(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Team USA will return to international action in a dual competition against Puerto Rico on December 3 at the Cosme Behitía Coliseum in Cataño, Puerto Rico. A squad made up of 10 male athletes and one lightweight female competitor from the United States will take on an elite team from Puerto Rico in the final international competition of the year. The U.S. delegation left today for San Juan to prepare for Friday’s competition.
Three former or current USA Boxing National Champions will headline the U.S. squad with reigning bantamweight titlist Joseph Diaz, Jr. (El Monte, Calif.), and 2009 light flyweight national champion Miguel Cartagena (Philadelphia, Pa.) and 2009 lightweight national champion Duran Caferro (Helenta, Mont.) all traveling to Puerto Rico for the event. 2010 National PAL lightweight champion Stephanie Han (El Paso, Texas) will compete in her second international competition in the past month in the USA vs. Puerto Rico Dual. Han will enjoy the opportunity to have her older sister, Jennifer Han, a boxer on the first-ever Women’s World Championships, as part of the coaching staff at the dual event.
Light flyweight Eros Correa (San Jose, Calif.), two-time National PAL Flyweight Champion Adam Lopez (San Antonio, Texas), 2010 USA Boxing National Championships light welterweight bronze medalist Abel Ramos (Arizona City, Ariz.), 2010 USA Boxing National Championships welterweight bronze medalist Luis Olivares, Jr. (Glendale, Ariz.), 2010 USA Boxing National Championships middleweight bronze medalist Daquan Arnett (Orlando, Fla.), 2010 Under 19 National Championships light heavyweight silver medalist Jerry Odom (Bowie, Md.), heavyweight Pernell Mitchell (Melbourne, Fla.), and 2010 USA Boxing National Championships silver medalist Danny Kelly (Washington DC) will round out the U.S. roster.
Two 2000 Olympic Coaches, Israel Acosta (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Candy Lopez (San Jose, Calif.), will join Han in leading the U.S. delegation. USA Boxing Board of Directors member Gary Pliner (Janesville, Wis.) will serve as the Team Manager for the event with Angel Franklin (Milwaukee, Wis.) working as the AIBA official and Dr. Armando Sanchez (Milwaukee, Wis.) joining the squad as the Team Physician.
The boxers representing Puerto Rico will be: light flyweight Angel Acosta, flyweight Jonathan González, bantamweight Félix Verdejo, lightweight José Pedraza, female lightweight Kiria Tapia, light welterweight Prichard Colón, welterweight Christian Peguero, middleweight Enrique Collazo, light heavyweight José Soto, heavyweight José Santiago, and super heavyweight Gerardo Bisbal.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).