The Balderas brothers are back in the spotlight in the junior boxing world after coming back from the 7th annual Desert Showdown National competition in Coachella. Carlos, 11 (left), and Rudy, 12, both made it to the final round in the 75-pound weight class (though in different age groups). Just making the finals is a big accomplishment, especially considering that it was at one of the biggest tournaments of the year.
But not only did they make it, Carlos came back a champion and Rudy a runner up. To hear the boys tell it, they both won that day. Rudy had decided to fight in the final round, even though he’d hurt his hand earlier in the tournament.
“The second round, I guess I punched wrong and hit my thumb,” Rudy said.
Even with a hurt thumb, the boys agree that the match-up should have gone to Rudy, but his opponent was a local kid and a fan favorite. Still, they’ll have plenty of chances to win again. In fact, this was the second time these boys had been to the Coachella tournament. Last year, Carlos was the champion in the 60-pound weight class.
These two are going to take a break for a few weeks. For them, that still means training twice every day, but at least they don’t have to worry about making weight—until September, that is, for their next national tournament in Oxnard.
This article appears in Aug 21-28, 2008.