Paris 2024 Boxing World Qualification Tournament: Emilio Garcia has a strong focus on boxing and baking
U.S. boxers Emilio Garcia and Omari Jones started the Olympic qualifying tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, out with wins as they try to secure Paris 2024 quotas for the U.S.
Boxing
American boxer Emilio Garcia has been boxing since his father introduced him to the sport in a backyard gym at the family’s home. Now, he’s one step closer to clinching his Olympic dream after beating Israel’s Ahmad Shtiwi 5-0 in the preliminary round of the 63.5 kg of the boxing World Qualification Tournament in Busto, Arsizio, Italy, on Tuesday (5 March.)
“I feel good. I did what I had to do. I did feel shaky going back to the big stage. It's good to get out those nerves out the way. Next time, I expect to perform better. You know, it's all part of the process. I want to bring home that gold ticket,” Garcia said to Olympics.com after his win.
Garcia is from Laredo, Texas, a town right on the border between the United States and Mexico. If he gets his way, he’s hoping to make Laredo known for boxing. Jennifer Lozano, who is expected to represent the U.S. in women’s 50 kg boxing at Paris 2024, is also from Laredo.
“I am hoping to join her! So there would be two Olympians in one year. It's going to be big news,” Garcia said.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Emilio Garcia, boxer and baker
When cutting weight to prepare for his matches, Garcia’s sweet tooth would come out. He always liked sweets, but in those moments, he’d find himself saving recipes for him to try later. He now bakes on social media as part of a series with USA Boxing, where he bakes with teammates and coaches.
Most recently, he’s made cinnamon roll cookies and caramel brownies. For Christmas, he teamed up with Lozano to make buñuelos, a Mexican sweet treat. While in Italy for boxing, he’s tried one of their best-known sweets.
“I started getting into baking while I was cutting weight so that that was one of my biggest, motives. It's good to bake after a big win, so I'll probably make something after this,” he said. “Something I like in Italy is their cannolis. They do them different out here, so it’s definitely something I would want to, you know, whip up when I go back home with my golden ticket, you know, celebrate with the fam.”
While baking is something he enjoys outside of the ring, inside it, Garcia is all business. He said the mental challenge of the sport is more difficult than the physical.
“I always say the mental part is definitely the biggest challenge. You know, all the work's been put. There's really nothing too severe about that. As long as you're consistent in the gym, all that training is going to pay off. It’s you versus you, that's your biggest opponent. Being able to come out here, you just got to trust yourself and believe in all the work that you put in. It's going to pay off. So that's what I'm doing.”
Elsewhere in Busto Arsizio, Garcia’s U.S. teammate, Omari Jones, beat individual neutral athlete Aliaksandr Radzionau, 5-0 in the 71-kg weight class. Also at 71, Aaron Solomon Prince from Trinidad and Tobago won over Lesotho’s Arena Pakela, and Nishant Dev from India beat Lewis Richardson, a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist from Great Britain.
At 63.5, Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev beat India’s Shiva Thapa with a referee’s stoppage in the first round. Mukhammedsabyr Bazarbay Uulu from Kazakhstan beat Trinidad and Tobago’s Donnel Phillip, 5-0. Morocco’s Abdelhaq Nadir won over Hong Kong’s Kong Ching Ling with a referee’s stoppage in the second round.