Logan Luna wasn’t worried when he saw that his opponent had a height and reach advantage of several inches.
At 5-foot-3, he’s used to doubters. But for Luna, there can be no doubt.
“Muscles don’t win fights. Size doesn’t win fights,” the 25-year-old personal fitness trainer at Box Beat gym said. “Fighting wins fights. I know what I’m capable of doing in the ring.”
It helps to have plenty of skill and a good game plan.
Luna put both to good use in a dominant 3-0 victory over Carlos Camacho of Round Rock in Saturday’s semifinal round of the San Antonio Regional Golden Gloves tournament at the SBC Community Center on the East Side.
The win by Luna in the novice 112-pound flyweight division put him in Sunday’s finals that begin at 3 p.m.
Open division winners on Sunday earn a trip to the Texas State Golden Gloves tournament on March 16-19 in Fort Worth.
Luna, making his amateur debut, controlled the bout from the opening bell.
“Since he’s the taller fighter, I needed to stay out of his range, move my head and be aggressive,” Luna said. “After the first round I saw that he couldn’t fight backing up, so if I could make him think and hit him off his back foot, I could pretty much do what I wanted to do.”
Despite his inexperience, Luna briefly considered fighting in the men’s senior open division before contracting COVID-19.
Open fighters fight three-minute rounds to just two for novice division boxers.
“I was having trouble breathing and wasn’t sure I could go longer,” Luna said.
Luna was the aggressor to the end, knocking Camacho’s mouthpiece out with a stiff jab in the final round and connecting with a hard right hook at the bell.
“No matter who it is, if he’s taller than me or stronger I’m going to get in the ring regardless,” said Luna, who ran track and cross country and played soccer at Clark High School. “When we get in the ring, it’s just me against you.”
Trainer Adrian Rodriguez said Luna shows no fear inside the ring.
“When you’re that athletically gifted, you can be fearless,” Rodriguez said.
In other bouts, Reginald Battle of Davies Entertainment used his reach and speed to defeat Neko De Leon of Austin in a 3-0 decision to advance to the men’s senior open finals at 139 pounds.
“I controlled the distance, jabbed a lot and boxed him. He’s a strong fighter,” Battle, 21, said of his 18th bout but first at 139.
Javy Lopez of Angel’s Boxing Club needed just 18 seconds to beat Juan Gabriel Victoriano of Boxing Kings Gym by knockout in a men’s senior novice bout at 156 pounds.
“I credit this win to my coaches,” Lopez, 21, said after dropping Victoriano with a straight right. “I just wish I had more time to showcase more of my boxing skills.”
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