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Zamora reflects on Team USA training experience, cherishes finals bouts as an amateur
Orlando Zamora
Orlando Zamora of Turlock has won two national tournaments this year, including a defense of his USA Boxing 119-pound belt, pictured above, after spending time training with the United States Olympic team at their facility in Colorado Springs (Photo courtesy of USA Boxing).

For his entire life, each time Orlando Zamora has stepped into a boxing gym, he was by far and away the best fighter at his age and weight class, a designation well-earned after winning four amateur national championships before turning 18. The fourth — the Elite Male 119-pound title clinched at the U.S. Olympic Trials in December — earned him an opportunity to train with Team USA at their facility in Colorado Springs for nearly two months. It was an experience that only made him hungrier for future glory.

“Training with Team USA has been crazy,” the 2024 Turlock High graduate said. “I'm usually the best person around the gym, right? I'm usually the guy that everybody has their eyes on. But the first time I was around guys that are my level or even a bit above my level in the USA camps, I felt like I had to catch up. I had to show everybody that I'm good too and that I belong.” 

During that time last year, several of his national teammates were training for the Paris Olympics that wrapped up in August. Zamora, meanwhile, was unable to compete on the international stage as there was no 119-pound weight class at this year’s Games. Nevertheless, he used the extensive strength and conditioning training to defend his 119 title in March before claiming a fifth national title last weekend, the Oxnard International - National Police Activities League championship in the 112-pound division.

In his March title defense of his 119-pound USA Boxing belt in New Mexico, he won all three fights by unanimous decision. The title fight was against a familiar face in North Carolina’s Shy’heim Ashford in a rematch of December’s championship match. 

The decision to move down to 112 for last week’s Oxnard tournament was a difficult but necessary one for Zamora, who predominantly trains out of Marquitos Boxing in Fresno and Winton while working on his strength and conditioning at The Truth Boxing in Turlock. He didn’t have to fight in the tournament, but opted to so that he could stay active. Additionally, the lighter weight class consisted of higher-ranked fighters, as many 119-pound regulars temporarily ditched the division after it was left out of the Olympic ranks.

Again, Zamora competed three times and won each instance by unanimous decision. The one name high on the Turlocker’s hit list was Alex Espinoza of Texas, who he met in the championship bout. Espinoza was a finalist in the 112-pound USA Boxing qualifier that Zamora competed in back in December and is the third-ranked boxer in his weight class, also training with Team USA as an alternate. Despite being the bigger guy, Zamora was able to use his speed and pressure to take care of business.

His overall amateur record is now 81-16.

He will return to this year’s USA Boxing National Championships in December, which take place in Richmond, Va. Nevertheless, he will have to make another change to his weight class. This time around, he plans on moving up to the 121-pound division.

“I usually walk around at like 115, 116,” he explained. “That last tournament, it wasn’t really hard to cut a few pounds, but now, I’ll be going up against some bigger guys. You know, it’ll be the heaviest I’ve competed at. It’s all to challenge myself and to open up some new doors and get new opportunities.

“My biggest goal is to go international. That was my goal last year when I competed at 119, but they obviously took that weight class out and it kind of messed up all my plans. But if I could go out at 121 at Nationals and win the whole thing, that’ll be amazing. That’ll be the icing on the cake.”

In 2025, there are no Olympics to strive for, which means a potential 121-pound title with Team USA means that he could once more train at their facility in Colorado while being given opportunities to defend against other countrymen and possibly represent the red, white and blue overseas.

If Zamora has learned anything from the weight class debacle of the past two years, it’s that he has to be ready for anything that comes his way.

“If things don’t work out at Nationals or moving forward at Team USA, this upcoming tournament may be the final one of my amateur career.”

Making adjustments on the fly and proceeding to dominate is nothing new for the fighting pride of Turlock. 

“There’s a lot of people that have been with me on this journey to becoming a professional and are looking up to me, including my brother,” he said.

He refers to his 9-year-old sibling Julian Zamora, who stepped into the ring for his youth competition for the very first time in Oxnard. In the 75-pound weight class, he won his first belt after only having to fight once in the shallow division.

“It was amazing to see him win,” Zamora said. “That kid has grown up with fighting and being around me competing. He has always wanted to go to a big tournament, and each time I come home with a new belt, he’s always trying to hog it. So that was his first time and he was so happy. It’s moments like that that make me proud as an older brother. I know he looks up to me a lot. And that’s the goal, to make my family, my team and the community proud.”