Madera boxer wins SoCal tournament
For The Madera Tribune
Vincent Montemayor Jr.
Madera’s Vincent Montemayor Jr. is quickly making a name for himself in the boxing world.
The 11-year-old boxer snagged his latest accolade when he won the bantam male, 70-pound division at the Southern California Amateur State Boxing Championships on July 14.
The tournament brought together some of the top amateur boxers in the U.S., but Montemayor didn’t have any problems holding his own.
Montemayor’s dad, Vincent Montemayor Sr., said his son has been preparing for a long time and he felt confident going into the tournament.
Montemayor took the title with a third-round stoppage in the championship round against Edgar Castro from Utah..
“They stopped it because the other kid was taking too many punches,” Montemayor Sr. said.
As he watched the opening round of the championship match, Montemayor Sr. felt confident in how the fight would go for his son.
The referee stopped the match twice in the second round, to give Montemayor’s opponent a chance to recover from the beating he was taking.
“Since they’re kids, they give them breaks. They just say ‘Okay, let him rest for eight seconds to let him get his head together,’” Montemayor Sr. said. “He knocked him down in the third round and then the kid just had too much punishment after that and the ref stopped it.”
There were more than 400 people watching the tournament at the Valley Wide Recreation & Park District Gym in Menifee, but Montemayor has already performed on many other big stages and didn’t allow himself to be fazed.
The crowd included renowned boxers Mikey Garcia and “Sugar” Shane Mosley.
“There were retired boxers and professional boxers, so it was good for him to meet them,” Montemayor Sr. said.
Having watched his son through the years, Montemayor Sr said he doesn’t get nervous while watching the fights, but he sometimes gets nervous because Vincent might forget some details.
No matter the result, Montemayor always goes back to the film to see what he can do better.
After a recent loss in Ontario, for example, Montemayor Sr. said Vincent was disappointed, but still went back to the film and was determined to do better next time.
“He did good. He outboxed the kid. He made the kid miss, but the kid was just busier,” Montemayor Sr. said about the loss in Ontario. “He threw more punches. I think he lost based on the kid looking busier.”
While Vincent looks to continue his success in the ring, his family is also busy helping him raise funds.
Montemayor Sr. said it has been a challenge getting sponsorships because most sponsors are looking to support teams instead of individual sports like boxing.
Still, the family has been holding events in the community for fundraising. Vincent also asks for support through social media, Vincent Montemayor Jr. on Facebook and vincent.montemayor.jr on Instagram.
The family is looking to cover the cost of going to tournaments as well as the cost of gas as Vincent goes back-and-forth between Madera and Fresno for training.
