Coach Aj Vasquez and his Greeley-based Azteca Boxing Club are seemingly always making moves. And they’re moving in a positive direction.
Earlier this year, Azteca Boxing made the move from its home of the past three years — the TopNotch gym in downtown Greeley — to a new space. Its now at 6268 10th St., Unit C, inside the same building as The Farm’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school.
But moving from east Greeley to west Greeley isn’t the only moving Azteca Boxing is doing.
With its most recent competition taking place nearly halfway across the country, Azteca Boxing has made the move toward representing its program, its dozens of highly motivated competitors and the Greeley and northern Colorado communities at the national — and international — level.
Paloma Fish, Mariana Tovar-Lopez and three fellow competitors from Azteca Boxing made the weeklong trip earlier this month to Shreveport, La., for the U.S.A. Boxing National Championships — the country’s top event for amateur boxers.
While in Shreveport, Fish won a gold medal and qualified for the U.S.A. national team at 154 pounds by defeating Sativa James (Dixon, Calif.), taking James’s spot on the team. Tovar-Lopez took home a sliver and will be an alternate for the national team.
“It was a new experience, seeing the different levels of boxing, the people who have been boxing longer,” said Fish, who is student at Frontier Academy. “I was able to get in some really good work with some really talented girls, which we don’t always get a lot of here in Colorado.”
And Fish is quickly proving herself to be just as talented as some of those top boxers from throughout the country, even though the 17-year-old has been boxing for just 1 1/2 years. Her passion for the sport has grown rapidly within the walls of Azteca Boxing, which, for many of its regulars, is just as much a sanctuary as it is a gym.
Azteca Boxing — formerly known locally as — is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that operates through donations and sponsorships. It focuses on keeping kids out of trouble and off the streets, while creating a healthy environment that will allow them to explore many of life’s opportunities.
, the Weld Community Foundation Littler Youth Fund awarded Azteca Boxing a $10,000 grant to help Azteca pay the rent for its new space, buy new equipment and bring more young boxers into its facility.
Another effective lure for anyone interested in joining the program are the obvious success stories Azteca boxers are experiencing inside and outside the ring.
Tovar-Lopez, 17, has been boxing with Azteca for a little more than a year.
And, even though she fell just one spot shy of earning an outright position on the U.S.A. national team, her hopes of being on the team continue to burn bright. For now, she’s an alternate, but she’s likely to have several more opportunities to fully seize a spot.
Having one trip to the national tournament under her belt will no doubt pay dividends a year from now when she’s back at nationals. And that experience should also benefit her during each competition she undertakes between now and then.
“It was a good experience — all week long — it was different, for sure,” said Tovar-Lopez, who boxes at 106 pounds. “I had never spent that long away from my house. I missed my dogs, I’m not going to lie. But it was fun. It was cool. I got to hang out with my team. I got to know my team a lot better. I got to meet new people. It was a good experience.”
Belonging to the U.S.A. national team allows boxers the chance to represent their country in international amateur competitions, like the World Boxing Championships and the Junior Pan American Games. It also qualifies boxers for various high-level camps and training opportunities.
Fish’s ultimate goal is to one day box in the Olympics. If this were an Olympic year, she would already be in position to compete in the Games, as a member of the national team.
But, just earning a spot on the team now gives Fish — and, likely, Tovar-Lopez — the chance to continuing building their names as two of the country’s best up-and-coming boxers.
“I’m super excited seeing that all my hard work in boxing is really paying off,” Fish said. “I already had some amazing opportunities before nationals. But now that I’ve won nationals, I think people are really taking me more serious as a boxer and not just thinking this is a hobby.”
Tovar-Lopez has the same aspirations of one day fighting in the Olympics. And the national tournament she fought in earlier this month provides a heckuva first step toward ultimately reaching that goal.
“I understand now what it takes to get to where I want to be,” she said. “Itap going to take a lot more than you think. If you think you’re putting in enough effort, you need to put in twice as much.”
Their coach and mentor, Vasquez, has no doubt Tovar-Lopez and Fish — along with plenty others in his gym — will continue putting in the necessary effort to meet every expectation they’ve set out to achieve.
“I’m super proud of the team and how they’ve come together,” Vasquez said. “And, I’m proud of how everyone supports the girls. There is no separation of the girls and boys. This is just a room full of boxers. I love it.”
— Bobby Fernandez covers local sports for the Greeley Tribune. Reach him at (970) 392-4478, by email at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @BobbyDFernandez.
