USA Boxing’s reigning world amateur champions – Maryland featherweight Jahmal Harvey, Massachusetts lightweight Rashida Ellis and Nevada light heavyweight Rahim Gonzales – have all decided, albeit for different reasons, to remain elite Olympic-style amateur boxers rather than join the professional ranks. Harvey is following his dream, Ellis taking care of unfinished business, and Gonzales has proven to be a model of perseverance.

 

“With three world champions currently on the team, USA Boxing is in a great position on the road to Paris 2024,” commented Matt Johnson, USA Boxing’s High Performance Team Director. “We have a nice blend of boxers, such as Rashida and Rahim, who bring years of experience to the table having been on the team throughout the previous quad. When you combine that with the younger talent of someone like Jahmal, it makes for a very well-balanced squad with several leaders that can show what it takes to be a world class boxer.”

 

Today, because of the USA Boxing program. American boxers receive room and board on the USA Boxing campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they train at the state-of-the art United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, under the guidance of a coaching staff led by Billy Walsh. The athletes also have a strength-and-conditioning coach, nutritionist, and even a publicist. In addition, they receive a comfortable monthly stipend, and some international events now offer purses for the top three finishers, up to $100,000 to the winners of the World Championships.

 

Like many boxing teams from foreign countries, USA Boxing now provides all the incentives for boxers to remain and continue developing, rather than turning pro simply for money to pay the bills.

 

The easy move for any one of these gifted boxers would have been turning pro, grabbing a signing bonus, and fighting tomato cans for a couple of years to build their records.

 

Harvey, Ellis, and Gonzales, though, have taken the advantages offered by USA Boxing, accepting the challenge to remain in Olympic-style boxing, benefit from fighting opponents from around the world against their diverse styles, and eventually jewelry shopping in Paris for gold.

 

Two of USA Boxing’s “Terrific Trio” are scheduled to compete in the USA Boxing International Invitationals starting today (September 12-15) at Pueblo Convention Center in Pueblo, Colorado. Top elite boxers will compete from 6 different countries including the United States, China, Germany, and Philippines, featuring Olympians and World Championship medalists.