2022 USA Boxing National Championships come to close in Lubbock

The 2022 USA Boxing National Championships ended last night at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in Lubbock, Texas after six full days of boxing. The week-long event featured over 800 total bouts and crowned National Champions in the bantam, intermediate, junior, youth and elite divisions. 

Saturday’s finale began with 28 junior bouts to award the winners in their respective weight class, followed by 16 youth championship bouts. 

The day concluded with 14 elite championship bouts, including the 13 Olympic weight categories. 

The elite bouts began with Kayla Gomez (El Paso, Texas) and Jennifer Lozano (Laredo, Texas) having a rematch of last year’s 52 kg final, with the boxers looking to take the 50 kg title this year. The highly anticipated match did not disappoint, with Lozano taking the 5-0 decision to defeat Gomez once again in the finals to take the gold medal. 

The men’s 52 kg final saw Jordan Roach (Upper Marlboro, Md.) take the unanimous decision victory over 2022 Youth World Championships team member and the brackets fourth seed Ryan Williams (Toledo, Ohio), while Shera Mae Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii) and Jewry Rodriguez (Houston, Texas) went back and forth in their 54 kg championship bout, however, Patricio was able to pull it out in the end to take the 3-2 decision. 

The men’s featherweight final was a bout many were looking forward to seeing from the beginning of the week between two young future stars Julius Ballo (San Diego, Calif.) and Steven Navarro (Los Angeles, Calif.). The bout was highly competitive from the start, with Ballo taking a narrow 3-2 lead after one round, however, Ballo was able to pull away in the next two rounds to take the unanimous decision and win back-to-back 57 kg elite national titles.  

Alyssa Mendoza (Caldwell, Idaho) closed out her impressive year by taking the women’s 57 kg title. Mendoza took all five judges’ cards over Daisy Bamberger (Hayward, Calif.) to add USA Boxing Elite Women’s National Champion to her resume that saw the 2022 National Golden Gloves and 2022 Summer Festival Championships get added this year as well. 

Faith Mendez (Ocala, Fla.) held off Lisa Greer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) by the slimiest of margins in her 3-2 decision to take the women’s 60 kg title, while Dedrick Crocklem (Tacoma, Wash.) continued his impressive year to take his first elite national title in the men’s 63.5 kg category, just two weeks after taking bronze at the 2022 Youth World Championships, with his 5-0 victory over Samuel Contreras (Palmdale, Calif.) 

Stephanie Simon (Miami, Fla.) won her second straight national championship in the women’s 66 kg weight category by a 4-1 decision over Stacia Suttles (Philadelphia, Pa.), who was making her return to the ring at these championships since last competing at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing. 

Amir Anderson (Syracuse, N.Y.) picked up an unanimous decision victory over Jason Moreno (Philadelphia, Pa.) to take the 71 kg title and make the transition from junior to youth to elite national champion. 

The final four weight categories saw boxers win their first elite national championship title, all by way of unanimous decision. Kendra Samargis won the women’s 75 kg title over Jillian Petroglia (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), Nathan Lugo (Marietta, Ga.) picked up the men’s 80 kg championship over Theon Davis (Chicago, Ill.), Ben Turla (Leawood, Kan.) defeated Stanley Johnson (Stafford, Texas) to take the men’s 92 kg gold medal, while Ali Feliz (Bethel, Conn.) topped Pryce Taylor (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to win the men’s super-heavyweight national title. 

The elite Olympic weight champions, as well as the silver medalists in the women’s 50 kg and 54 kg categories, will advance to the Elite High Performance Team Selection Camp at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. in January. 

At the conclusion of each division’s bouts the Outstanding Boxers of the Tournament were named. Full list of those award winners can be seen below.

Click here for full list of National Champions.
Click here for full results and photos from the entire tournament. 

Outstanding Boxers of Tournament

Junior Male: Marcus Luther, Washington, D.C. 

Junior Female: Joscelyn Olayo-Munoz, La Cruces, N.M. 

Youth Male: Curmel Moton, Las Vegas, Nev.

Youth Female: Gabriella Telez, San Antonio, Texas

Elite Male: Dedrick Crocklem, Tacoma, Wash.

Elite Female: Alyssa Mendoza, Caldwell, Idaho