The 48th edition of the USA Boxing National Junior Olympics, Prep Nationals and Youth Open begin next week in Middleton, Wisc. at the Madison Marriott West Hotel and Conference Center, June 23-29.
Over 700 boxers, aged 8-18, from across the United States will step into one of the four boxing rings next week looking to win one of USA Boxing’s most prestigious national tournaments and showcase why they are the next generation of champions.
“The National Junior Olympics has seen some of USA Boxing’s greatest boxers compete at this tournament, including 2016 Olympic Games medalists Nico Hernandez, Claressa Shields and Shakur Stevenson,” stated USA Boxing Executive Director Mike McAtee. “The boxers competing here will be the boxers we will be cheering for at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.”
Boxers aged 11-16 had to qualify to this tournament through local and regional tournaments that have taken place over the past few months, while boxers in the pee-wee (8-10) and the youth (17-18) divisions are competing in an open tournament. All ages are boxing to earn USA Boxing ranking points.
This year’s tournament is expected to feature numerous members of USA Boxing’s Youth and Junior National Teams, including the most recent junior boys’ team that competed last week in Hungary. Team USA won 7 golds, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals, as well as Best Team of the Tournament, and Richard Fernandez Jr. (San Antonio, Texas) won Best Boxer of the Tournament.
USA Boxing will also be celebrating Olympic Day throughout the week, which will include honoring Wisconsin’s own Israel Acosta with the USA Boxing Alumni Association presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, a meet and greet with 2016 Olympian and current professional boxer Mikaela Mayer on Monday, as well as Tokyo 2020 Olympic hopefuls and Team USA Captains Virginia Fuchs and Richard Torrez Jr. doing the medal presentations and workouts with the boxers on Friday and Saturday. All Olympic Day events will take place at the Madison Marriott West.
A complete tournament schedule can be seen here, as well as an Olympic Day schedule below.
Boxing will begin Tuesday, with the Opening Ceremonies at 11:00 a.m. local time, with the first bout set to begin at noon. Tuesday-Thursday will consist of two sessions daily, noon and 6:00 p.m., with Friday and Saturday having one noon session. The event will be free to the public all week and can also be watched on a free live stream on usaboxing.org.
Olympic Day Schedule:
Sunday, June 23 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) – USA Boxing Alumni Association Kickoff to Junior Olympics featuring presentation of Lifetime Achievement Award to Israel Acosta
Monday, June 24 (8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) – Meet and Greet with 2016 Olympian Mikaela Mayer
Tuesday, June 25 (11:00 a.m.) – National Junior Olympics Opening Ceremony
Friday/Saturday, June 28/29 (9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.) – High Performance Workout with Virginia Fuchs and Richard Torrez Jr. *only open to boxers competing in tournament*