Lehigh Acres resident and amateur boxer Tiara Brown hopes to have her passport stamped in Rio de Janeiro next summer as Lee County’s first female competitor in an Olympics.
Brown, a 2006 Fort Myers High School graduate and resident of Lehigh Acres, has qualified for the Olympic Trials on Thursday with a semifinal victory in the Pathway to Glory Olympic Trials Qualifier II for Women at the Baltimore Harbor Hotel in Baltimore.
Brown further solidified her status as a boxer to beat when she defeated Samantha Kinchen of Lexington, Kentucky, by a 2-1 decision in the 132-pound weight class championship at the qualifier.
Brown, a three-time national champion in the 125-pound weight class, Brown has been adjusting to boxing at 132 pounds, the closest weight class to her in the Olympics.
The Olympic Trials take place Oct. 26-31 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. There will be 24 athletes, eight in each division. Only the winners in each of the three women’s weight divisions (112, 132 and 165 pounds) are eligible for the Olympic Games, which take place Aug. 5-21 next year.
The trials have a double-elimination format. Should Brown continue advancing to the title bout, she will have had five to six matches over the six days.
there go , make America Great , you’r are the Best.