Athletes from Hook Elite Boxing, owned and operated by Newburgh resident Leonard Lee, have headed to Louisiana for the national championship for boxing. Eleven youth boxers, including both girls and boys, will participate in the championship. For some, it will be their first time fighting in the national championship, others, like Ja’sir Junior, won’t be new to the challenge.

The boxers headed to Shreveport, Louisiana on March 25 and will be returning on April 4. Lee said he hopes to return from the championship with at least five winners.

“The championships are big for boxing,” said Lee. “If I can get some of my kids to bring some of these first places home, that’ll be big for us. We’re going to have some fun, win some belts and positions.”

Junior, 16, plans to continue pursuing boxing and eventually have a professional debut when he is 18. He was born and raised in Newburgh and currently attends Newburgh Free Academy. Junior has been boxing since he was 3-years-old and began competing at 8. Junior is the most experienced boxer from Newburgh who went to the championship, ranking at number two in his division.

“Take that leap,” said Junior to any other Newburgh youth who might be thinking of boxing. “You won’t know what kind of leap it will be – it might be a good leap or a bad leap, but I advise you to take it because you never know what the difference might be at the end.”

Others come in with number three and six ratings in their division. The national competition is extremely exciting especially for some of the girls, as it will be their first match ever. In a normal year, five matches are required before going to the national championship. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic they opened it up to anyone.

“If some of the girls from Hooke Elite mess around and win, that’s going to be big,” said Lee. “Some of the other girls they’re going to be fighting against have 40, 50 even 100 fights. My girls are ready from sparring.”

One of those girls is 14-year-old Kanayharae “the troublemaker” Pascual, better known as Kay Kay, who is also a Newburgh native and just started boxing in August 2020.

“I’m happy about [fighting in this competition] because I’m with my family and friends from the gym and mostly I can’t wait to win because I’m really doing this for my grandma and my stepdad who died 3 weeks ago,” said Pascual. “I really love it and I wanna keep doing it so I can see if I can become professional.”

Following in her footsteps is her sister 10-year-old Dinayharae Pascual, better known as Yum Yum, who will be attending the competition but not fighting quite yet. Other girls competing include Jaysha Zapata and Jessica Herrera.

Boxers from Hook Elite have travelled far and wide to fight, which includes travels across New York State, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and even Ireland. Elijah Williams, who spent time training at Hook Elite Boxing, is having his professional debut soon.

“We’re representing Newburgh,” said Lee.

Earlier this year, Hook Elite Boxing faced an uncertain future, which all started when City of Newburgh officials were ensuring they were following COVID-19 regulations and protocols. At the same time, the City was restoring Delano Hitch Stadium, which is where the locker room utilized by the boxing club is located.

Beyond ensuring that COVID-19 protocols are met, it was brought to attention that the boxing club has not operated with a licensing agreement in place since 2014. Neither the city officials or Lee have acknowledged this fact until September 2020.

Despite the bump in the road, Lee said he is excited to keep working with the youth and bringing back more national champions.

“I’m praying we eventually get a much bigger building,” said Lee. “I like this place and it works for me, but I need a bigger place. We make this one work.”

To learn more about Hook Elite Boxing, visit its Facebook page.