Guzman to box in World Championships

The Daily Inter Lake

Local standout boxer Kenny Guzman is signed up to fight in next month's de facto amateur championships in Kansas City, Mo.

The 22-year-old Kalispell fighter is in the middle of training for the Ringside World Championships at the KCI EXPO Center starting Aug. 4.

Last year's event consisted of over 1,400 boxers battling in six separate rings.

Guzman, a member of Flathead Boxing, has compiled an 8-2 record in less than two years of amateur competition and will fight in the Novice Men division. The tournament is single elimination.

Guzman recently started back on an intense training regime under the watchful eye of Phillip Moore and Jesse Uhde, who run Flathead Boxing, a local non-profit organization affiliated with USA Boxing. The boxing club currently trains at the Jaycees building on River Road.

Moore has been around the sport almost his whole life and has fought professionally. When Guzman first showed up, he had no boxing experience but had the drive to get better, Moore said, which is why he's now fighting for a title belt.

"A lot of people have natural athletic ability, but what he has that a lot of people don't is that tenacity and that competitive drive," Moore said of Guzman.

"He's a workhorse."

Moore and others associated with the Flathead Boxing are rallying together financial sponsors while Guzman works out around 15 hours a week.

"He's looking good. I'm excited," Moore said. "I think the success last season got him pretty fired up."

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