With one final rock-hard right, Lowie Cudillo left little doubt in his coach’s mind that he and his twin brother Lester are ready for nationals.
The Red Deer boxers defended their titles on Sunday at the 2014 Alberta Provincial Boxing Championships at the Harvest Centre in Red Deer, completing two years of Alberta domination.
Lowie dropped Dustin Amdo of the Beverly Bronx Boxing Club out of Edmonton, with eight seconds to go in the third round to win the 60 kilogram youth title. He was also later named the top youth boxer at the tournament.
“It’s a relief for me (to knock him down) because I know for sure that I’m ahead,” said Cudillo.
He took a closely contended first round, dominated the second and then finished a hard-fought third round with a late flurry to take the unanimous decision.
Lester Cudillo also won by unanimous decision, but took a completely different approach against Mitchell Kubrek from the Avenue Boxing Club out of Edmonton to take the 54kg junior title. Cudillo had already beat Kubrek the previous two times they had a fought so knew his competitor well. Instead of forcing the issue, he was more tactical, waiting out Kubrek and looking for his openings.
“My game plan was to keep my distance because he knows how to brawl and he’s a good close fighter,” said Lester.
Winning is nothing new for either twin, but it is a feeling that doesn’t get old.
“It feels good, it feels perfect, I am the champion,” said Lester.
They both have already won provincial Golden Gloves and Diamond Gloves titles and both struck gold in the Alberta Winter Games in February in Banff and Canmore, with each winning twice by technical knockout.
Red Deer and District Boxing Club coach Dennis Ejack was impressed by the showing of the twins on Sunday and believes they are ready for a run at nationals later this summer in Ontario. Going to nationals is the first big step in qualifying for Olympic, Commonwealth and Pan-Am Games.
It has been a quick ascent for the Philippine nationals, who have only been boxing for two years. Their dedication to the sport has played a big part in their early success, working with Ejack at the club and their father Leo Cudillo at home in their basement.
They also scour the province looking for top level boxers to train against to raise their level.
“These guys are sparring with national champions and bigger 25-year-old guys and they had to do well and their technique came out through sparring,” said Ejack.
The weekend did not go quite as well for the local club’s other provincial champ, Cole Farwell, 17.
The Red Deer boxer entered the open category due to having 10 fights on his record already, unfortunately, he drew an older boxer with 60 more fights under his belt. This put Farwell as the big underdog, but he managed to hang and push the bout to a decision, that went in favour of his opponent.
Still, his willingness to step up and take on the challenge told Ejack everything he needed to know about his pupil. The club’s motto is AAA — which stands for Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime — and Farwell took that to heart.
“When Cole considered that yesterday, that’s why he fought,” said Ejack. “We realized with Cole, he can learn much more from a loss than he can a win.”
Up next for the club is the Western Canadian Championships, also in Red Deer, from June 7 and 8. The club will have its work cut out to top this past weekend after setting new records for attendance — a packed house on both Saturday and Sunday — and participants with 84 boxers over the two days.
Other results from Sunday include: Fort McMurray’s Blake McPhee in an unanimous decision over Peace River’s Jordan Ledger in 64 Kg senior; Medicine Hat’s Ewan Smith over Cody Gautier at 46 Kg junior in a unanimous decision; Fort McMurray’s Sam Brown unanimously over Daithi Duignah of the Panther Boxing Club in Edmonton at 81 Kg senior novice; Slave Lake’s Carl Knight unanimously over South Side Edmonton’s Tyrell Wilson at 35 Kg junior B; BBB’s Tethlmach Chuoi in a split over Bajram Feraj of South Side Legion Boxing Club in Edmonton in 75 Kg Jr. B; Wabaska’s Garrity Thompson with a TKO of Ethan Hetke out of Edmonton’s Cougar Boxing Club in 64 Kg junior; Jackie Baker out of Calgary’s Legacy Boxing Club TKO’d Kayenna Cardinal out of the Kamikaze Punishment Headquarters in Edmonton in 54 Kg Sr. women’s; BBB’s Kelly Turner won by knockout due to injury over Legacy’s Megan Massini at 69 KG Sr. women’s; Legacy’s Jordan McNaughton unanimously beat Bonnyville’s Mark Fieger at 69 Kg Sr. novice; Legacy’s Mario Rovanet unanimously beat Avenue’s Ming Houang at 75 Kg Sr. novice; Panther’s Ben Alvarez unanimously beat Bonnyville’s Isiah Hayden in 81 Kg senior open; West Edmonton Knights Boxing Club’s Mireille Ares unanimously beat Legion’s Shakira Jamerson in 75Kg Sr. Women’s novice; and Knight’s Austin Jack won a split decision with BBB’s Joseph Morrison in 45 Kg Jr. A.