At the age 14 Caleb Hernandez had participated in most of your typical team sports such as basketball, baseball and football but none of them really held his interest. He joined wrestling during middle school and liked the one on one aspect of the sport; after wrestling season was over Caleb was looking for a new challenge to focus on and he decided to try Boxing. He started training at the Octavia James 'One in a Million Boxing' Club in nearby Merrillville, Indiana where he met coach Rudy Costello Jr. "He threw me into the wolves" He recalled of his first days training with coach Rudy but he quickly described his appreciation of his coach "I tell everyone that I got lucky!". This type of mutual respect has kept this 'boxer and coach' team together for the last 8 years. 

For the first 7 years of Caleb's amateur career he competed in 15 fights which averages out to about 2 fights per year which is not considered to be very active. But during all those years he kept on gaining experience by constantly training and sparring with both amateur and pros. In 2016 Caleb moved to Las Vegas to train with a friend and current 132 lbs. amateur standout James Browning. During this time, he had the opportunity to train and spar with established pros like Shawn Porter and Caleb really started understand and accept the level of work ethic that is required to reach and be successful at the elite level of the sport.

Caleb ended moving back to Northwest Indiana at the beginning of 2017 and him along with coach Rudy can be found perfecting their craft at the Hammond Boxing Club located in Hammond, Indiana. 2017 has been Caleb's best year to date, he started by claiming the Chicago Golden Gloves 165 lb. Open Championship which earned him a spot on the Chicago boxing team that traveled to Louisiana to represent the region in May; where he made it to the semifinals. He also won his division at the 'King of the Jungle' National Tournament held by the NLABA in Aurora, IL during the Summer.

"I'm addicted to the challenge" He admits as he starts looking forward "I would like to compete in more national tournaments and get nationally ranked". But he doesn’t want to look too far ahead as he admits his excitement to compete in the WBC tournament this week then afterwards he'll begin his preparation to compete at a national tournament in the first quarter of 2018 in New Mexico. Caleb hopes to continue his momentum in the amateur scene next year and gain more experience before he beings his transition into the professional ranks. Best of luck in your journey Caleb!

Omar Perez started boxing at the age of 12 when he first stepped inside the Chicago Youth Boxing Club. As a natural athlete, Omar practiced soccer, baseball and basketball before he took up the challenge of learning boxing. "I learned the game quickly" he claimed "from the beginning I knew I wanted to compete and fight." This mind set along with his athleticism enabled him to excel in this sport rapidly.

Now at the age of 16 and currently ranked 12th at 114lbs., Omar has competed in several National Tournaments including the US Nationals, Ringside World Championships, the Junior Olympics and the Silver Gloves Nationals. He attributes his Ringside championship, taking bronze at the Junior Olympics and winning his first international competition in the WBC sponsored '2 Nations 1 Dream' competition versus Mexico as his biggest accomplishments to date.

When asked what the most challenging part about boxing is he answered "Learning how to lose and being patient in the ring." Moving forward Omar wants to compete in as many National Tournaments as possible to gain as much as experience as he can in pursuit of his Olympic and Professional goals! Best of luck in your journey Omar!

It's been four years since Danny Gomez first started boxing. Now, at the age of 25, Danny is looking to start bringing his amateur career to an end, and turn pro next year.

"Being kicked out of school I never had the chance to join team sports so growing up with no parents and a brother in jail I always did everything on my own. Boxing being a lonely sports, I felt it would suit me right. Tried it once and never looked back..." Gomez explains his attraction to the sport of boxing.

Danny has learned boxing under the tutelage of Genaro Mendez and Miguel Guadarrama at Pound 4 Pound boxing gym in Highland Park, Il. He as also been a trainer for almost as long as he's been boxing. "When I first came to the gym G saw how passionate I was about boxing eventually he offered me a job."

Working in the same gym that he trains in, Danny has been able spend his last four years fully engulfed in the sport. "I want to grow in every aspect of boxing I can from fighting to coaching to the business side as well"

Rolando 'Nano' Vargas Jr. was essentially born into boxing. His dad Rolando, who was a professional boxer in Mexico, trained his older brother and Nano would always be around. "I knew I wanted to be a boxer" he explained, "I seen my dad train my older brother and I really liked it!". He started to train at the age of 3 and he stepped into the UCC Boxing Gym in Milwaukee, WI when he was 6 and he first started competing at the age of 8. Nano also started competing nationally at 8 when he fought at the Ringside Tournament in Kansas City, having gone through that experience so young only motivated him to continue improving in this sport.

Now at 18, Nano has competed in several national tournaments including Ringside, Title, the Junior Olympics, the Power Gloves and is currently ranked #2 at 141 lbs. in the Youth Mens Division. All his victories are important but looking back, his fondest accomplishment to date has been winning his division at the Junior Olympics.

He attributes his success to his family which continues motivating him to excel in this sport. "I feel like I'm ready for the pros" he assured, "I've been training really hard these past years fighting with the best to become the best and I think I'm ready for this big step in my boxing career." Best of luck in your journey Nano!

Michelle Morales first started boxing when she was 12 years old after her brother had picked up the sport around the same time. She fell in love with boxing since she first stepped into the local Scottsdale Park Boxing Gym, but due to some circumstances she needed to step away from the sport after only 1 1/2 years into her training. During her 3 year hiatus, boxing was still on her mind especially following the success her cousin Jesse was having as an amateur boxer down in San Antonio, TX.

At 16, Michelle rededicated her self to boxing and began training and shortly thereafter she started competing at local shows and national tournaments. After Scottsdale Park closed their boxing program she transitioned to Sam Colonna's Boxing Gym where you can find her preparing for her upcoming fights.

To date, Michelle has competed in 5 major tournaments throughout the US including Nevada, Florida, Texas and Tennessee. This experience has helped her understand the importance of not only physical preparation but mental preparation as well. All while testing herself against the nation's best and learning what the judges are looking for in national competition to be successful.

Fast forward to the present Michelle won her division at the 2016 Chicago Golden Gloves and is currently ranked #10 at 119 lbs. in the Elite Women division! Best of luck in your journey Michelle!

At the early age of 5 Joey Sanchez knew he wanted to box, he began his journey 3 years later at the Top Notch Academy. Fast forward to the present and now 11 he trains at the Rodarte Center Boxing Gym in Greeley, CO. With his dad Joseph running the competitive amateur boxing program at Rodarte, Joey has the opportunity to really submerge himself into the sport of boxing.
To date Joey has competed at the Junior Olympics in West Virginia, the Junior National Golden Gloves in Las Vegas and the Silver Gloves Regionals in CA. Currently he is preparing for his State Silver Gloves Championship bout today (11/18/17) to earn the opportunity to go back Regionals.
Looking forward, Joey wants to continue improving his skills to excel at the National level. Best of luck in your journey Joey!

‘Three Rounds’ Episode 1 As part of the Three Rounds project we will be releasing a podcast on a bi-weekly basis (as of now) where we will highlight the local pro and amateur boxing scene in Illinois, Wisconsin and NW Indiana.

Fast forward to the 39:20 mark of this episode to hear some of the reasons why this project came about. As we move forward you will notice a more local feel to the podcast as we will be interviewing boxers and trainers as well as covering local shows and tournaments, and highlighting local gyms among other things. As boxing fans we love to talk pro fights, and we will be giving our perspective on some of the upcoming match-ups, latest fights and current topics that this sport keeps on providing.

In this episode we discuss Canelo vs GGG, Ward’s Retirement, Ortiz vs Wilder and Rigondeaux vs Lomachenko among other things. We are just getting started and the project is still very fluid. Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with what we are doing as well as release date announcements of our upcoming audio and visual projects. Download

At 8 years old, Daniel Blancas first walked in to UCC Boxing Gym as a way to stay in shape. As his training progressed, he started to like it more and more and decided he wanted to compete. Now at the age of 16, Blancas has won over 15 tournaments including 2016 USA National Championships and 2017 National Junior Olympics. Moving forward Daniel wants to continue to progress and make his family proud, try to make the Olympics and definitely turn pro.Good luck on your journey, Daniel!

With the registration deadline now having passed, below is a list of all local amateurs looking to qualify to the 2017 Elite National Championships this December in Salt Lake City. Best of luck to all the boxers!!

Elite Female

119 lbs.
Michelle Morales_Chicago, IL
125 lbs.
Olivia Hendrickson_Waterford, WI

Elite Male

132 lbs.
Kenya Rainey_Chicago, IL
Daniel Vaz Da Costa_Lake Zurich, IL
141 lbs.
Kahleel Mosley_Chicago, IL
Rolando Vargas_Milwaukee, WI
152 lbs.
Antoine Cobb_Chicago, IL
Razvan Gavriluti_Lake Zurich, IL
Azeez Muhammad_Chicago, IL
Julian Smith_County Club Hills, IL
Braulio Meraz_Milwaukee, WI
165 lbs.
Ray Corona_Chicago, IL
Keith Donald_Chicago, IL
Jordon Jackson_Sauk Village, IL
178 lbs.
Andrew Lynch_Chicago, IL
201 lbs.
Ernest Scott_Chicago, IL

Youth Male

123 lbs.
Ezequiel Huaracha_Streamwood, IL
Lorenz Jordan_Greenbay, WI
Julian Newell_Oswego, IL
132 lbs.
Ryan Hamel_Park Ridge, IL
152 lbs.
Joseph Lee_Waukegan, IL

Junior Male

114 lbs.
Jason Komanekin_Keshena, WI
125 lbs.
Breeon Carothers Jr._Racine, WI

Intermediate Male

80 lbs.
Zachary Carter_Country Club Hills, IL

Bantam Male

75 lbs.
Kevin Ayala_Huntley, IL
80 lbs.
Jose Maria Rodriguez_Maywood, IL
119 lbs.
Joseph Miranda_Delavan, WI

Pee Wee 9-10 Male

70 lbs.
Owen Miranda_Delavan, WI