BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Inside the ring at the Bakersfield Police Activties League young champions continue to train in boxing, bringing home the title of Silver Gloves champions in the state of California.
Local youth boxers Xavier Alcala, Samantha Acosta, and Anthony Aceves win first place in Silver Gloves State Championship.
- The boxers represent the state of California and train at the Bakersfield Police Activities League (PAL).
- Anthony Aceves, 11, started boxing at 10 years old and won in the 12-13 age range, 85-pound weight class.
- Samantha Acosta, 12, trains rigorously and won in the 14-15 age range, 95-pound weight class.
Xavier Alcala, 16, a returning champion, won in the 16-17 age range, 165-pound weight class, and aims for future competitions.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Inside the Bakersfield Police Activities League, known as PAL, you can hear the sound of young champions in training.
That's 11-year-old Anthony Aceves. He's small but packs a punch. He tells me he's been training for a few months and started boxing at 10 years old... and winning is a memory he'll never forget.
Aceves shares, "It felt great, it was a big accomplishment and it's always going to be in my memory for all the years to come.."
He's not the only young champion who has competed and won for the first time, as Samantha Acosta also won first place in her weight class and age of 12.
Acosta admitts,"Lots of training, double practices, running a lot, lot of cardio, it's a lot of work."
You also might remember Xavier Alcala.
I interviewed him last year and this isn't the first time he's coming home as a national champion for the state of California.
Alcala tells me, "I feel really good, I feel like I accomplished a lot, I feel happy."
As Xavier won the Oxnard PAL international competition and now the Silver Gloves state competition, he has higher aspirations.
"Hopefully, we can win the next one, our hard work will pay off, hopefully."
Daniel Alcala is a boxing coach for PAL.
He says programs like PAL not only teach young kids valuable life skills, it also keeps them out of the streets and out of potential trouble.
Daniel Alcala says, "It shows what our city can produce, fighters like that, also our little ghetto neighborhood could produce fighters also, that's what this program's for."
Anthony competed in the 12-13 age range, weight class 85 pounds, Samantha in the 14-15 weight class, weight class 95 pounds, and Xavier in the 16-17 165-pound age range, all of whom fought in the Silver Gloves boxing competition, winning in their weight class and age for the state of California.
Daniel Acala tells me that their next competition is regionals, and if they win, they will represent district 8.
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