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Army dominates 2003 Armed Forces Boxing Championships
Heavyweight Ibarra stuns Navy's Spencer
By Tim Hipps
PORT HUENEME, Calif. (Feb. 21) -- In modern David-and-Goliath fashion, super-heavyweight Sgt. Carlos Ibarra punctuated the U.S. Army's dominance of the 2003 Armed Forces Boxing Championships with a stunning triumph over Navy's Keith Spencer.
"He had the main event, and he closed it out for the Army," All-Army coach Staff Sgt. Basheer Abdullah said of the final fight on a Friday night when soldiers won eight of 13 bouts. "He defended his teammate, Sgt. Eric Prindle (who missed the tournament because of a neck injury sustained during the All-Army Championships), and he's taking his super-heavyweight title back to him."
Ibarra, who claimed a 30-22 computer-scored victory, thought it was the least he could do.
"I live for these moments," said Ibarra, 24, a 5-8, 210-pound generator mechanic from San Diego. "I've always been the underdog in every fight I've ever been in because I'm always the little guy."
Spencer, who towers over Ibarra at 6-5, weighed in at 256 pounds. He entered the ring with a towel draped over his head like the second coming of a young Mike Tyson as the Navy-partisan crowd roared like never before. They patiently had waited all night for their lone sailor to appear in the finals.
"That just pumps me up to know everybody is going against me," Ibarra said of the most gratifying victory of his life. "Anything's possible, as you saw tonight. Winning that fight meant everything to me. Everybody doubted me. I heard the crowd saying: 'Oh, that dude's a big guy.' My coaching staff, teammates and I are probably the only ones in the building who thought I could win that fight.
"And to prove them all wrong is just the best feeling in the world. Giving away all that size and height, I don't think anybody thought I could do it. And I did it."
Ibarra quickly went to work with a bevy of lefts to the body of Spencer, who visibly began tiring in the second round.
"I came back [to the corner] after the second round and coach Abdullah said I needed a big round; I needed to try to take it to him," Ibarra said. "I was just waiting for the right opportunity. I was biding my time. I knew he was going to get tired. Eventually, he punched himself out."
Ibarra, meanwhile, went upstairs in the final round and scored with several solid blows to Spencer's head. Ibarra, who kept attacking like a raging bull, now has three gold medals to show for three Armed Forces appearances in two different weight classes, having moved up from the 201-pound division to fight for Prindle's honor.
"I felt good going into that bout," said Abdullah, one of the few in Warfield Gym who believed Ibarra would prevail. "We won the bout just the way I said we were going to win the bout. Expect to be down the first two rounds, but don't worry about it. Keep your head in it and you're going to pull it out because conditioning and will is going to get us through."
As he left the ring, Petty Officer 1st Class Spencer, 29, of Port Hueneme, announced his retirement from a three-year boxing career.
"That's it for me," he declared. "I'm not taking any pro deals. That's it; I'm done. I'm giving my life to Allah."
"There's no excuse, he just beat me. Clearly, he just won. You can't cry about it. I could've went in there and got killed."
Army won the team title with 20 points, followed by Marine Corps (7), Air Force (4) and Navy (0).
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Sgt. Carlos Ibarra blocks the right hook of Navy SW1 Keith Spencer en route to a 30-22 victory in the super-heavyweight division of the 2003 Armed Forces Boxing Championships at Port Hueneme, Calif. Photo: Tim Hipps, USACFSC Public Affairs
Sgt. Carlos Ibarra, 24 a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program from San Diego, Calif., focuses on the biggest upset of the 2003 Armed Forces Boxing Championship, his 30-22 over super heavyweight Navy Petty Officer Keith Spencer of Port Hueneme, Calif. Photo: Tim Hipps, USACFSC Public Affairs
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REAL ATHLETES
REAL BOXING
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