Tony Corrales, 17, will be up against experience at regional
Golden Gloves tourney
Many would think it’s intimidating. Tony Corrales thinks it’s an advantage.
The 141-pound Hollister boxer will be competing in his very first regional Golden Gloves tournament this weekend at the Veterans Memorial Building in Tulare.
Despite already owning a long list of accolades, including a pair of Silver Gloves state championship titles and, most recently, the Central California Golden Gloves title, Corrales will be up against fighters from Northern California who will more than likely be older than he is – a lot older.
The Golden Gloves tournament is for fighters ages 17-34.
For Corrales, 17, it doesn’t seem to be a big deal.
“I kind of think it’s an advantage to me because I’m not as big as some of the guys there and I’m not as old,” he said. “I’m able to move quicker and throw quicker punches than they are.”
Corrales claimed the Central California Golden Gloves title last weekend in Clovis when he won by a unanimous decision over Vicente Guzman. Guzman is 25-years-old.
The week before he upended Guzman, Corrales won his semifinal match by unanimous decision against the 21-year-old Stacy McHale in Stockton.
“Stacy McHale, he’s a tough fighter, a good brawler, and he had a lot of experience,” Corrales said. “I was intimidated going in, but when I fought my confidence boosted.”
With older boxers perhaps underestimating Corrales, whose record is 36-10, trainer Zeke Lopez feels that it’s his quickness that has taken him this far.
“He’s a strong kid for being a 17-year-old,” Lopez said. “He moves quick and he hits very, very hard.
“He’s got a lot of heart. For his time in boxing, he’s moved up the levels very quick. He is the kid to beat (at 141 pounds) in Central California.”
Corrales, who turned 17 in February, doesn’t know the names, ages or records of any of the fighters heading into the regional championships.
Lopez said Corrales delivered “beautiful body work” in Clovis, connecting for hard blows on McHale and Guzman, a pair of fighters he had never fought against before. So not knowing the competition is perhaps not a problem for the Hollister fighter.
“I kind of think that it’s the same challenge because I train just as hard as any other fight,” Corrales said. “I can take anyone.”
