Quartet of Region 11 Boxers Join Trejo in Reno Finals

By Ryan Maquiñana
Norcalboxing.net

Suray Mahmutovic is one win away from joining Team USA at the Worlds.

After Thursday night's Junior World Team Open action at the Reno Grand Sierra Resort, five Region 11 boxers now stand one win away from earning spots on Team USA for the AIBA Men's Junior World Championships.

Suray Mahmutovic (415 B.C., San Francisco) was among the local boxers leading the charge.  He advanced to Friday's 176-pound final as he collected a standing-eight count en route to a 25-8 decision over Nevada's Mario Hernandez.

"Hernandez was tough and undefeated in 2012, but Suray was able to handle him," said Rob Fernandez, Mahmutovic's coach.  "We're ready for tomorrow's final and excited for Suray, who I think has an advantage with his height and reach."

Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL) continued his torrid pace through the tournament, staking his spot in the 119-pound final with a razor-thin 7-7 (25-22 punches counted tiebreaker) nod over Ohio's Brandon Vega.

Region 11 will be assured of at least one champion in the 110-pound division.  Joseph Cuellar (Tulare A.C.) downed New York's Neketa Arabiy 17-12, while Evan Sanchez outworked Texas's Timothy Longoria 23-16.

In other divisional semifinal action, 125-pound Xavier Martinez (Golden State Bloodhounds, Sacramento) dropped a 13-9 decision to Ohio's Michael Nelson, while Nevada's Freudis Rojas took a 17-9 verdict over Oakland's Izaiah Bautista in the 106-pound bracket.

Brandon Trejo (Napa SAL) has received a bye and advanced straight to the 138-pound final.

Here's the current schedule of Region 11 amateurs competing in the single-elimination tournament and matchups for the finals, which can be viewed live at this link:

TUESDAY, JAN. 8, 2013
106 lbs. quarterfinals: Izaiah Bautista (Champ Nation, Oakland) def. Kevin Montano (Concord CYC), 14-14 (advanced via punches counted tiebreaker, 41-39)
119 lbs. round of 16: Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL) def. Troy Isley (Virginia), 11-8

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9, 2013
114 lbs. quarterfinals: Shakur Stevenson (New Jersey) def. Bryan Lua (Main Event, Fresno), 17-11
119 lbs. quarterfinals: Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL) def. Dominic Serna (Indio), 15-7
125 lbs. quarterfinals: Xavier Martinez (Golden State Bloodhounds, Sacramento) def. Gonzalo Rodriguez (Texas), 22-18

THURSDAY, JAN. 10, 2013
106 lbs. semifinals: Freudis Rojas (Nevada) def. Izaiah Bautista (Champ Nation, Oakland), 17-9
110 lbs. semifinals: Joseph Cuellar (Tulare A.C.) def. Neketa Arabiy (New York), 17-12
110 lbs. semifinals: Evan Sanchez (Parlier B.C.) def. Timothy Longoria (Texas), 23-16
119 lbs. semifinals: Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL) def. Brandon Vega (Ohio), 7-7 (25-22 tiebreaker)
125 lbs. semifinals: Michael Nelson (Ohio) def. Xavier Martinez (Golden State Bloodhounds, Sacramento), 13-9
176 lbs. semifinals: Suray Mahmutovic (415 B.C., San Francisco) def. Mario Hernandez (Nevada), 25-8

FRIDAY, JAN. 11, 2013
110 lbs. final: Evan Sanchez (Parlier B.C.) vs. Joseph Cuellar (Tulare A.C.)
119 lbs. final: Isidro Ochoa (Fresno PAL) vs. Devin Haney (Nevada)
138 lbs. final: Brandon Trejo (Napa SAL) vs. Hunter-Gabriel Manaba (Hawaii)
176 lbs. final: Suray Mahmutovic (415 B.C., San Francisco) vs. Matthew Hernandez (Texas)

Ryan Maquiñana was the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com during London 2012 and writes a weekly column for CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.