Denver’s Louie Byrd remained undefeated in the 112-pound senior men’s division at the USA Boxing National Championships on Thursday, winning a semifinal bout over Michael Ruiz Jr. of Fresno, Calif.
The 18-year-old Byrd earned a 29-14 decision at the Denver Coliseum and will fight in Saturday’s championship against Adan Ortiz of Sterling, Ill. Byrd also topped Ruiz in the championship bout of the National Golden Gloves tournament in May.
Ortiz defeated Adrian Ghisoiu of Fort Hood, Texas, 25-8 in the other semifinal.
In the 119-pound division, Jesus Magdaleno of Las Vegas earned a stunning upset of Cincinnati’s Rau’shee Warren, a two-time Olympian. Magdaleno rallied in the closing seconds to tie the score at 19, and he earned a tie-breaking victory by way of his 40-39 punch-count advantage.
In the other 119-pound semifinal, Gabriel Montoya of Cheyenne lost 21-4 to Luis Rosa of East Haven, Conn.
Michael Benedosso of Fort Carson lost his 106-pound semifinal to Miguel Cartagena of Philadelphia, getting outpointed 17-11.
In junior bouts, Ricky Rodriguez of Evans, a junior-to-be at Greeley West High School, won the title at 119 pounds by defeating Luis Feliciano of Milwaukee 11-8.
Last year, Rodriguez earned a silver medal after he fell to Jose Ramirez of California, a fighter he has since beaten twice.
Rodriguez has compiled an amateur record of 98-14.
• In other boxing news, Denver’s Ricky Lopez (4-0, two KOs) won a four-round decision over Rufino Serrano of Santa Maria, Calif., in a junior featherweight bout Thursday at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Lopez, 22, a former Colorado Golden Gloves champ, won by points, 40-36. The fight was on the undercard of the debut of the Versus network’s “Fight Night Club” broadcast.
