ALTADENA — A third-round standing eight count on Sunday night had all but guaranteed Terry Washington spot in the California Golden Gloves state tournament.
He won, but Washington, 18, is thinking further ahead than just eight seconds. The San Bernardino amateur boxer has big plans, just like many others at Sunday’s Golden Gloves Southern California qualifier finals at Alta Loma Park.
“I’ll be a world champion someday, that’s a promise,” Washington said. “This is officially my last year of amateurs, so I really want to be a Golden Gloves champion. And today I’m a Golden Gloves district champion.”
Washington is the No. 9-ranked amateur boxer nationally at 112 pounds after moving up from being the No. 1 boxer at 106 pounds, according to the USA Boxing rankings. He’s one of 103 amateurs between the ages of 18 and 40 who competed at the Golden Gloves qualifier, which spanned Thursday through Sunday with one day postponed due to stormy weather conditions.
The tournament featured both a novice division and open division (boxers with more than 10 bouts). Winners of their respective brackets move on to compete at the California Golden Gloves, which are slated for April 1-2 in Concord.
Daniel Mercado, who trains out of G2G Boxing Club in Pomona, punched his ticket to the state tournament in his first fight since summer. The 18-year-old recovered from a shoulder injury just in time for a two-month training camp in preparation for Golden Gloves.
Mercado previously was part of the 147-pound weight class, in which he was ranked No. 5 in the country. He’s moved up to 156 pounds, but is still hoping that winning the Golden Gloves state tournament puts him one step closer to the Olympics.
“That’s my goal and my only goal,” Mercado said. “And after that, straight to the pros.”
The additional 12 pounds didn’t make too much of a difference for Mercado, who was in the eighth bout of the night. His opponent slugged and clinched, forcing Mercado to…
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