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Just as Lupe Gutierrez was completing her final round of sparring on Aug. 21 at Sac Fitness gym in Sacramento, Claressa Shields—who Gutierrez hopes to one day follow in her footsteps—was making history more than 6,000 miles away in Rio de Janeiro.
Shields, competing in her second consecutive Olympic games as a middleweight, won gold in women’s boxing. At just 21, Shields became the only U.S. boxer ever to win two gold medals (her first coming four years ago in London).
“I want to go to the Olympics in 2020,” said the 17-year-old Gutierrez, who in July boxed her way to a Junior Olympics gold medal in Dallas, Texas. “My goal is to do what Claressa Shields has done. When she goes in there, she’s like a beast. She just goes in there and dominates, and that’s what I want to do to: To get girls known more in boxing, because we’re really not that known. It’s time for the girls to step up.”
The Sacramento native Gutierrez has been stepping up since she was 10 years old, and she’ll step in the ring once again on Sept. 4 when she fights at “Beautiful Brawlers VI”—an all-female amateur boxing show hosted annually by Pacifica-based boxing gym owner Blanca Gutierrez.
At this year’s event in Pacifica—which since its inception was meant to provide a platform to young, up-and-coming female fighters—Lupe Gutierrez is scheduled to be one of the main headliners.
“I’m thankful that Blanca is doing this for me,” Gutierrez said. “Because I know it’s hard for girls. For me, I have to be an example for the little kids coming up, that want to look up to me.”
The daughter of a Mexican-Cuban father and Filipina mother, Gutierrez first laced on gloves just prior to her 11th birthday. It was at her Filipino family gatherings when the young Gutierrez first glimpsed Manny Pacquiao.
“When I was little, watching him looked interesting,” Gutierrez said. “And I wanted to get in [the ring] and do it too. So I tried it.”
Having won more than 40 fights while only suffering five defeats, the smooth-boxing Gutierrez has risen to become one of the nation’s best amateur boxers. The highlight of her career came at the 2015 AIBA Women’s Junior World Boxing Championships in Taipei, when she defeated Donjeta Sadiku of Kosovo to become a world champion at 132 pounds.
“Just standing on that podium was like ‘Dang. What if in the Olympics, I can just stand up here again too?’” Gutierrez said of her world championship win in Taipei. “It was a great feeling.”
But there have been others who have paved the way for Gutierrez and fighters like her.
“Historically, women haven’t been boxers, and you haven’t seen them start at a young enough age for them to develop those skills by 17,” said Melissa McMorrow, an Oakland-based professional boxer and current flyweight World Champion. “I don’t think it’s a miracle. It’s rare because boxing hasn’t really come up as a sport for women.”
McMorrow, who has sparred with Gutierrez at least 20 times, is helping Gutierrez prepare for her Beautiful Brawlers bout, and McMorrow is impressed.
“What really distinguishes a seasoned fighter from an entry level fighter is the understanding of distance and timing and what that does for you in a fight,” McMorrow said. “Lupe can already control her body, so she can really maintain a certain distance and pick the times she wants to attack.”
McMorrow, now 35, turned professional at the advanced age of 27. But opportunities in the United States were scarce for female fighters. McMorrow persevered, however, becoming a World Champion in 2012 after she upset the undefeated and favored Susi Kentikian in Germany. But McMorrow still wished she had the opportunities that young female fighters have today.
“I do wish that I could’ve been able to go to the Olympics. When I first started boxing, it was always my hope because there had been talk about boxing being in the Olympics much before 2012. Like 10-15 years before that,” McMorrow said. “It’s great to see that some people do get that opportunity now. Because it’s something that I wanted.”
Gutierrez too hopes to turn professional one day, but on one condition.
“If I win the Olympics,” she said. “Because they give you more endorsements and you make more money that way. I’m trying to make a living out of this.”
Balancing the social life of a teenager and an elite fighter can be challenging, yet it’s something that Gutierrez has learned to do.
“Sometimes you have to make decisions,” she said. “What’s more important, going out with your friends or going to train? I’m glad some days I choose to go and train rather than be with my friends. Because I probably wouldn’t be a world champion right now.”
Beautiful Brawlers VI
Sunday, Sept. 4 • 2 p.m. • $20 general admission • 640 Crespi Drive, Pacifica CA