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LOS LUNAS — Skill and confidence are the right combination for success in any sport, and the unquestioned one-two punch for those looking to flourish in the world of boxing.
Peralta’s Alexa Garrobo has had the skills, and thanks to an improving mental approach, the 23-year-old boxer is now a national champion.
“It feels amazing. I still haven’t processed it, but it feels good,” the soft-spoken Garrobo said after returning from Wichita, Kan. “I’m glad that we finally did it.”
Late last month, Garrobo won the USA Boxing National Junior Olympics title at 132 pounds in the elite female division.
“I definitely conquered my nerves,” Garrobo said of the condition that restrained her as she started to take boxing seriously. “I feel like I finally got over the anxiety. I trust myself a lot more.”
Garrobo credits a more challenging training regimen and “fight after fight” for pushing her to the next level.
Garrobo trains at Rosales Kickboxing & Karate in Los Lunas, and her coach, Anthony Rosales, has witnessed her improved mental approach firsthand.
“It’s so much greater,” said Rosales. “I think the boxing truly helped her anxiety.”
After getting a first-round walkover at nationals, Garrobo scored a unanimous decision against Madeline Days of California before prevailing with a 3-2 verdict in the final against Maine’s Katherine Zehr.
“I just went in there and did my thing. I just did what I had to do,” Garrobo explained.
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What’s next? A large all-female tournament is set for August in Lafayette, La., with the hope of fighting five straight days. After that, Rosales would prefer that Garrobo remain an amateur and train for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
However, there is the possibility that boxing will be dropped from the Olympics and, if that happens, Garrobo will likely join the professional ranks.
“I want to build a good amateur record, win some national titles,” she said. “If down the road, we decide to go pro I have something behind it.”
Garrobo has altered her training schedule because of her full-time job with Alaska Airlines, working directly just three days a week with Rosales.
“When I’m not here, I’m either running or training,” on her own, Garrobo said.
Perhaps, a little separation between coach and pupil is a positive.
“We’re finally getting along,” Garrobo said with a smile, drawing a hearty laugh from Rosales. “I feel better than ever now. I know what I have, I know what it takes.”
It’s a busy time for Rosales, who owns a second gym in Albuquerque. Among the boxers Rosales trains is Katherine “Kat” Lindenmuth, Bosque Farms, who has a 6-3 record as a professional after losing a competitive but unanimous ten round decision in May to Kim Clavel, a two-time world champion. The match was in Clavel’s hometown of Montreal.
“It was such a good fight,” Rosales said, calling the entertaining bout, “a hometown decision.”
Rosales believes the showing by Lindenmuth, 34, will open more doors.
“We are looking at a promoter out in Hobbs and he’s interested in doing a title fight for Kat,” at 105 pounds.
According to Rosales, most of the top boxers in that weight class are in Japan, which could lead to “a trip to Japan and maybe a world title fight.”
