NEWARK, N.J. — For all boxers, the process of trying to make the United States’ national team is a difficult one. You’re surrounded by the best of the best at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, training up to three times a day while working within a system that likely differs greatly from the one you came up in. All of this is done in the hope of having your name called when the international competition roster is announced.
For Ramon Ordonez of Newark, New Jersey, there was another level of sacrifice that had to be made. As the youngest boxer in the elite (18 years and older) pool, the 18-year-old Ordonez had the added burden of trying to finish his final year of high school—sitting through classes on Zoom calls —when others were catching up on much needed rest.
The unique circumstances of living up to a month at a time in Colorado after selection camp began in January meant he had to miss prom and senior trips, even if he was able to make it in time to walk the stage and receive his diploma from the Donald M. Payne Snr School of Technology. Sure, it was tough, but Ordonez knew it would be. He never entered into this expecting it to be easy.
“I already knew sacrifices were going to come with trying to accomplish great things like what I'm doing now,” said Ordonez, a versatile southpaw with about 50 bouts to his credit.
“One of the toughest things wasn't so much missing prom, but when we were doing online school, even while I was in selection camp, because I couldn't have all my focus just on boxing. I had to make sure after practice that I get on the Zoom calls, I take my classes, I hand in the work just so I can make sure that I do graduate.”
“From a young age, I knew that this is what I wanted. I knew that school wasn't really for me. I graduated and I'm proud of that, but boxing is definitely what I see myself doing.”
Not only did Ordonez graduate, he also made enough of a statement during selection camp to be named to the USA Boxing High Performance Team, and will be the country’s 132lbs representative at the World Boxing Championships, set for September 4-14 at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Making the team is no small feat, especially considering that Ordonez was starting from behind after losing a decision to Thomas Covington in the finals of last year’s National Championships. Ordonez says he was able to convince the team that he was the right man for the spot through his performance in camp.
“We were sparring and I was having my way with him. Maybe they just wasn't really liking the way they seen him performing and things like that,” said Ordonez.
“It’s a huge honor being able to compete amongst other great talents across the world from different countries. I truly believe in me, my skill and my preparation out at Colorado and even back home with my father. Because I truly believe that I am the best and I am the best fighter at 132 all around the world, not just the states. So I'm definitely ready to go out there, perform and do what I do.”
Ordonez’s confidence comes from having been around the sport virtually all of his life. His father, Victor Ordonez Snr, had been an amateur boxer when he was younger, but admits he didn’t take the sport as seriously as his sons did. “I never was as good or dedicated as my kids are. I didn't have the support system they had,” Victor says. Soon, Victor began bringing his sons, Victor Jnr and Ramon, with him to the gym, focusing more on preparing his older son Victor Jnr for his fights. Still, the younger Ramon was always paying attention, absorbing knowledge.
“I used to be in the gym in diapers,” remembers Ramon. “My older brother used to box back then, so when I used to see him travel and see the other kids from the gym also travel and do those things in the tournaments, that's when it was definitely like, ‘yeah, I want to do this.’ That's definitely something that made me fall in love and want to do the sport even more.”
But while Victor Jnr, now 22, stepped away from boxing in 2021, Ramon has taken his ambitions with boxing to the next level. Ramon had his first official bout a month after he became eligible at age 8, and won his first national title, the National Junior Olympics Championships title at 90lbs, in 2021. Since then he has added on other national titles, including the 2022 National Qualifiers at 106lbs and the 2023 National Junior Golden Gloves at 114lbs.
Since being invited to the selection camp in January, Ramon’s dedication to the sport has been put to the test in new ways. First, he wakes up and heads to weigh-ins, then, after breakfast, begins his first training session at 9 a.m., working on strength and conditioning for the next hour. Then, after a bit of rest, there will be coordination drills, followed by boxing skills work or sparring. There, at 6,000 feet of elevation, he is surrounded by veterans of the Olympic system, including 2024 Olympians Jennifer Lozano, Alyssa Mendoza, Jajaira Gonzalez and Morelle McCane, all of whom have returned to the 2025 High Performance team. Richard Torrez Jnr, the unbeaten heavyweight pro who won a silver medal at the 2020 Games, also drops by to share his experiences.
“In the end, I’m a student in the game, and if I see something that I could take, that I like that could work for me, I definitely will,” said Ordonez.
“Whenever I see little things at the moment that catches my eye, I definitely keep that in back of my head. So just watching them work, being around the Olympics and seeing how they maneuver, in and outside the ring definitely helps for sure.”
The World Championships will be Ordonez’s second international tournament. Ordonez was tapped to travel to Brazil to compete at the World Cup tournament in April, but only found out the day before the team left. Ordonez fought Poland’s Pawel Brach, in the opening round, losing a unanimous decision. He admits it wasn’t his best performance, as he wasn’t able to prepare the way the “A-Team” normally would, which includes acclimatizing to the environment in which they will compete. The “B-team,” Ordonez says, was mostly just doing their roadwork.
“I did go out there a little underprepared, just due to the fact that I wasn't able to have the opportunity to train the way they trained the A-team people,” said Ordonez. “But like I said, I'm not one for excuses. It was good experience, and coming now, going to worlds, going to England, I'ma just make sure that I do what I do.”
Aside from Ordonez and the four Olympians, the U.S. team will also be represented in England by Yoseline Perez, Isabella Winkler and Naomi Graham, plus Orlando Zamora, Rene Camacho, Carlos Flowers, Robby Gonzales, Malachi Georges and Kelvin Watts.
Ordonez, whose parents are both of Puerto Rican descent, says that he finds inspiration in trying to live up to the legacy of Puerto Rican greats like Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto. He also looks up to another former national team fighter, 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson, who had previously trained out of the same Newark gym where he started, Elite Heat Boxing. If Ordonez can successfully navigate the waters of international boxing, he may too find himself stepping into the ring at Los Angeles 2028, just as the others on his team have hopes of accomplishing.
One thing that is for sure is that, wherever he intends to go in life, Ordonez believes boxing can bring him there.
“You hear a lot of stories, how people come from all different types of backgrounds, good ones, bad ones. But when they really take boxing serious, and they do become something, the way it could change their lives. But not just their lives, their family lives, their parents lives,” said Ordonez.
“I want to be able to retire my parents, retire my siblings. I want to be able to live very comfortably.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.