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Five Members of USMC Boxing Team Win Golden Glove Tournament
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Leaning against the ropes, Simms handed out advice in short, quick bursts while occasionally glancing down at his stopwatch. "Chin down!" he yelled. After a few more minutes elapsed he reminded a second boxer who had just took one on the chin, "Watch your hands." Still later Simms, who earlier had said he usually didn't dispense advice "that nicely," told another boxer not to crouch so low when evading a blow. Simms was clearly in his element as he taught his boxers - several of whom have been on the prestigious Marine Corps team less than a year - the sweet science in a gym short of frills but full of what makes champions. Angled inward as you enter are two large - and full - trophy cases. Six heavy bags hang limp for now down the right side. There are also weight machines as well as medicine balls of different weights and colors. A large fan stands silent. This is not a gym for anyone afraid to sweat. "We have the mentality to take it to our opponents," said Simms, an alternate on the 1996 Olympic Team and head coach of the Marine team for three years. "We're very aggressive, and we're very well-conditioned. "I tell the guys to go all out, and if your opponent tries to match you, he's going to gas out before you because you work too hard. If your opponent throws a lot of punches, I want you to match the punches and raise the bar. "That's basically the mental strategy we have. What we do, we act to get a reaction so we can react to their reactions." That should be no surprise. These are Marines, after all. They are aggressive, either by nature or through training. But the Area 3 gym aboard Camp Lejeune is Simms' only personal Parris Island for boxers. "It's a challenge," Simms said of being on the Marine Corps team. "It's definitely a challenge. But it's a challenge that has its rewards, which came this past weekend in Virginia Beach, Va., when five of eight Marine boxers brought home the gold in the North Carolina/Virginia Golden Gloves Boxing Championships. All five advance to the regionals later this month in Waldorf, Md. In the novice division, which features boxers with 10 bouts or less, three Marines won. They were: Lance Cpl. Magdiel Matias of Rochester, N.Y., at 125 pounds, Cpl. Elias Sanchez of Lubbock, Texas, at 132 pounds and Cpl. Jorge Valencia of Denver at 165 pounds. Two others won in the open division, which is for boxers with more than 10 bouts. They were Sgt. Todd Dekinderen of Pontiac, Mich., at 132 pounds and Lance Cpl. Bryant Tune of Natalie, Va., at heavyweight, both of whom Simms said have a shot at the 2012 Olympic Team. Sanchez was named the most outstanding novice boxer at the tournament. "We took eight guys. I was expecting six to win," Simms said. "I didn't know what type of competition we had. Three fell off. One did pretty well but he got caught and got a cut. He was winning at the point where we had to stop the bout." Still, Simms wasn't displeased, saying that "the only thing" his novice boxers need is experience. "Everyone who gets in the ring obviously you have a little bit of fear," Simms said. "But these are warriors, and once you throw that first punch, the fear goes away. What these guys need more than anything is experience. The more experience they get the better they're going to be. That's bad experience and good experience. It makes the boxer." Matias is a perfect example of that. Earlier this year Matias said he lost a bout in Charlotte because he "left it in the judge's hands." Matias, who was born in Puerto Rico but moved to Rochester, N.Y., a few months later, said he made sure he didn't make the same mistake this past weekend. "Coach is always telling us to take it to them, that they don't work as hard as us (and) they'll be tired by this round or that round," Matias said. "To actually go to Virginia and like test that it's true is (good). All the hard work we put in actually shows up once we get into the ring and take it to those other guys." |