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Chris Cozzone: Amateur champ Shabazz aims for Olympic pizazz

By Chris Cozzone
Friday, May 11, 2007

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Las Cruces boxer Siju Shabazz has Olympic dreams and is a step closer to that goal.

Shabazz became the first New Mexican since Johnny Tapia 22 years ago to win a National Golden Gloves title.

Four New Mexico boxers made their mark at the event, but Shabazz was the lone representative from the state to win a title.

This past Saturday, Shabazz captured the 178-pound title at the 2007 National Golden Gloves in Chattanooga, Tenn. He defeated DeRae Crane of Davenport, Iowa, for his first national amateur championship.

"I went in there with the mind-set that I was going to win," said Shabazz, a 21-year-old senior studying business management at New Mexico State University.

"But it wasn't until after my second fight that it hit home that I could win."

In his second fight, at the quarterfinals on May 2, Shabazz was matched against Cymone Kearney of Oakland, Calif., winning a 3-2 decision.

"He beat me pretty good the first round," Shabazz said, "but I did what I had to do after that. After winning, I thought, `Nobody's going to beat me.' "

Shabazz went on to defeat J.J. Jones of Chattanooga, Tenn., in the quarterfinals. He followed that with a unanimous decision in the semifinals on May 3 over Alexander Johnson of Washington, D.C.

Shabazz called the victory over DeRae in the finals "the high point of my career, so far."

Shabazz is 70-10 in his four-year amateur career.

"But's it's not as high as I plan to go," he said. "To me, it's one small step, because I have big plans and big dreams."

Shabazz is shooting for the highest honor in amateur boxing - a berth on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

During the first week of June, Shabazz will be in Colorado Springs fighting for what will be his second national championship at the U.S. Championships. In August, he'll be competing at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, having already qualified with his win last weekend.

Three other New Mexicans competed in last weekend's tournament: Albuquerque's Archie Ray Marquez reached the quarterfinals at 132 pounds; Hobbs' Edgar Zubia lost his second bout at 141; and Sammy DiPace, also of Las Cruces, was narrowly defeated in the semi-finals by Ronny Rios of Santa Ana, Calif.

Rios went on to win the 119-pound division.

DiPace will be at the U.S. Open hoping to qualify for the Olympic Trials. DiPace is considered by many to be the state's top amateur and, after winning 13 national championships in the junior division, has been turning heads in the open class.

"We are definitely blessed in Las Cruces," Shabazz said.

Two young pros, Austin Trout (9-0, 8 KOs), who was New Mexico's last national amateur champ when he won the U.S. Open in 2004, and high-ranking Ricky Vasquez (1-0, 1 KO), who recently turned pro, mark the beginning of a long-running wave of pro talent coming out of Las Cruces.

"It was Austin who really got me into boxing," said Shabazz, who grew up in Chaparral, N.M., before moving to Las Cruces at age 16.

"I was hanging out with him during my senior year of high school when he said to come to the gym. I did, and it all happened from there - I'd watch Austin every day and do what he did."

Trout, now a solid pro prospect at 154 pounds, is slated to fight on the Top Rank card May 25 at Isleta Casino & Resort.

"Austin's going to be a world champ," Shabazz said. "After the Olympics, that's what I plan, too."