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Carson’s Sapien headed to boxing nationals

Carson High student and Carson City Boxing Club member, Jimmy Sapien, poses for a photo. Sapien was the only youth athlete in Northern Nevada to qualify for the Silver Gloves National Championships this week in Missouri.

Carson High student and Carson City Boxing Club member, Jimmy Sapien, poses for a photo. Sapien was the only youth athlete in Northern Nevada to qualify for the Silver Gloves National Championships this week in Missouri.
Courtesy Christina Sapien

By Carter Eckl

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

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 Jimmy Sapien was the only youth boxer in Northern Nevada to qualify for the 2022 National Silver Gloves Championship this year.
The 15-year-old Sapien, is a Carson High student and will be in Independence, Missouri this week looking to capitalize on his Region 8 Championship.
His mother, Christina, says Jimmy was born into a family that has been entrenched in the sport.
“You could kind of say we come from a boxing family,” said Christina Sapien.
According to his mother, Jimmy’s grandfather, Tony Alvarado, was ranked No. 5 in the world in the 1960’s after turning pro following his military service where he was also a boxer.
His father was an amateur boxing along with his uncle, paving the way for Jimmy’s involvement in the sport.
“He’s been around it his whole life, but did many other things,” said Christina. “Then about three years ago, he decided he wanted to pursue it more.”
Now, Jimmy is a member of the Carson City Boxing Club and a member of USA Boxing, bringing him to competitions across the Western United States.
Silver Gloves is for boxers under 16 years of age, where Jimmy fights at 119 pounds.
In December, Jimmy won Silver Gloves in the state of Nevada before going on to regionals in Compton, California last month.
Before boxing, Jimmy showed his athleticism, competing in football, baseball and competitive gymnastics.
“I think it’s hitting him now how important and exciting it is,” said Christina of Jimmy’s accomplishment. “He’s really motivated and I think he’s just really driven.”
Other Northern Nevada boxers joined Jimmy at regionals, but only Sapien qualified for the national championships in Missouri.
While at nationals, Jimmy will fight in three-round bouts, lasting a minute-and-a-half per round.
Three judges will score the bouts. They’re a total of eight boxers at 119 pounds for the national tournament this week.

Local training and fundraising
Jimmy has been training at Carson City Boxing Club for the last three years.
Early in his life, Jimmy would mess around with the bags, but didn’t start training until he was 12.
Carson City Boxing Club is owned by Frank and Mike Peralta and has been around for more than two decades.
“A lot of thanks go to Carson City Boxing Club. They are great guys, who have really dedicated a great portion of their life to teaching kids the sport,” said Christina. “We’ve now raised enough money to go, but I think if anyone ever wanted to donate to the boxing gym.”
Christina set up a GoFundMe page to initially raise funds for the coaches to make the trip out to Missouri. With Nationals being this week, Christina is keeping to page open to help raise funds for the gym itself.
Donations can be submitted by following the GoFundMe link as follows: https://www.gofundme.com/f/carson-city-boxing-club-going-to-nationals

(Jimmy Sapien / Courtesy)

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