LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Tyric Trapp had a whole year to think about the disappointment of Virginia.
The highly touted amateur was in total control of his fight with Delbert Taylor in the opening bout of the U.S. National Championships last December. It all vanished in an instant due to a freak accident - a dislodged tooth - which brought his bid for the national title to an abrupt end.
The loss meant he would miss out on being on USA Boxing’s High Performance team, which competes internationally and is developing the candidates who could potentially represent the country at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
With a point to prove, Trapp headed out to the 2025 National Championships in Lubbock, Texas earlier this month. He claimed the 176lbs national title with three straight victories, including a dominant third round stoppage of the No. 3 ranked Doniyor Mannopov on December 13 to wrap up the championship.
For Trapp, 25, it all came down to staying focused on the goal.
“Coming back off what happened last year, just staying in the gym, even with my injury…So when this tournament came around, I was sharp and didn't have to really chase after anything in there,” said Trapp on Monday at his home gym, Gleason’s Jersey Shore in Long Branch, New Jersey.
“I just keep going back to staying locked in for real. Staying locked in is having that team around me to keep me lasered in.”
Trapp, a two-time National Golden Gloves champion from Red Bank, New Jersey, entered the tournament ranked No. 9 in the country but will likely shoot up after this latest victory.
Now, the hard-hitting southpaw is taking the next step in his journey as he heads to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado for the High Performance team selection camp, which runs from January 11 to February. 11.
There, Trapp will be evaluated by USA Boxing’s national team coaches for a chance to represent the United States internationally. The High Performance team is currently represented at 176lbs by Rahim Gonzales, the 29-year-old from Las Vegas who has been part of the U.S. team since winning the Olympic trials in 2019.
As much as a long shot as Trapp’s journey back to the top has been, it pales in comparison to the odds he had to overcome just to get started in the first place.
Trapp didn’t start boxing until he was 22 years old, having spent most of his time before that playing basketball. Trapp had been a standout ball player, first at Monmouth Regional High School, and then at Ocean County College, where he averaged 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in the 2018-2019 season for the Vikings.
When his basketball endeavors ended, he turned to boxing as a tribute to his father, Denard Trapp, who boxed during the 80s and 90s for the U.S. Army team, winning gold at the 1990 Olympic Festival, and was a runner-up at the 1991 U.S. National Championships. Trapp says he never listened to the people who told him he was too old to start boxing.
“It goes back to that support that I have around me, just letting me know, like, if that's something that you want to do, you can do it,” said Trapp, who continues to run basketball camps for children during the summer.
“I say that to anybody: if you think you can do something, if you know you can do something, anybody can do anything in this world.”
Aside from winning numerous national tournaments, Trapp has also picked up significant experience in the gym, sparring with the likes of national champion Malachi Georges, who is joining him in pre-camp, plus former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jnr.
Just as his father represented the United States during international tournaments in Germany, Cuba and Canada, Trapp hopes to have that same opportunity. Working in his favor is the fact that he has been invited several times to the Olympic Training Center for camps, and has a familiarity with the system that High Performance team candidates will be expected to adhere to.
Trapp doesn't want to look too far ahead to LA 2028, but says he is ready to claim a spot on the High Performance team.
“I'm just expecting to be myself. I think if I be myself, the coaches are going to like that. I know exactly what the coaches are looking for,” said Trapp.
“I just continue to be me, stay in the gym, and keep the right people around me, just staying locked in, just going into that with positive energy, just doing what I do best…I think this spot is mine.”
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.
