Road to Olympics for amateur boxers starts today at Civic Center
Published 6:30 pm Monday, December 9, 2019
America’s best amateur boxers will compete for spots on the USA Olympic Team at the Lake Charles Civic Center beginning today at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
The trials will feature 104 qualified elite boxers (aged 19-38) vying for a spot to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,
The event will be free to public, Monday-Friday, with an entrance fee for Saturday and Sunday’s sessions. The national championship tournament for boxers aged 8-18 will also be held throughout the week. Winners of the youth (ages 15-16) and junior (ages 17-18) age groups will qualify for the 2020 USA Boxing High Performance Team and have the opportunity to compete in international competitions next year.
Today’s action will begin at 4 p.m. The trials consist of 8-person, double-elimination tournaments in eight weight classes for men and five weight classes for women.
A pair of participants have Louisiana ties. Virginia Fuchs is a former LSU student while Michael Angeletti is a New Orleans native who moved to Houston after Hurricane Katrina. Both have represented the USA in international competition and are seeking their first trip to the Olympics. Fuchs won the 2016 Olympic Trials but did not advance past the final Olympic qualifying stage, the continental qualifying tournament.
Fuchs is captain of the national women’s team. She attended LSU to compete in cross country and took up boxing competitively after using the sport as a way to stay in shape while at LSU. She is a four-time national champion.
Angeletti, who stumbled into a boxing career after watching boxers train while awaiting a basketball practice, won the 2018 national championship in the flyweight (114 pounds class).
The trials will be the first of the final two stages for the selection of the 13 boxers that will represent USA Boxing and Team USA at next year’s upcoming international Olympic qualifying tournaments for a chance to qualify to Tokyo.
The National Championship finals for the junior and youth divisions will take place Saturday at 6 p.m., while the trials finals will be Sunday, Dec. 15, beginning at 3 p.m. at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino. A complete schedule can be seen above.
Tickets for the Saturday event are $20. Tickets for Sunday are $30. A package with tickets for both days are $40. Tickets can be purchased from axs.com or usaboxing.com.
Former LSU student Virginia Fuchs will be among boxers competing in the USA Boxing Olympic Team Trials and National Championships in Lake Charles. There are 13 Olympic weight classes, eight for men and five for women.
