Local boxer Tony Corrales met a familiar foe in Vincente Guzman
last weekend at the Central Coast Golden Gloves semifinal box off
in Fresno, and he delivered a similar result.
Having previously defeated the 25-year-old Guzman last year on
his way to the Golden Gloves national championships, Corrales, 18,
did it again last weekend when he delivered two standing eight
counts on Guzman.
Local boxer Tony Corrales met a familiar foe in Vincente Guzman last weekend at the Central Coast Golden Gloves semifinal box off in Fresno, and he delivered a similar result.
Having previously defeated the 25-year-old Guzman last year on his way to the Golden Gloves national championships, Corrales, 18, did it again last weekend when he delivered two standing eight counts on Guzman.
“He did very well. He beat up the kid,” said Zeke Lopez, owner and trainer of the Bull Dog Boxing Gym in Hollister, where Corrales trains. “I was more pleased with this performance than the last time.”
Corrales, who eventually qualified for nationals last year, defeated 17-year-old Jugo Sanchez of Salinas at last week’s quarterfinal round in Visalia. And although Corrales won that match “fairly easily,” Lopez was hoping to see more out of his top boxer, who has plans of turning pro in the near future.
“The kid is a man. He was tough,” Lopez said of Guzman. “I knew he was going to come after him. But Tony was all over him and just about knocked him out.”
Corrales controlled the first two rounds of the match, Lopez said, before delivering two standing eight counts in the third and final round on Guzman, who boxes out of Tulare.
The standing eight count is for protection at the amateur ranks, and although the fighter doesn’t necessarily go to the ground, the referee does stop the fight for eight counts in order to see if the opponent can continue.
Three standing eight counts in one round would automatically end the fight.
“When the kid is being hurt, the ref has an 8-count to see if he’s all right,” Lopez explained. “[Tony] was getting close.”
With the win, Corrales advances to the Central Coast Golden Gloves finals in Stockton on March 5, where he is scheduled to face Paul Cano of Clovis.
“He doesn’t take body punches very well and that’s what Tony throws,” Lopez said of Cano. “But we’re not counting our eggs before they hatch.”
