A national boxing tournament was held for youth boxers athletes toward the end of January in Kansas City, Missouri.

 Boxers participated from around the region, and in the end, Stagg’s Izmael Ramos walked away as the Region 8 Champion.

Ramos and his team flew to the National Silver Gloves championship, taking a 3 hour flight from Stockton to Missouri. It is the second time Ramos won this championship, the first being last year in Oregon. Second time since last year.

Ramos has been boxing for an entire decade, “I started at six years old… seeing my dad get happy when I would go out and box made me feel motivated.” Ramos also mentions that him being a champion is not a far stretch and its a great feeling knowing everyday is a step closer to that goal. Not only that but his training regimen is a great reason that makes him a championship winner. After school, Izzie would run up to 5 miles a day and finish his training at the gym until 8 pm.

Ramos doesn’t get much break time because on the days he has off, he wakes up and starts running from around 5-6 am. But on the brightside, Ramos really enjoys training and takes it as pushing him forward, “I feel good when I’m training, it gives me that sharp and strong feeling.”

In the ring, many great boxers have their own unique styles and memorable fights. Izze has his own techniques. “My favorite combo is probably my 2-1-2.” Izzie has had his rivals then and there but his biggest one has been with him since he was 9 years old. Seven years ago, Izzie fought his rival, a fighter from Stockton and lost to him, but just last year they met again at regionals where he defeated him. “Beating him this time when we’re older, made me feel like I put a stamp on it.” 

Everyone deals with competition differently than others and gets accustomed to fighting differently. As for Ramos, his idea of handling a fight is to be understood.

“You have to be rough, you have to have the mindset,” Ramos said. 

He says having supportive parents around him are the reason he is who he is. “Even though my dad is hard on me, I can’t blame him for trying to make me better,” Ramos stated. 

When in a fight, adrenaline always makes an appearance while jolting through the body, and Ramos handles it well. “Yeah, now it doesn’t hit as much, but when I was younger it really did,” he explains that he would feel nervous but now it’s more calm to him.

Whenever Izzie gets into a physical injury he has one main solution, his masseuse. They specialize in loosening knots in his body an easing out tangled ligaments. “I go to him before my fight to get 100% right.” He says previously when he was hurt in his shoulder it was relieved fast and well. 

Izzie is one of the best amateur fighters in Stockton, winning a championship back to back where the last one was in Oregon and this one Missouri. His advice to other fighters is, “Go for it, you should go chase your dreams.”