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 Guard boxers shape their futures during National championships By Staff Sgt. Rebecca Doucette / Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
                National Guard Bureau
 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Even though this year's U.S. Olympic boxing team has been selected for Beijing, other athletes already have set their sights for London in 2012. National Guard Sgts. Cherrie Retamozzo from New York and John Franklin from Missouri competed in USA Boxing's U.S. Future Stars National Championships during the second week in March as part of their personal journeys toward the next Summer Olympics. They were on the All-Army boxing team and they fought the best civilian boxers from around the country with hopes of being ranked among the elite and gaining eligibility to compete internationally. Retamozzo placed third in the women's elite rankings. Franklin lost in his first bout 36-14 to defending national bantamweight champion Ronny Rios who went on to reclaim the title and elite ranking. Retamozzo returned to the All-Army team after a two-year hiatus. During that time she left active duty, had a baby and won a women's title at the Empire State Games in New York. She competed in the women's featherweight division at the nationals and outscored her first challenger, California's Carmen Montes, 20-5 on the third night of competition. She advanced to the semifinals to face Alexandria Cardenas of San Angelo, Texas. According to Retamozzo, after a win she allows herself to "go home and sleep," but she uses a loss to learn and keep focused. She experienced both at the nationals. The Texan gave Retamozzo a run for her money. Spurred on by loud cheers from her Army teammates, Retamozzo came back to tie the score twice in the fourth round. The judges were left to decide who would advance to the finals. The decision went to Cardenas. Staff Sgt. Charles Leverette, the World Class Athlete Program assistant head coach, described Retamozzo as "the most disciplined boxer of this whole tournament. Word for word, she did exactly what we asked her to do. We got 100 percent out of her." Retamozzo is not part of WCAP because women's boxing is not an Olympic sport. But Leverette's observations were welcome words of encouragement. Cardenas won the championship which left Retamozzo third in the women's elite rankings. That should allow her to compete in the Pan American Games and The World Games later this year. "I would like to one day, God willing, and it's allowed for women, become a World Class Athlete Program member [at Fort Carson, Colo.]," Retamozzo said. Franklin, a WCAP veteran, made it to the semifinals in last year's U.S. championships. He's a national Golden Gloves bronze medalist and most recently won silver at the 2007 World Military Games in Hyderabad, India. Franklin can also claim four straight All-Army and Armed Forces championships. This U.S. championships marked his first tournament in the bantamweight class. Referring to his move up in weight, Franklin said, "You get some strong guys down there, but it's more about speed. [In bantamweight] the guys are a little bit stronger " ̃cause they come down from a higher weight. They might walk around at 130, 132 pounds and drop weight, so it's just a difference of a little bit of power." Despite his tournament-ending loss, Franklin kept his perspective. "Moving up from a different weight class is like starting all over again. "¦ You have to prove yourself all over again. "¦ I knew that, so I wanted to be strong against [Rios], and I had him hurt a couple of times. I wasn't able to capitalize on it like I wanted to, but I think now he knows that I'm one of the guys he's going to have to respect if he ever meets me again." Franklin is the only full-time Guard Soldier on the All-Army team. "You can accomplish your dream, whether you join the Army, whether you join any service, but the National Guard has helped me so much in this process," he said. "Just keep supporting me and you guys will have a champion here pretty soon." Leverette spoke highly of Franklin. "He leads from the front. A lot of the guys respect him because of his past accomplishments. When you have somebody with that strong character and that leadership trait, it makes my job easier." As returning members of the All-Army team, Franklin and Retamozzo are regarded as leaders for the younger Soldiers who try out every January. "They're great veterans, great leaders," said Leverette of the Guard boxers. "They bring both sides of the table, which makes us good and diverse. They understand the civilian side and they understand the military side. For a lot of our guys, the Army's all they've ever done, so [the Guard boxers] give them guidance and feedback." "If you're out there and you want to box and you're in the Guard, come see me," Leverette concluded. "Look me up on AKO, Staff Sgt. Charles Leverette. Send me an e-mail. We'll see what we can do. We're looking for all the athletes we can find."
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