(JUNE 17) COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The 2006 Junior Olympic National Championships will celebrate its 35^th anniversary, June 28-July 2 in Marquette, Mich., as over 200 of the nation’s elite junior Olympic boxers face off for a national championship. The United States’ top 15 and 16-year-old boxers will convene in Marquette for the event, which consistently showcases the future stars of boxing. The event returns to Marquette for the first time since 2002 after short stops in Alexandria, La., and Brownsville, Texas. The Junior Olympic National Championships were held in Marquette for 12 years before moving south for the past three tournaments.
 

Five male 2005 national champions have returned to earn a second national junior Olympic title in 2006 with Armond Burbanks (Cincinnati, Ohio) competing for the pinweight (101 lbs) title, featherweight Hylon Williams (Houston, Texas) vying for a second national championship; Dante Moore (South Euclid, Ohio) boxing in the light middleweight (154 lbs) division, Dominic Wade (Largo, Md.) working for a middleweight (165 lbs) title, and Trevor Bryan (Albany, N.Y.) will boxing for the 201+ pound championship.

In addition to his 2005 national title, Williams and heavyweight Keith Tapia (New York, N.Y.) recently won gold medals at the 2006 Aliyev Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. Burbanks and 2005 runner-up Roberto Marroquin (Dallas, Texas) grabbed silver medals at the major international event while light bantamweight Wade Bolton (Charlotte, N.C.) rounded out the medal winners with a bronze.

In its 35^th year, the Junior Olympic program continues to provide a critical pipeline for USA Boxing’s future stars. Seven of the nine 2004 Olympians were Junior Olympic champions and all nine competed in the event. The program continues to produce champions, often immediately upon their advancing to the senior level. This was particuarly evident at the 2006 U.S. Championships and National Golden Gloves. 2005 Junior Olympic champion Luis Yanez won both of 2006’s major national championship events and 2005 champions Sadam Ali and Jesus Mendez II won gold medals at the 2006 National Golden Gloves. The 2004 Junior Olympic National Championships produced two-time national champions Gary Russell, Jr. and Demetrius Andrade and seven of the 2006 national champions got their start at the junior level, including 2004 Olympian Rau’shee Warren.

For the second straight year, the females will compete with the male boxers and three returning champions will box in Marquette. Light bantamweight Cynthia Moreno (Phoenix, Ariz.); bantamweight Tiffany Perez (Harvey, Ill.) and Crystal Delgado (Resharon, Texas) will all vie for their second straight national championship in Marquette.

The future stars of the sport will compete for a prestigious junior Olympic title at the Superior Dome on the Northern Michigan University campus, June 28-July 2. Preliminary bouts will be contested at noon and 6 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday with semifinal action taking place at noon on Friday and championship round action taking place on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Results will be disseminated daily but for any immediate requests, contact Julie Goldsticker at (719) 330-4072 or via e-mail at jgoldsticker@usaboxing.org.

USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).