Amateur boxing matches coming to Upper Valley this weekend
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REXBURG — After a long absence, amateur boxing returns to Rexburg this weekend.
The Hacienda Event Center will be the site for the 2022 K.C. Gate City Thanksgiving Invitational. The event is set for Saturday, Nov. 19, and will feature 18 bouts matching fighters from ages 8 to 30.
The event is hosted by K.C. Gate City Boxing Club of Pocatello. Event organizers want to showcase a great evening of boxing and raise funds to help make boxing more affordable for local kids. Organizers hope to repopularize the sport in the Upper Valley region.
“(Fighters) are coming all the way from Boise, Montana and Wyoming,” said Cody De Los Reyes, who helped to organize the event. “The Rexburg and St. Anthony area used to have boxing clubs back in the early 2000s. It’s probably been 18-20 years since this part of Idaho has even had boxing. It’ll be good. Hopefully, it will start up some new interest.”
De Los Reyes said interest in boxing springs from it being a sport people can compete in on their own.
“It’s an individual sport,” he said. “You are in charge of your own fate. If you trained hard enough and you’ve gotten in good enough shape, you should have a better chance of winning than just luck. Boxing’s not about luck. It’s about dedication.”
Learning the sport of boxing can benefit participants in ways that may help them in other areas of their lives.
“Discipline would be the main thing you can learn,” De Los Reyes said. “And learning to stay calm in stressful situations. Obviously, the health factor, being in good shape, is an incredible part. Boxing is such a physically demanding sport that it helps you in all other sports.”
De Los Reyes said that boxing at the amateur level is also one of the safer sports one can participate in.
“Boxing is one of the safest sports out there when it comes to injuries,” he said. “The kids wear headgear, and they have heavier gloves on, so as far as injuries, they rarely happen in amateur boxing.”
People interested in getting into boxing are encouraged to contact one of east Idaho’s boxing clubs. These include:
K.C. Gate City Boxing Club
Razor’s Edge Boxing Club
Vegas Boxing LLC
Rodriguez Boxing Club
K.C. Gate City Boxing’s Thanksgiving Invitational is set for this Saturday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m. at the Hacienda Events Center at 585 E 3000 N in Rexburg. General admission is $15, and tickets are available at the door.
