TULSA, Okla. — One unanimous decision, one split decision and one RSC, but none in favor of the Pennsylvania boxers who fought Friday in the semifinals of the 2026 National Golden Gloves at Arvest Convention Center.
Lancaster’s Jasiah “Monster” Ortiz (67-21) of Lancaster City Boxing Academy was clearly confident when he entered the ring. He met Nieem Somerville of Washington, D.C.’s team at center ring and stared him down.
Somerville, ranked No. 5 at 154-pounds, elite male, by USA Boxing, and Ortiz know each other. They’ve sparred and been matched up multiple times over the past decade.
While Ortiz has won against Somerville, that wasn’t the case Friday.
After a decent first round — one the judges gave unanimously to Somerville — Ortiz didn’t up his game the way he needed to in round two.
He did land several solid jabs in round three but Somerville had a strong counter each time. Somerville nailed Ortiz with an uppercut to the chin and got an eight on him.
Following his victory Friday by unanimous decision, Somerville won the championship on Saturday.
Coach Will Torres of Lancaster City was clearly disappointed by Friday’s result.
“We got a little outworked,” he said of Ortiz.
Torres added that the 5-0 decision in round one was “unexpected.” It he and his team off their game plan and they rushed the rest of the match.
“I had a tough fight against a tough opponent,” said Ortiz, who earned a bronze medal.
Neither he nor Torres agreed with the judges’ scoring.
The Golden Gloves is an advancing tournament, with boxers competing four or five nights in a row, depending on far they get.
This was the first National Golden Gloves for Ortiz, although not his first national tournament.
“A lot of competition back-to-back,” Ortiz said, adding that it took a toll.
In a 4-1 split decision, Reading’s Saviel “Pretty Boy Tato” Torres (32-11) of East Reading Boxing Club lost a 131-pound semifinal to No. 7-ranked Yu’shore Williams (150-20 as coach reported) of Toledo, Ohio.
Saviel Torres was aggressive from the first bell, landing two- and three-punch combos, targeting Williams’ head and body.
Then at the end of round one he took a straight right to his head and went down. The ref didn’t call an eight and the bell sounded the end of the round.
Williams, a bouncing southpaw, handled round two from the center of the ring, but the combatants went toe-to-toe in round three.
Torres wound up in the corner and the ref stopped and separated the boxers.
The match resumed and Torres landed the last blow, a left to Williams’ face a split second before the final bell.
It was a slick finish, but it wasn’t enough.
Saviel Torres had no comment after the match. He left the field of play, followed by teammates Jaysonet Caleb “Boogie Man” Martinez, (37-13) of Jinji Boxing Club and Jerimiah “Drip” Munoz (51-23) of Lancaster City.
Both Martinez and Munoz knew the pain of loss. They’d gone through it earlier in the week.
“I’m proud, he did great,” coach Will Torres said of Saviel Torres.
Saviel Torres is “very fast, very tricky, hard to time,” Williams’ coach, Robert Mumford said.
Will Torres pointed out that the tournament brought together the “top, the elite-elite” of the amateur boxing world.
A bronze is no small achievement when faced with that level of competition.
“He’s hurt,” Will Torres said of Saviel Torres. “Emotionally, his heart’s broken.”
Elyssa “Heavy Hands” Spring, (9-3, two walkovers) was a spectator Friday.
She’d had time to process her Thursday night loss to California’s Emma Nayanel and was snacking on Sour Patch Kids, sharing them with her teammates.
A sweet-sour candy might not fix a broken heart, but it couldn’t hurt after days of staying on weight.
The Pennsylvania team’s hopes of a championship were crushed one-minute and 19 seconds into the third round of Dragan “Hawaiian Punch” Radusewicz’s 176-pound confrontation with James Hoak of Salt Lake City.
Hoak, a southpaw, had the reach and he used it.
Radusewicz, who trains at G-Force Athletic Club near Pittsburgh, had the power and he used that. In round one, he landed solid rights and one-two combos. Defending against Hoak’s reach, Radusewicz (11-4) shelled up, then exploded out.
A left snapped out by Hoak, followed by a combo, had Radusewicz against the ropes in round two. Then three clean, long, punches earned Hoak an eight over Radusewicz.
The round three stoppage gave the victory to Hoak and angered Radusewicz’s coach, Ted Mrkonja.
“He shouldn’t have stopped that,” Mrkonja said. “Dragan won the first round, Utah won the second.”
Multiple people voiced their disagreement with the ref’s decision.
But in the ring seconds after the ref’s call, the combatants hugged and conversed.
From center ring, they listened as the announcer called out the result. The ref raised Hoak’s hand and Radusewicz pointed at and clapped for the man who’d just defeated him.
Hoak said he had “mad respect” for Radusewicz, calling him a “tough guy” but still “chill.”
“He caught me with an upper cut — cleanest shot (I’ve taken) in a while,” Hoak said.
“The best fight I’ve ever been in in my life,” Radusewicz said.
Despite the loss, Radusewicz didn’t hang his head.
“I’m happy being here,” he said. “No matter what, I’m better. I met good people,.”
He then gestured at the Pennsylvania boxers and coaches a few yards away, still debating the timing of the stoppage.
“I met my team,” Radusewicz said, and smiled.
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