Manhattan Boxer, Jake Johnson will be competing for the win this Saturday in San Antonio, Texas in a National Amputee Boxing Association event.
The National Amputee Boxing Association was founded in May of 2013. They became the first organization in the United States, to be authorized to promote amateur b
oxing for amputee athletes, when they were state approved by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation, Combative Division in July of 2014.
“Our athletes are military veterans, cancer survivors, and accident survivors who have moved forward in their lives and have a passion for the sport of boxing. We provide them competition, awareness and education opportunities. Boxing assists them with strength, agility, self-confidence and weight loss. We are located in San Antonio, Texas, and enjoy generous support from our strong military population. Our veteran athletes hail from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.”
This will be Johnson’s first boxing match. 36 year old Johnson has been training for one and half years in the sport, hoping for the opportunity to compete. Johnson is a member of the KSU Boxing Club and will be competing for the KO Boxing Team, out of Manhattan, KS. KO Boxing’s competition team has been competing since 2007 with Golden Glove wins and Team Trophies, as well as the Sportsmanship award. Unfortunately there was no place for Johnson to compete, as he has a full prosthetic left leg. Johnson is grateful for the opportunity to compete in the sport of boxing, thanks to the National Amputee Boxing Association.
Coach Lorissa Belcher, owner of KO Boxing and her husband Steve Belcher, as well as Johnson’s teammates, his wife, Pauline and two kids, Paula and Cole, will travel for weigh-ins and face-offs this Friday. The main event is Saturday, March 18th, bell time at 4pm in San Antonio, Texas. Johnson is the second bout of the 8 bout event. Coach Lorissa and Steve Belcher, Johnson and the rest of the team thank retired pro boxer, David Medina and pro MMA fighter, Ivey Nixon, both out of Junction City, KS for their time sparring in the ring, helping prepare Johnson for this big event and wonderful opportunity.