Fierce boxing is friendly competition at Arkansas Junior Olympics

By Ethan Nahté

Putting on a pair of gloves and attempting to pummel one’s opponent may not seem all that friendly, but the good sportsmanship between competitors at the Arkansas Junior Olympics Boxing Championships was evident. Friday night and Saturday afternoon saw several bouts at the First Baptist Church in Mena.

Defender’s Boxing Club Coach Richard Hexamer said, “This will be our third show here. We’ve used Iron Mountain. We’ve used the fairgrounds building.”

Why was Mena chosen? Public schools throughout Polk County have won state tournaments. UA Rich Mountain has outstanding athletic teams. The City of Mena has put a lot of work into Tapley Park to attract tournaments. Mena is home to a large Special Olympics community that hosts several other western Arkansas schools. So, why not have a qualifier event for the 2023 USA Boxing National Junior Olympics and Summer Festival scheduled for June 3-10 in Lubbock, Texas?

At this past weekend’s event, Hexamer said they had approximately 80 names called in to compete. “When the weigh-ins are all done and they break the brackets down, we’ll know approximately how many bouts we’re going to have. We’re going to have some adults on the card. We’ll have fill-in bouts. We paid for two days of boxing that’s sanctioned, so we try to use the whole two days. It’s sanctioned under USA Boxing out of Colorado Springs.”

Hexamer believes Mena has also proven itself to be worthy of the event.

“We’ve done five shows in Mena… . The way we put on the shows, the community support and everything to welcome the boxers to the community and the restaurant, they decided they liked that and wanted to give it a shot down here.” students. Melissa estimated they have around 11 registered to box.

“I’ve never boxed,” she said, “but I’ve learned a lot over the years. [Jesse] started with Defender’s and Richard Hexamer actually gave me my start. He really pushed me to coach. He really pushed me to ref. He’s a great mentor — a very good man — and really pushed us in this direction.” few bruises, and every fighter exited the ring sweaty and a bit winded. Just because they’re competing at the amateur level does not mean punches were pulled. The victories were hard fought and fierce.

She said Jesse has boxed around four years, boxing his first two-and-a-half under Hexamer and the remainder at D-Two. He boxed in the Junior Olympics this weekend and won, as did his sister Ciara.

Defender’s Jasmine Parker, 15, won her fights both Friday night and Saturday afternoon, taking home the belt for the Arkansas Junior Olympics for the 110-pound weight class. In March, she won a unanimous decision at the Junior Golden Gloves Championship in Hot Springs.

“I’ve been boxing about six years off and on. My mom made me try [boxing].” Parker quit soccer, smiling as she stated she prefers boxing.

Defender’s had four girls scheduled to compete. Hexamer said, “They went to the National Silver Gloves up [in Missouri]. All of them except for one is going to be on this card. Jasmine [Parker] has actually competed in Hot Springs at the Silver Gloves.”

One of the four, Sally Davison, was feeling unwell and did not compete as planned. She was a bit let down since this was her last shot for qualifying for the regional event.

Defender’s sister organization, D-Two Boxing & Fitness Club, is operated by coaches Melissa Self and her son Jesse Self. D-Two is located in De Queen at the old De Queen Bee newspaper office. They also had four boxers competing in the event. The entire club has over 50

As Franco Reta was taping Hunter Boudreaux’s hands before the bout as the boxer listened to music on headphones. Reta was filling in for Boudreaux’s trainer, who was absent.

Originally from Louisiana, Boudreaux moved to Greenbrier, Arkansas. Boudreaux has been boxing seven or eight months, going into the ring 4-1 and fighting in the 165-pound weight division.

Boudreaux said, “I always got in fights at school. It’s kind of weird, but I kind of liked it. I decided I would get into legal fighting. I enjoy the competitive aspect of it. It’s just me versus the other guy and there’s no team to hold me down or win for me.

“I think I want to go pro. I think it’s something I want to do and turn into a career path. I’m 16. I think I can box in amateurs until I’m 32-years-old, but I’m going to try and go pro by the time I’m 20.”

Despite trading several hard blows with his opponent throughout three rounds, the decision went to Boudreaux’s opponent, dropping his record to 4-2, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying.

All of the boxers wear protective gear, including headgear, mouth guards and more, but there were still a couple of TKOs just during Saturday’s bouts, a

One of the other schools in attendance was Team Trio Boxing out of Clarksville, coached by Kyle Pruitt. Keaton Pruitt won his fight. Malachi Pruitt, who fought Delissa Pilant on Saturday, won his championship bout on Friday. Briella Nava won runner-up in her fight, but also took home one of the two big trophies as the judges’ choice for Fight of the Tournament. Who knows? One of these young boxers might end up at Madison Square Garden someday.