia area, for those outside the area) own Kevin Rivers, who trains out of the Headbangers gym in Southeast DC, is featured today in the third installment of One To Watch. Kevin may have just started to come into his own on the national and international scene, but in the DC area we’ve known about him for years. He has won the Ringside World Championship, National PAL Tournament and Jr. Golden Gloves—being named Outstanding Boxer of the tournament.

Kevin has competed and won in virtually every major amateur boxing tournament there is: National Silver Gloves, National Golden Gloves, US Future Stars, Under 19 National Championships, AIBA Youth World Championship, World Championships, US Nationals and even most recently competing in Italy against the Italian National Team, where he boxed to a draw.

Currently, Kevin is the #1 125lbs boxer in the United States after winning the US National Championships in Denver, Colorado this past June. With his hopes set on the 2012 Olympics, you will hear this name a lot of the next few years on the amateur boxing scene. Enjoy these 15 bouts going back to 2001 when Kevin was 11 years old.

One To Watch #2 - Zeddie Adams

In this installment of One To Watch, we feature Zeddie Adams from Cleveland, Ohio. Training out of the Salvation Army Boxing Academy (S.A.B.A.), the same gym that produced 2009 US Olympian Raynell Williams, the 17-year-old Adams has a long list of accomplishments since entering the sport in 2001. He won the National Silver Gloves Tournament in 2006 and 2008 as well as the 2006 Junior Golden Gloves. In 2007 and 2008 Adams was the #1 ranked 138lbs. JO boxer in the United States (15 and 16-year-olds) after winning consecutive National Junior Olympic titles. In 2007 as part of the US Team he traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan and lost a close decision, but gained his first international experience.

2009 marked Adams entry into the Open Class Division (ages 17 – 34 years old) as he advanced through local and regional brackets all the way to the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions . There, Adams advanced to the quarterfinals before losing. Adams also advanced through three rounds at the 2009 US Nationals before losing in the fourth round to Jose Benavidez, who was one month removed from winning the 2009 National Golden Gloves Championship. Not bad company at all. Below are some of the bouts that I’ve recorded and collected featuring this 2012 Olympic hopeful. Be sure to check out the bouts vs. Strayhorn and NYC’s Golden Glove Champion Pedro Sosa in the playlist.

One To Watch #1 Tramaine "Midget" Williams

This is the first of a series that I plan on doing regularly on this blog site and my first attempt at editorial content, but that’s what blogs are for, right? In the first installment of One To Watch, I have some videos featuring New Haven, Connecticut’s own Tramaine “Midget” Williams, the 16-year-old recently-crowned 2009 National PAL 114lbs. division champion. He boxes out of Ring One Boxing under Brian Clark.

I think I first met Midget at the Ringside World Championships about 5 years ago. He was pointed out to me by my son’s boxing coach, who talked him up as one of the best around. It was only seconds into his first bout that I understood what the buzz was about. A slick and graceful boxer at such a young age is great to watch and after that first tournament, I made sure that if Midget was boxing, I was watching and more importantly recording—and eventually collecting. So, here are some of the bouts that I have on this 9-time national champion, which include 4 from the National Silver Gloves.

For those that don’t know, the National Silver Gloves is the largest and most prestigious amateur tournament for boxers 10 to 15-years old. I say this because you have to win to get in, and stay in. The country is divided into 8 regions (see chart below in red) which all have local Silver Gloves Tournaments to determine the local champions who compete in the first leg. Champions from the local tournaments advance to the Regional Tournament and compete against other local champions to see who advances to the National Tournament to represent the region. At the National Tournament, held in Independence, Missouri at the beginning of February, all the Regional Champions for their age bracket and weight division meet to compete for the belt and title of National Silver Gloves Champion—and the #1 ranking in the US. There have been too many of these champions to name but I can tell you that 6 of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team members were former Silver Gloves Champions. However, winning multiple years puts you in elite company and Tramaine not only won multiple National Silver Gloves titles, but he won 4 consecutive years and was in the finals during the year he didn't win! If I remember correctly, there was one year that he qualified, but didn't attend. Below is a video playlist of some of the videos that I have collected and recorded of my first featured One To Watch Boxer, Tramaine “Midget” Williams.

(Click on the rectangular icon to the right of the play button on the bottom menue to select on of the 12 videos)





Region 1- Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Conneticut, New York, New Jersey (8 states)
Region 2-Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky (5 states)
Region 3-West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland/D.C./Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama (10 states)
Region 4-Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (4 states)
Region 5-Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas (5 states)
Region 6-Oklahama, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee (6 states)
Region 7-Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington (5 states)
Region 8-California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico (6 states)

Gary Russell III vs. Manny Taylor (High Quality Option Available)

Fight of the evening (and maybe tournament) on the 2nd day of the Under-19 Championship from Kansas City, Missouri. GARY RUSSELL II IS IN THE RED CORNER. MANNY TAYLOR IS IN THE BLUE CORNER. This was one of the most entertaining amateur bouts that I've seen in a long time. It was great back and forth action from two future boxing stars.Click "Watch in High Quality" under the "Views" number under the movie window. Enjoy.

Every Boxer Must Start Somewhere Part 1

Here's a video of a young boxer, Zimmie, at age 7 during his first few weeks in the gym. I found this while searching some archived video and I wanted to put this up so that parents can see that every boxer has to start somewhere - keep that in mind when judging your son or daughter's progress. Don't get discourage and most importantly, don't pressure them to be Floyd Mayweather two months into training. It takes hours, weeks, months and years of training for a boxer to develop into a successful boxer. A boxer's progress depends on many factors, one of which is how much time they dedicate to the sport. So as you watch the various national champions and Olympians on this page, think about the dedication and time it took for them to get there. After 4 years of training, the same boxer in this video won the National Silver Gloves Tournament.