Richard Torrez Jr. is in elitist society.
Team USA member Torrez made his Olympic boxing debut in the round of 16 on Thursday, beating Algeria’s Chouaib Bouloudinats 5-0 in three super heavyweight rounds (over 200 pounds) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 2017 graduate of Mission Oak High School joined Bob Mathias and Sim Iness as Olympians who were from Tulare.
Torrez progresses to the quarter-finals and will next fight Cuba’s Dainier Pero. This fight is scheduled for early Sunday at 3:06 am
Torrez got off to a hot start on his debut, knocking down the first round with a minute and 40 seconds to go.
In the third round, the game was briefly interrupted at 1:09 on the left when a paramedic approached the 34-year-old Bouloudinats about a cut and blood under his right eye before it was resumed.
Torrez, 22, improved his amateur record to 152-9.
The former Mission Oak standout won all five jury scorecards in each round.
Number 3 in the division, Torrez is aiming to become the first U.S. boxer to win an Olympic gold medal in his division since Tyrell Biggs won gold in 1984.
No US super heavyweight boxer has won a medal in the Olympics since 1988. That year, Riddick Bowe won silver in Seoul. The last American to win Olympic gold in a league was Andre Ward in 2004.
On Thursday, Torrez became the first US bat in nearly a decade to compete in the super heavyweight Olympics.
Tulare is known for two Olympic gold medalists.
Mathias has won consecutive Olympic gold medals in the decathlon, won his first at the 1948 London Games and won gold at the 1952 Helsinki Games, Finland.
Iness won a gold medal in the discus in 1952.
The basketball gym and soccer stadium on the Tulare Union High School campus are named after Iness and Mathias.
Torrez’s father, Richard Torrez Sr., watched his son’s game live from his home in Tulare at 2am.
Torrez Sr., himself an accomplished amateur boxer who was an Olympic trialist for the US boxing team in 1984, saw his father’s hard work and his own culminating in Torrez on Thursday.
Torrez is a third generation boxer who was trained by his father as a child. His grandfather Manuel Torrez was once the Southwestern US Golden Gloves Champion.
“I’m happy, incredibly satisfied,” said Torrez Sr .. “He did his job. He did it great. He dominated and hopefully we’ll see that momentum in the next fight as well.”
What is it like to see your son fight in the Olympics?
“It was surreal,” said Torrez Sr. “You can see him out there on the big stage. That brings back memories of having trained him and being in his corner and stuff. It’s bittersweet, even though you know you’re not in that corner.
Torrez took control of the game just over a minute into the fight when he struck Bouloudinats’ stomach with a hefty blow.
In terms of the strategy that led to the fight, this specific move was one that Torrezes discussed while executing against Bouloudinats.
“We call it the billy shot,” said Torrez Sr. “Billy Walsh is his head coach. He’s from Ireland. He’s got a little shot that if he intervenes can throw that billy shot. We said, ‘ If this guy is open to the billy shot, take the shot. This is what will work for him. ‘ That was the plan and it worked wonderfully. He did everything he had to do. Overall, he did a great job. “
Vongni Yang is a sports reporter for the Visalia Times-Delta / Tulare Advance Register. It covers the sport in Tulare County. Follow him on Twitter @Vongni. To support his ongoing coverage of local sports, Subscribe to today.
