Kelii Alcos, 11, Micah Fernandez and Jon-Antony “Kai Boy” Reyes won their respective matches at the Yeshua Outreach Center in Pahoa, O‘ahu, recently. Kaua‘i Police Activities League entered four boxers in the Dec. 19 tournament, said K-PAL coach Mark Ozaki
Kelii Alcos, 11, Micah Fernandez and Jon-Antony “Kai Boy” Reyes won their respective matches at the Yeshua Outreach Center in Pahoa, O‘ahu, recently.
Kaua‘i Police Activities League entered four boxers in the Dec. 19 tournament, said K-PAL coach Mark Ozaki in a K-PAL press release, and three won their respective matches. There were a total of 17 matches on the bout card.
Alcos, competing in 60-pound division, beat a very aggressive Saul Fukunaga of the Yeshua Boxing Club in a toe-to-toe three-round brawl, Ozaki said.
“Fukunaga ran across the ring at the opening bell to catch Alcos off guard, winning the first half of the round, backing Alcos against the ropes with big left hooks and overhand rights,” Ozaki said in the release.
But Alcos demonstrated strong defensive skills and regained the momentum with superior boxing.
Fukunaga tried the successful strategy of the first round in the ensuing second and third rounds, but Alcos was prepared, side-stepping the attacks before winning a unanimous three-round decision.
“This was Keli‘i’s third boxing match in six weeks,” Ozaki said. “This makes him one of the most active boxers in Hawai‘i.”
Ozaki said K-PAL has entered six tournaments in 2009.
Micah Fernandez, battling in the 145-pound Adult Open division, won his boxing debut against Mark Ballocanag of Central Maui Boxing.
Although Fernandez tipped the scales at 145 pounds when the match was made, his weight dropped to 135 pounds on fight day.
Ozaki attributed the weight loss to Fernandez’s intense training work habits and getting down to his true competition weight division.
The size difference between the two fighters was apparent during the pre-fight instruction, the Maui fighter towering over Fernandez.
But the size difference did not deter Fernandez, who pressured Ballocanag at the opening bell, pinning him against the ropes for most the the bout with hard straight rights and left hooks to earn a unanimous decision.
Reyes, boxing in the Open Adult division, won a devastating first-round knockout over John Pascual of the Yeshua Boxing Club, Ozaki said.
Reyes tallied two knock downs, the first coming in the opening 30 seconds behind a six-punch combination, the final punch being a straight right to Pascual’s head for the knock down.
Following a standing eight count, Reyes switched to a southpaw stance and fired some three-punch combinations. Switching back to the righty, a devastating hook to Pascual’s body dropped the opponent at the 1:15 mark of the opening round.
“Reyes looked very impressive and was presented the ‘Outstanding Boxer’ of the tournament award,” Ozaki said. “This is a very prestigious award, Reyes besting 34 other fighters from nine other boxing clubs from throughout the state.”
Kainoa Simao, 13, dropped a split decision in a tough match against Nikolai Wassman of the AP Hilo Boxing Club.
“Wassman is the fifth undefeated fighter, as well a bigger fighter, that Simao has been matched against,” Ozaki said. “The fight against the bigger opponent was accepted because Kainoa has absolutely no fear and begged K-PAL coaches Dennis Bohner and Ozaki to allow him to take on the challenge.”
Ozaki said Simao’s “superb performance” at the heavier weight class demonstrated him to be the favorite to win the Hawai‘i State Boxing Title in 2010 at the 13-year-old, 85-pound division.
Ozaki said Kaua‘i people can see some of the K-PAL boxers in action when K-PAL hosts the First Annual Kenneth Oki Memorial State-wide Boxing Event on Feb. 27, 2010.
Anyone interested in being a sponsor at this event can call Ozaki at 652-6999.
