(Photo Credit: Mariah Clark/Waldron Street Journal)
Hockey fights weren’t the only fights going on at the American Bank center on Friday, February 19th. Though the Rayz were in town, the most feverish punches were being thrown during the 67th annual Golden Gloves boxing tournament, which took place at an exhibit hall on the ABC complex.
The event was made up of both males and females. Boxers of all sizes participated in the events, ranging from the Junior Olympic division comprised of kids from 64 pounds to 110 pounds to the Novice division made up of 152-pound frames and larger.
Our very own Flour Bluff student, sophomore Kevin Conrad, participated in the event. Conrad has been boxing for four years in the Golden Glove program, training hard five days a week every week to make himself better at his craft.
Kevin joined up with the Corpus Christi Police Officers Association (CCPOA) after moving back to Corpus Christi from Austin and qualified for the Golden Glove City Championship Match for his weight division by winning five of his six fights, four of which came by knock out, in a tournament that determined the best of the best.
Conrad’s opponent in the Championship Match was Angel De La Paz, who fought for the Kingsville Boxing Club. The match consisted of three one minute rounds with judges scoring and choosing a winner of each round. Generally, the boxer who lands more clean punches to the head, which is protected by a specially designed helmet, and to the stomach, tallies up the most points.
As soon as his match begun, Conrad had the eye of the tiger, so to speak. He started out circling the ring at a slow pace and all of sudden came out throwing jabs, uppercuts, and hooks that De La Paz had a hard time deflecting. Playing possum to begin the round, Kevin landed eight straight blows on De La Paz and distanced himself from Angel on the scorecard.
Conrad was just as technically sound in the second round, continuing to play a cat and mouse game with De La Paz before drawing him just close enough to unleash a few furious blows that got him good points with the judges. His footwork was crisp, helping him keep De La Paz off balance and confused for most of the round.
In the third and final round, De La Paz gave everything he had, which is usually the case when a boxer comes into the final round knowing they have to make up a lot of ground. Going away from his submissive style that he displayed in the first two rounds, Angel attacked Conrad early and landed a few good hits. His barrage of blows continued for about 15 seconds thanks to his positioning in the ring.
After Conrad broke free from De La Paz when his mouthpiece came out (which is a stoppage in play called by the ref), Conrad regained composure and played a defensive style, backing up an extra foot and only making necessary advancements on De Laz Paz.
Kevin’s late stand in the final round helped him secure a unanimous decision (meaning he won all three rounds), making him the City Champion for the 163-pound weight division.
“It feels awesome,” said Conrad on being the best boxer at his weight in the city. “I’ve been working my butt off everyday for this. Going to the gym everyday and working hard. I feel great knowing it paid off.”
Conrad was as nice as could be just minutes after his match. He was excited, exhausted, and humble, giving a lot of props to his opponent, De La Paz, for his match.
“He gave me a good run,” said Kevin. “He caught me pretty good a couple of times. He did good, I’m proud of him and I congratulate him.”
This isn’t the end of the road for Kevin, though. He’s got a State Title to compete for now.
“There’s still more to go. I will be going to the State Golden Gloves Tournament now that I have won the City Championship.”
When Kevin goes to state, he would like everyone from Flour Bluff to be rooting him on as he represents not only our school but also our entire city. Even if you aren’t able to attend all of Conrad’s events, he truly appreciate your support.
“I would like to thank all of my friends at the Bluff that have been supporting me,” Conrad said. “I appreciate it.”
