After logging all those miles over the past four years to find opponents around Nevada as well as California and Idaho, Brent John finally had a chance to showcase his boxing skills before a crowd at home on Saturday night.
That will explain the grimace on John's face after hearing the decision of the judges that awarded Brandon Galvez a victory by decision in their 135-pound bout during the Bruno's Boxing Club-hosted Amateur Boxing Invitational at Dresslerville Gym.
"I was just like, I thought that was going to be me (winning)," said John, a 15-year-old who lives in Dresslerville and represents War Path Boxing Club. "You could say I was ... shocked."
It was still another solid outing for John, who was coming off a second-place finish one week before at the Nevada Junior Olympic state tournament in Las Vegas.
"The championship fight was pretty close; it could have gone either way," said coach Quentin Blue Horse.
"The other kid was a lot bigger, but he hung in there. He even had Zab Judah yelling for him at ringside."
John showed signs of improvement on Saturday despite coming out short on the decision in his first-ever matchup against Galvez of the Reno Mity Mites.
"He had some rust to knock off down there (in Las Vegas). He made some mistakes last weekend, but he definitely corrected those tonight," Blue Horse said. "He looked good. I thought he won it, myself. The other kid was clearly hurting at the end."
John, a Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School ninth grader, felt he did take some steps forward in terms of improvement.
That's saying something for a young amateur who in 2008 appeared on the USA vs. Canada card and earned a second-place finish at the California Police Athletic League (PAL) state tournament in Oxnard.
"I've worked hard, so I feel good about that," John said. "I put in extra credit time watching Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather. (Joshua) Clottey, too. Those are the three I watch the most to work on my defense."
Interestingly enough, it was Clottey who won the vacant IBF welterweight title on Aug. 2, 2008 by a technical decision over the same Zabdiel Judah who had offered words of encouragement during John's state Junior Olympic tournament final.
In the meantime, John was excited to have a chance to step into the ring while his friends and family members looked on. The challenge was waiting to step into the ring for the 15th in a lineup of 21 bouts on the night.
"I was nervous," John said, laughing. "It kept building up, but the longer I waited, it turned into confidence."
John is hoping to make more appearances in Dresslerville.
"We had a lot of tough fights and a good crowd," said Victor Bruno, director of Bruno's Boxing Club. "I like it out here; we want to come back."
