As the gloves are prepped and the bells ready to chime, the boxing squad from Team USA is all set to throw their hats in the ring, quite literally, at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games. Over a span of nine thrilling days, the Centro de Entrenamiento Olimpico will resonate with punches and cheers, as our fighters learn who they’ll be trading leather with in their inaugural fights and chart their course toward that coveted spot atop the podium in Santiago, Chile. The full list of Day One opponents is as interesting as a plot twist in a boxing-themed novel.
Jamar Talley, the heavyweight pride of Camden, N.J., is geared up to set the tone for USA Boxing on Friday, October 20. His first challenge is none other than Julio Cesar La Cruz of Cuba, a double-threat with two Olympic golds hanging around his neck. The excitement starts simmering at 10:00 a.m. ET, marking the solo session of the day.
Fast forward to Saturday, October 21, and the canvas will see footprints from three spirited Americans. Roscoe Hill, hailing from Spring, Texas, with a shiny 2021 Elite World Championship silver medal in his pocket, is slated to measure gloves against Cuba’s Alejandro Claro Fiz. This fight kicks off at 10:00 a.m. ET sharp. As the sun dips, the evening session at 5:00 p.m. ET introduces Jennifer Lozano from Laredo, Texas, and Las Vegas’s own Robby “Rahim” Gonzales, donned in stars and stripes.
Lozano is prepped to spar with Ecuador’s Susan Aguas, and Gonzales is eyeing a déjà vu victory against his known rival, Christian Javier Pinales from the Dominican Republic. Their previous rendezvous at the AMBC Elite Championships semifinal saw Gonzales emerge victorious, 4-1. Can history repeat itself? Fingers are crossed!
Cue in Sunday, and it’s a whirlwind of gloves and jabs for Team USA with four boxers jumping into their respective fights.
First up, 2022 Youth World Champion Yoseline Perez of Houston, Texas, squares up against Colombia’s 2020 Olympian, Yeni Arias. Meanwhile, Omari Jones, Orlando, Fla.’s sensation, prepares to engage with Angel Llanos Perez from Puerto Rico. These morning tussles are sure to make the audience skip their coffees!
The latter part of the day brings forward Jajaira Gonzalez from Glendora, Calif., a triple threat in the amateur world, and Emilio Garcia of Laredo, Texas, fresh from victory at the 2023 GeeBee International Tournament. Gonzalez is up against Canada’s Garinder Takhar, while Garcia is set for a strategic bout against Jesus Nazaret Cova Romero, the recent gold medalist at the AMBC Elite Boxing Championships.
Come Monday, October 23, and it’s showtime for the featherweight duo, Alyssa Mendoza from Caldwell, Idaho, and Jahmal Harvey hailing from Oxon Hill, Md. Mendoza is up bright and early to face Marie-Bathoul Al-Ahmadieh of Canada, while Harvey, still riding high from his 2021 Elite World Championship gold, awaits the victor of the Panama-Guyana preliminary bout.
The excitement refuses to wane as Tuesday, October 24, rolls around, featuring the fighting debuts of Morelle McCane from Cleveland, Ohio, Naomi Graham of Fayetteville, N.C., and Joshua Edwards from Houston, Texas.
McCane starts her journey in the 66 kg division against Costa Rica’s Nicole Vega Moya, after a lucky first-round bye. Graham, the defending Pan American Games Champion, also enjoys a bye, biding her time to see whether she’ll be pitted against a tough contender from Cuba or Mexico. Super heavyweight Edwards, benefiting from his bye, gears up to fight a powerhouse from either Chile or Ecuador.
This year’s Pan American Games, the 19th edition of this fist-flying event, has drawn 174 fighters from 27 nations to Santiago, each with their eyes firmly set on the prize — a golden ticket to the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
Guiding Team USA through this maze of jabs and hooks are USA Boxing Head Coach Billy Walsh, stationed in Colorado Springs, Colo., National Resident Coach Timothy Nolan from Rochester, N.Y., National Development Coach Chad Wigle, also from Colorado Springs, Colo., and assistant coach Christine Lopez from Rowlett, Texas. With such a robust coaching lineup, our boxers are in great hands!