Young boxers finding their way in Golden Gloves regional championships

Izak and Jorge Carlos fight like brothers.

Thursday in the Golden Gloves regional championships at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., that meant the Carlos brothers took victory in similar impressive fashion.

Izak won his match in the boys 13- and 14-year-old, 80-pound weight class with a flurry of punches in the final round, and Jorge took his match in the boys 15- and 16-year-old, 108-pound weight class with a strong left-hand jab and dominant punching throughout.

Part of Turner Boxing Academy, the Carlos brothers began boxing five years ago and represent two of the more promising young boxers in the Kansas City area.

“It’s a really fun sport if you get into it,” Izak, 13, said. “We have the potential to become great, so it’s something to work towards.”

Introduced to boxing by their aunt, the brothers have traveled all over the country for various tournaments.

“Once I put the gloves on, I just loved it. I enjoy the fighting, the traveling, and getting to fight a lot of different people,” said Jorge, 16, who is a sophomore at Olathe Northwest. “One time I went to Reno, and it was very professional. They gave you the specific red-and-blue gear to wear; it was like a professional match.”

In addition to winning matches, the sport has yielded other benefits.

“I’m a more confident person,” said Izak, an eighth-grader at Prairie Trail Middle School. “When I first started, everyone was bigger than me, so I was intimidated. But having success with something new like boxing, you get more comfortable around people.”

The brothers enjoy watching professional boxing in their free time. Jorge likes Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz, who is from Cuba and the current super bantamweight champion.

“He moves his head real well and uses groundhog style, where he ducks really low,” Jorge said. “I sometimes try to emulate him. I also sometimes try to emulate Floyd Mayweather. He fights with his hands down and doesn’t let anybody touch him. He has a good-looking style.”

Added Izak: “Fighting like Mayweather works for Jorge because he’s fast. If you’re slow, can’t do that style. I like Mayweather as a fighter. I like his speed. His speed is a huge a factor. He punches faster than people can react.”

Both brothers have big goals of going to the Olympics in the sport and turning professional at some point in their early 20s. They’re currently too young to go to the Golden Gloves national tournament — you have to be 19 — but they will keep on participating in local and regional tournaments, all the while helping each other out at home with different aspects of the sport.

And while they may be brothers who fight, there’s no actual fighting between the two brothers at home or anywhere else.

“No,” Jorge said. “Our parents don’t let us.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Young boxers finding their way in Golden Gloves regional championships."