Corrales, Lopez get ready for this weekend’s bouts
Hollister – Two young local boxers will vie for a state championship this weekend when the California Silver Gloves Championships take place Saturday and Sunday in Long Beach.
Tony Corrales, 15, and Nick Lopez, 13, both of the Bull Dog Boxing Gym in Hollister, will be competing along with the best boxers in the state for the right to advance to the regional championships in Norwalk and hopefully the national championships in Independence, Mo.
Corrales, a sophomore at San Benito High, will be competing in the state tournament for the third time and has his mind set on a state title.
“I’ve taken second place the last two times,” he said. “This time I’m hoping to go farther to regionals.”
Corrales has been fighting for three years and enjoys every aspect of the sport, particularly the adrenaline rush he gets in the ring.
Lopez, an 85-pound seventh grader at Maze Middle School, has three bouts under his belt and this weekend will mark his first major competition.
He feels he’s ready, but is also expecting some nerves before his first fight.
“My stomach just drops (before fights),” Lopez said. “But when I get in the ring, once I feel the first punch, it just goes away.”
Both fighters spent Wednesday training at the Bull Dog gym. The workout included a sparring round for each fighter, something Corrales said he does usually twice a week.
While Corrales, a 132-pound fighter, is already a veteran of about 30 fights, he’s looking to push himself even more and hopes to eventually turn professional.
“I’ve just got to push harder, push farther,” he said.
Lopez, whose father Zeke Lopez runs the Bull Dog gym, is just getting his feet wet with competitive boxing, which he’s done for the past three months, but says he’s been boxing “pretty much since I could walk.”
For him to be successful this weekend, he said he’ll have to rely on his training.
“I’ve got to train hard and listen to the coach,” he said.
Aside from the fighting, Lopez enjoys the traveling that the sport allows him to do.
“I get to travel to a lot of places,” he said.
The gym is still looking to raise additional funds to offset the costs of traveling to Long Beach and has a goal of $600 to cover gas, a motel and food.
Anyone interested in sponsoring may contact Zeke Lopez at (831) 636-1349.
