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SALT LAKE CITY — Diego Alvarez never let down as he became Utah’s only boxer standing at the 2016 Golden Gloves boxing national tournament.
That attitude proved him well again Thursday evening.
Alvarez’s decisive 5-0 win over St. Louis boxer Timothy Jarman in a 114-pound quarterfinal bout clinched a semifinal berth for the Ogden-based fighter Thursday at the Salt Palace. The 17-year-old relied on a consistent left jab to send a local boxer his way into the semifinals for the first time in four years of hosting the event.
“I was just working smart and playing things smart,” Alvarez said. “It feels so good.”
Alvarez came out swinging hard with his left jab, but used a dominant showing in the second round to take control. The only fighter left from the Rocky Mountain Region, Alvarez said he feels no pressure taking up that mantle of the region.
Of course, the young boxer is not stranger to strong finishes; he made it to the semifinals at last year’s Golden Gloves national tournament in Nevada.
“I’m just working hard, and that’s what made me come to this point,” said Alvarez, who is seeking to becoming the first Utahan to win a Golden Gloves national title since Sampson Pouha in 1991. “I think I can go far. But I don’t feel pressure; boxing is just what I do.”
Alvarez will face Tommy Robinson of Detroit in Friday's semifinals. Robinson advanced with a 3-2 decision over Indiana's Angel Maldonado.
