SAN ANTONIO — Three young ladies pack a punch and bring pride to San Antonio's East Side.
- Three San Antonio boxers win big at USA Boxing Championship
- Ravven Brown is the National Champion in the 141 division
- Yemila Tobias was runner-up in her division
- Danica Reyna placed first in the pee-wee division
Now, their boxing talents are being displayed on the national stage.
"I'd rather spend all my time boxing than doing anything else," USA Boxing champion and East Side San Antonio resident Ravven Brown said.
Brown, along with Yemila Tobias and Danica Reyna, just got back from the USA Boxing National Championship in Salt Lake City.
"I recently became the national champion for the weight class of 141. I always say that boxing found me, I didn't find it. It found me," Brown said.
The 27-year-old started boxing less than two years ago. Brown said she never thought she'd be a boxer, but coach Jeffrey Mays saw a drive in her. As a coach for Team USA boxing, he's got a good eye for talent.
"When she came to the gym she only came to get in shape so she could join the Navy and now she possibly could be going to the Olympics," Mays said.
The two other young ladies look up to her and have the same potential, a few years down the line.
"I'm trying to get to the Olympics in 2024," Tobias said.
Tobias was the runner-up in her division, and she's no stranger to us. When she was 11, she won gold in 75 pound division. Now as a 13-year-old, she's packing a harder punch.
"I just have a lot of fun doing the sport because it's the sport I love the most," she said.
It's also the sport little 8-year-old Reyna loves. She placed first in the pee-wee division.
"I spar boys and I fight girls," Reyna said. "What I like about the fight is whenever you're walking in and they announce your name and sometimes I get pretty nervous about that, but then when I'm in there I feel OK," she said.
"Too many times I see kids that have so much pressure on them to win, win, win. I don't put that pressure on mine to win. I just tell them to go out there and have fun and do what you're supposed to do and the rest will happen," Mays said.
As the two younger boxers grow and develop, Brown has her goals set on the Olympics.
This ring isn't the only place she leads by example.
"I work at the George Gervin Academy, I work at the high school, and at the Boys and Girls Club on the East Side,” Brown said. “They motivate me a lot and when I came back with the belt and to see all the smiles on their faces and just to let them wear it and hold it, it made me feel like I'm doing something with the sport of boxing that's greater than me."