Lorenzo Patricio’s First International Tournament in Elite Division Begins at Strandja Tournament

Lorenzo “Sparky” Patricio, who is ranked number one in the United States and fourth in the world in the 121-pound weight class, was recently selected to the 2026 USA Boxing Men’s Elite High Performance Team after a month-long camp (January 11th to February 11th) at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“It feels good to follow in my sister’s [Shera Mae, who was an 11-time national champion and a member of the 2024 USA Boxing Women’s Elite High Performance Team] footsteps. She competed at this elite level multiple times in multiple years. I am ready to show the world what I got and what I can do,” said Patricio, who has won 15 national titles.

He will compete in the first of four international tournaments this year at the prestigious 77th International Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria (which runs from February 23rd to March 1st). This will be Patricio’s first international tournament in the Elite Division, and he will also be moving up a weight class as he prepares for a spot on the United States Boxing Team at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California.

“The keys for me to win the tournament in Bulgaria are to be calm, fast, explosive, stay focused on my footwork and angles, and listen to my coaches. I just need to do what I need to do and fight my fight,” said Patricio, who will be fighting overseas for the third time – he sparred with fighters in the Elite Division in Thailand and won the Brandenburg Cup in Germany (his first international tournament in the Youth Division) in 2025, and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Boxer.

Patricio defeated Michael Trindade of Brazil, who fought in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, 3-2 in his first round of the International Strandja Memorial Tournament on Monday. He will fight again on Tuesday in the Round of 16 against Kazakhstan’s Timur Kabdeshov.

Later in the year, he will compete in World Boxing Cup Stage 1 in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, in April (20th to 26th) and Stage 2 in Guiyang City, China, in June (15th to 20th). Then, in October (10th to 17th), he will fight in the Elite Pan-American Boxing Championships in Puebla, Mexico. These four international tournaments will prepare him for potentially competing at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

The 18-year-old orthodox boxer from Waianae, Hawaii, holds an outstanding amateur record (79-12) and has not lost a fight in over two-and-a-half years (since July 2023) in the 110-pound weight class in the Youth Division. During his current unbeaten streak, Patricio has won gold medals at the 2023, 2024, and 2025 USA Boxing National Tournaments. He has won the 2024 World Boxing U19 Championships and the 2024 and 2025 National Junior Olympics and Summer Festival.

Patricio is no stranger to success, as he comes from one of the most accomplished boxing families in the amateur ranks. His two older siblings, whom he looks up to as role models for paving the way for him, are professional fighters, both managed by Bob Kane. His older sister, Shera Mae (23), is undefeated as a professional fighter (7-0, 3 KOs) and 15-4 in the Team Combat League. She was one victory away from representing the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Shera Mae’s next scheduled bout is a six-rounder against Maribel Ramirez at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York, which is her eighth bout in the last year and a half. His older brother, Lyndon Jr. “Da Lion” (21), is 4-1 with 2 KOs as a professional after a stellar amateur career. His next scheduled fight is a four-rounder against Irvin Rodriguez on March 14th in the County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas. His lone loss was in his last bout to 1-loss Edwin Cortes. Both Shera Mae and Lyndon Jr. fought on the same fightcard (Janaury 18, 2025), and won their respective bouts.

His older sister, Sheelyn (20), is an eleven-time national champion who joined the United States Army in May 2025 as a 92W Water Treatment Specialist and is now a Private First Class. She is continuing her boxing career through the United States Army World Class Athlete Program. Sheelyn overcame a fractured hip and several surgeries on her hand after being involved in a horrible motor vehicle accident in 2021 to win first place at the Junior Golden Gloves and Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier in 2023, and finished in second place in the Olympic Trials in 2024, and in the Nationals in 2025. Patricio’s three younger siblings, Landon (17), (on the 2025 USA Boxing Youth High Performance Team), Leighton (15), and Shania Mae (12), have each won six national titles. His youngest sibling, Levon, just started boxing at nine years old in 2025.

“It feels good to be considered one of the best boxing families in the world. I feel special. I feel like the chosen one. Not only am I good, but so is my family, and that means a lot to me,” said Patricio, who is the fourth of eight siblings. “Our competitive nature with one another pushes us so that when one sibling is doing well, everyone else is pushed to do even better. We try to be the best boxer in the family. It is a friendly competition that pushes us to be the best boxers we can be.”

Patricio and all seven of his siblings are trained by their father, Lyndon Sr. (an amateur fighter who won six Hawaii state championships), at Westside Striking in their hometown. Westside Striking, run by head coach Michael Talalout, has been the best-performing boxing gym in the United States over the last two years. This boxing gym had 80 victories at the USA Boxing National Tournaments last year, four more than in 2024, and, in both years, more victories than any other boxing gym in the country. In addition to the Patricio family, the other elite boxers who train at Westside Striking are females, Izlynn Shirley, Zhaylia Souza, and Nissi Teulilo, as well as male boxer Dreson Eugenio.

“I believe we are such a great gym that has a lot of talent because we have some of the best boxing coaches around,” Patricio said.

Waianae is a small town on the west side of Hawaii, about an hour from the state capital, Honolulu. Despite having a population of little over 13,000 people, it also has another elite boxing gym, HR Boxing, which finished with 51 victories in USA Boxing National Tournaments in 2025, placing it third in the country. It was the second consecutive year the gym ranked in the top three nationally in total victories.

“I believe our gym and our town, Waianae, produce such great fighters because being from Hawaii, we do not get many opportunities, so when we have the chance to compete on the national stage, we show up and show out. We do not travel a long way just to lose in the first round. We fight hard no matter who we are fighting,” said Patricio, who believes his family and his Hawaiian culture (he was born and raised in Hawaii) are the two things that give him the greatest sense of love and pride, outside of boxing.

Despite all the success the Patricio family has achieved in the amateur ranks, they have also had to deal with tragedies. They lost their longtime boxing coach, who was also a close family friend, and due to a horrible car accident, Sheelyn’s boxing career almost ended.

“Mark Aiwohi, who was a head coach at the previous gym my family trained at, [the Aiwohi Boxing Gym or Aiwohi Athletics], suddenly passed away from a heart attack in 2019. I was also involved in a bad car crash in 2021, when my sister [Shera Mae] was driving. We got hit by a truck that went into our lane and caused the car to spin several times and flip over, and when the car finally stopped, I saw that Sheelyn was ejected from the car and ended up in the middle of the street with blood all over her. She sustained many injuries, but somehow recovered fully, returned to boxing, and did well in national tournaments. We were very lucky that no one got seriously hurt. It could have been much worse than it was,” said a relieved Patricio, who said that his faith in God and his family helped him get through these difficult moments in life.

Patricio has dominated tournament after tournament with his fast hand speed, explosive punching power, and great footwork and angles. His confidence, poise, and ring IQ that he demonstrates in the ring are well beyond his age. Yet, even more than his fighting skills and tremendous work ethic, it is his bond with his father that has propelled him to his success in boxing.

“My dad has played an integral role in my boxing career. He is not only my father and trainer, but also my role model. He pushes me to be the very best fighter I can be in the ring and makes sure that I do not settle for anything less. He has made me the person that I am today,” said Patricio, who started boxing when he was five years old.

For more information about Patricio’s boxing career and to follow his upcoming fights, connect with him on Instagram @lj.patricio_ and @USABoxing, follow him on X @USABoxing, friend USABoxing on Facebook, and visit the website https://www.usaboxing.org/news.

“I want to say thanks to my mom, grandparents, and my family back home in Hawaii for pushing and supporting me, and even though they cannot always travel with me, they still watch me on TV,” Patricio said. “To my fans, keep going, never give up, continue to be you, chase your dreams, and believe in yourself because anything is possible in life.”