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02/13/2004 Archived Entry: "RI's Estrada & Godfrey in US Olympic Boxing Trials"
RI's Estrada & Godfrey in US Olympic Boxing Trials
Press Release
PROVIDENCE, RI - Childhood friends and longtime Providence stablemates, super heavyweight Jason Estrada and heavyweight Matt Godfrey, leave Sunday for Tunica (MS) to continue their quest for berths on the United States Olympic Boxing Team.
They both qualified for the double-elimination U.S. Olympic Team Trials, February 16-21, in Tunica. Winners in both brackets of each weight division advance to the U.S. Box-Offs, Feb. 27-28, in Cleveland, to determine the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team roster.
In the past three years, Estrada is unbeaten in the United States and he became the first boxer to win both the U.S. Nationals and U.S. Challenge three years in a row. The highlight of his amateur career was wining a Gold Medal (August, 2003) at the Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic. Using his extraordinary hand speed, Jason rather easily out-pointed the No. 1 ranked super heavyweight in the world, Cuba's 275-pound Michael Lopez Nunez, 14-6, in the championship final. Jason was the lone U.S. boxer to capture a gold medal at this year's Pan-Am Games, as well as the first non-Cuban to ever win the super heavyweight championship there.
Godfrey recently captured gold at the U.S. Nationals. While Estrada's Pan-Am victory qualified the U.S. for super heavyweight competition at the Olympics, the heavyweight champion at the U.S. Box-Offs still will need to win gold at one of two remaining International competitions, Mexico and Argentina, in order for the U.S. to qualify for heavyweight competition at the Olympics.
"Jason and Matt just returned from two weeks of training in Florida," their head coach and Jason's father, Roland Estrada, said. "They worked out in a very muggy gym to simulate as much stress as possible. Jason and Matt both expect to do very well at The Trials. Next month they'll either be Olympians or professional boxers. Hopefully, it's the former."
