Among the many boxing hopefuls coming through the local ranks, Caymanian Alec Lopez has distinguished himself as an athlete who could punch his ticket into the mainstream of the sport.
He has been training at the Performance Lab, where boxing head coach Floyd Trumpet has found Lopez, 16, to be one of the most “fearless and consistent” youth boxers he has trained to date.
“Most people look at talent from a physical point of view, but I’ll look at talent from a mental and psychological point of view,” Trumpet told the Cayman Compass. “Lots of guys around Alec’s age and older come [to the gym] and when they’re under pressure they quit, but Alec will come and spar the biggest boys… he is fearless and that’s what you need in a fighter.”
However, in his early years of school, Lopez noted that he was “bullied, but more verbally”, which made him lose confidence in himself, but today it’s a different story.
“I never felt confident in myself, and boxing helped me,” he said. “I started doing better in school once I started boxing. Coach Floyd has taught me so many things that I would’ve never imagined.”
Lopez began training in mid-2019 and debuted as an amateur boxer in a bout in February 2020, a match that he lost.
However, he returned to the ring in March last year, with former WBA super-middleweight champion Rocky Fielding in his corner, and won in dominant fashion.
When asked to compare his skills from when he first began competing to where he is now, Lopez replied, “I feel like I’m on a whole different level skill-wise, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I am ready for bigger fights and better opponents.”
Trumpet, the former national head coach for the Cayman Islands Boxing Association, attributed Lopez’s year-long boxing hiatus since his debut to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I was the coach of the national programme, I had a schedule of six fights for that year, and to finish with the national championships,” he said. “But from then, until now, there have been no fights and… all the boxers are eager to get into the ring and show what they’ve been doing.”
Despite only fighting two bouts, he has experienced elite-level training with the likes of long-time Caymanian boxer Diego Rodriguez, Caribbean champion Jaden Eccleston and even the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships bronze medallist, Nigel Paul.
Lopez was slated to have his third sanctioned bout at the Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean School Boys and Junior tournament in Guyana later this month, but, due to registration issues, he was forced to withdraw.
Now, Trumpet is turning his attention to other competitions, with the goal of Lopez representing the Cayman Islands at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad and Tobago next year.
“We are going to try and get some fights in the US, in Miami, where he can get some experience,” Trumpet said. He hopes to get his boxer 12 bouts in before the games to get fight-ready “because technically he is on point”.
“His conditioning is up to mark, and I was recently looking at the European school boys’ tournament and I think technically Alec is superior to most of them,” he said.
The “fearless” boxer could step into the ring later this year if all goes according to plan, Trumpet added.
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