Boxers fight toward armed forces competition

  • Published
  • By Wayne Amann
  • 37th Services Division
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  The last time the Air Force boxing team won the armed forces title only two of this year’s 31 training camp attendees had even been born.

That 1975 championship squad was the last first-place finish Air Force enjoyed before the Army’s dynasty captured 26 of the next 28 inter-service crowns.

For the past five years Air Force teams finished third. They were second in 1993 and 1987, according to the armed forces sports Web site.

While history is not in the Air Force corner, the current team goes to December’s armed forces fray with a “why not us?” attitude.

That optimism was fueled by the Air Force Boxing Championships held here Nov. 7 and 8, which determined who advanced to stop Army’s 12-year winning streak.

Ringside officials with the South Texas Boxing Association, which annually sanctions the bouts, said afterward this is the best crop of Air Force boxers to advance in 15 years.

“We have guys who’ve boxed their whole lives,” said Ron Simms, second year Air Force head coach and 12-time Air Force champion. “The key will be for the coaches and athletes to be on the same page. If they believe in the system I’m teaching and execute it, there’s no stopping them.”

Ten boxers moved on from the Nov. 8 finals card before a raucous near-capacity crowd.

Three went unopposed in their respective weight classes: Airman Jose Casasola, from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., took the 112-pound flyweight division; Senior Airman James DuBois, from Lackland AFB, Texas, the 125-pound featherweight category; and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Williams, from Robins AFB, Ga., the 201-pound heavyweight class. Williams, 30, was the oldest boxer to make the team. He also made All-Air Force in 1997 and 2003.

Casasola’s younger brother Carlos an airman first class from Randolph AFB, Texas, beat Senior Airman Jimmie Montgomery, from Eielson AFB, Alaska, when the referee stopped the contest 1:07 into the second round after Casasola dropped his opponent to one knee with a straight right hand.

“I caught him with a good punch,” the 21-year old San Antonio native said. “I set him up with a left jab and came back with the right.”

Airman 1st Class Hector Ramos, Travis AFB, Calif., one of only two bluesuiters to win gold at the last armed forces tourney, won a return trip with a unanimous 5-0 decision over Senior Airman Deron Elias, from Hurlburt Field, in the 132-pound lightweight class.

Airman 1st Class Robert Luna, from Dyess AFB, Texas, was a 3-2 split-decision winner over Airman 1st Class Ramon Castro, from Hurlburt Field, in the 141-pound light-welterweight division.

The lone female at training camp, Staff Sgt. Charmaine Carrington, from Eglin AFB, defeated San Fernando Boxing Club’s Elizabeth Villareal, 5-0. Carrington, (13-2) entered the bout as the nation’s No. 1 ranked women’s amateur in the 141-pound class. But, she wants to improve when she goes for her second straight armed forces gold.

“I can box a lot smarter and cleaner,” the Hayward, Calif., native said. “(Villareal) fought hard, but I’m a lot better than that. I’ll have to watch the tape.”

Veteran boxer Staff Sgt. John Askew, from Osan Air Base, South Korea, made his fourth straight All-Air Force team, as a 152-pound welterweight, thanks to a solid right hand that took its toll on Airman 1st Class Anthony Jackson, from Grand Forks AFB, N.D. The referee stopped the contest at 1:47 of the second round.

“(Jackson ) was moving a lot so I tried to cut him off at 45-degree angles,” Askew said. “My punches were there. They felt good. It’s instinctive, like breathing. You do your best to execute.”

Airman James Johnson, from Dyess AFB, took a 5-0 decision over left-hander Senior Airman Jorge Hernandez, from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., in the 165-pound middleweight class.

The final bout Nov. 8 saw Staff Sgt. Angel Landrau, from MacDill AFB, Fla., edge Senior Airman Daniel Barrera, from Vandenberg AFB, 3-2, to grab 178-pound light-heavyweight honors and complete the Air Force roster.

The Air Force team will continue to train at Lackland’s Kelly Field Annex until the Dec. 6 to 12 Armed Forces Championships at Camp LeJeune, N.C.

Airmen who win there qualify for the USA National Championships, Jan. 10 to 18, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The last stop would be the 2004 Olympic Trials, Feb. 16 to 21, in Tunica, Miss.

“This is our time to shine so we have to push ourselves and each other,” Askew said of the Air Force’s young, but experienced roster. ”We’re not going to let anybody stop us. We’re hungry.”