USC Boxing FIGHT TALK WITH YOUR BOY THE WHATS NEXT KID interview

USC Boxing FIGHT TALK WITH YOUR BOY THE WHATS NEXT KID interview brought head coach Omar Lopez to MILLIONS to discuss Rivals in the Ring, a USC–UCLA matchup and Gabriel Ponce’s defense of a World Boxing Council collegiate belt. Lopez also explained why he puts his boxers’ families, academics and careers ahead of competition.

What did USC Boxing say about Rivals in the Ring?

Rivals in the Ring is USC Boxing’s November 14 intercollegiate show at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Lopez said it revives a boxing tradition shared by the University of Southern California, UCLA and the club before the pandemic. Doors are scheduled to open at 4 p.m., with boxing starting at 5 p.m.

Reviving the Los Angeles Athletic Club tradition

Lopez said the earlier show had run for roughly seven years before it stopped during the pandemic. The athletic club’s new ownership became interested in bringing it back after seeing Iliad in LA, a USC show held on campus in February. What caught their attention, he said, was the combination of student-athletes competing and college rivalries drawing a community together.

The revived event moves that tradition to the fall semester. Lopez described it as a private, black-tie occasion that will introduce audience members to the students outside the ring as well as the bouts themselves. Some of his boxers write for newspapers, hold internships, pursue pre-med studies or work on companies and startups.

Schools traveling to the card

Crandall University is making the trip from eastern Canada, Lopez said. The card also includes the United States Air Force Academy, the University of California, Riverside, and the University of California, Los Angeles. For USC, the UCLA bout gives the show a familiar local rivalry within a wider intercollegiate lineup.

How does USC Boxing’s UCLA rivalry figure in the Rivals in the Ring card?

USC Boxing has a UCLA matchup scheduled at a 150-pound catchweight, while Gabriel Ponce is set to defend a World Boxing Council collegiate belt against a United States Air Force Academy cadet. Lopez identified the Ponce bout as the main event and said both matchups give him particular reasons to watch.

The USC–UCLA bout at 150 pounds

Lopez described the USC and UCLA boxers as relatively inexperienced, with one bout apiece. The USC boxer previously faced UCLA at Iliad in LA in an action-packed contest. For this meeting, Lopez emphasized finding an opponent who would make the matchup fair rather than relying on the rivalry alone to carry it.

Gabriel Ponce’s World Boxing Council belt defense

Ponce won the World Boxing Council collegiate belt at Iliad in LA, according to Lopez, who described that presentation as the organization’s first amateur collegiate boxing belt. Ponce is scheduled to put it up against an Air Force Academy challenger. Lopez said the upcoming show would be the second opportunity to award the belt in that setting.

A World Boxing Council representative is expected to present the belt. Lopez was careful to describe other outside interest more narrowly: conversations with Matchroom Boxing about possible work with collegiate boxing were still at an early stage.

What did USC Boxing say about organizing the show and Diego Pacheco’s visit?

USC Boxing’s biggest organizational challenge was bringing the practical pieces of a boxing card together at a venue under new ownership, Lopez said. That meant arranging a ring, officials, medical coverage and guests. Separately, boxer Diego Pacheco visited the team and spoke with its athletes about the demands of building a career in boxing.

Putting a ring inside the athletic club

Although the Los Angeles Athletic Club had hosted the older show, Lopez said the revived event was a new project for its current ownership. Securing the ring was one of the logistics he had to solve with service providers. His five years coaching at USC, experience organizing other shows and connections from competing in Masters boxing helped him make those arrangements.

There were still many details to coordinate, from media coverage and the right officials to a medical doctor and invited representatives. Lopez likened the job to keeping numerous pieces moving toward the same November 14 deadline.

Diego Pacheco speaking to the team

Lopez said a connection through one of USC’s coaches brought Pacheco, a super middleweight who lives near USC, to visit the boxers. Pacheco discussed the discipline, structure and commitment required to progress in the sport. Lopez presented the visit as practical advice for students learning what boxing asks of them.

How did Omar Lopez return to boxing as a competitor?

Omar Lopez began boxing at about 24, stepped away after four bouts while work and his career took priority, and later returned to the gym. After learning about Masters boxing, he resumed competing in 2019. He also told us he had recently competed for a World Boxing Federation intercontinental title in Germany.

Lopez said the Germany contest went five rounds and was his first competition without headgear, outside of sparring. He explained that the rules used there allowed both boxers to agree not to wear it. He returned with the belt and spoke about the experience as part of his continuing life as an amateur boxer, not just his work as a coach.

That perspective feeds into how he runs the USC program. He understands the time competition demands, but does not want a student’s pursuit of boxing to displace the other parts of their life.

What did USC Boxing say about its collegiate boxing champions?

USC Boxing has grown from eight students when Lopez helped revive the club to almost 200 members, including around 40 competitive team members. Lopez credited the athletes and coaches with producing what he believes are 11 individual national champions. He was just as emphatic about students’ academic and career progress.

The club president’s return and Claire Dong’s achievement

Among the fighters Lopez most wanted to see on the Rivals in the Ring card was the club president. Lopez said the boxer became a United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association national champion and the tournament’s most valuable boxer as a freshman, then earned All-American status in the National Collegiate Boxing Association. He later took a year away from boxing to prepare for law school and was set to return to competition.

Lopez also singled out Claire Dong as the first USC woman to achieve NCBA All-American status. Her scheduled appearance, alongside Ponce’s belt defense and the club president’s return, gave him three bouts he was especially eager to watch.

Why Lopez ranks boxing fourth

Lopez said the revived club initially lost every bout it entered in the first round of regionals. Its later champions matter to him, but so do graduates who use what they learned while boxing to pursue research jobs or start companies. He attributed the program’s growth to the club and the coaches working with him.

Lopez set out the order of priorities he asks his students to follow:

your family's first your academics are second career readiness is third and then boxing is fourth

His point was that students have to balance those commitments to succeed as boxers. The club president’s decision to pause competition for law-school preparation was, to Lopez, an example of that approach in practice.

What is next for USC Boxing after Rivals in the Ring?

USC Boxing plans to connect Rivals in the Ring with a community scholarship presentation, then stage another Iliad in LA at Forge Boxing Gym in downtown Los Angeles on February 20, 2027. Lopez said the later card could be larger, with more than 20 bouts compared with nine at Rivals in the Ring.

Scholarships during the show

Lopez said a community group working with the club would present scholarships during intermission. He described its work as helping young people box while preparing them to attend college. For him, the presentation belongs alongside the fights: it shows what access to a college education could mean for participants.

Iliad in LA at Forge Boxing Gym

The planned February 2027 event will return to the Iliad in LA name at Forge Boxing Gym. Lopez expected a much bigger card than the one he could fit into the athletic club show, though he described the bout count as a plan rather than a finalized lineup.

Who is USC Boxing?

USC Boxing is a student-run combat sports program that trains amateur boxers across experience levels. It emphasizes fundamentals, conditioning and ring IQ while preparing athletes for sanctioned bouts and collegiate competition.