Kerwick steps back into the ring

The dream, Mahlon Kerwick says, was to represent his country in two Olympic Games – in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 and in Rome, 2004.

That dream was denied and the University High School graduate walked away from the sport after an impressive amateur boxing career that spanned 14 years, more than 250 bouts and a treasure trove of tournament titles, including a silver medal from the 1999 World Championships and a long résumè of national and international competitions.

But dreams have a way of reinventing themselves, and an older, wiser, bigger and stronger Kerwick finds himself the No. 2 seed going into next month’s Olympic Trials in Houston.

“The last time I went to the Olympic Trials, I was the youngest guy there,” he said. “I was 18 years old and I was going to go to the Olympics and then come back and then repeat it four years later.

“This time around, I’m 26 and I’ll be the oldest guy there.”

A member of the U.S. Army boxing team, Kerwick left the service and his sport to get married and start a family in 2004.

“I can’t work and box at the same time,” Kerwick says. “To me, boxing is a full-time job. I can’t be in the sport and treat it as anything less than a full-time occupation. It has to be all, or nothing.”

But about the time he learned he was going to be a father, he was recalled to active duty by the Army.

“I was at Fort Hood, Texas, headed to Iraq when I heard from coach Basheer Abdullah,” Kerwick said. “He said of all the guys he’d worked with in 2004, he wanted to work with me again the most.”

And just like that, that deferred dream from long ago returned stronger than ever. Kerwick was reassigned to Fort Carson, Colo., to once again box for the Army.

“The last time I did this, I was fighting for myself,” Kerwick said. “This time I have a wife and a kid that I’m fighting for. That makes a big difference.”

When he left the sport, he was a hard-punching 132 pounder. Now he’s 20 pounds heavier.

“I was always a good, hard puncher,” he said. “Now everyone is a hard puncher, but I still have the quickness I had before.”

Kerwick went into last month’s U.S. National Championship tournament with two goals, to advance to the quarterfinals and secure an invitation to the Olympic Trials, and to win a national championship.

He accomplished the first goal by stopping the Navy’s Abdullah Johnson in the third round on the 20-point mercy rule in the first round of his opening bout, then edging Luis Arias of Milwaukee by a single point to make the round of eight.

“That guy hit me harder than anyone I’ve fought and he’s still in high school,” Kerwick said. “He almost stopped me. I was behind in the third round, but I pulled in out late.”

Kerwick beat teammate Boyd Melson in the quarterfinal and advanced to the finals on a medical walkover when Demetrius Andrade was hospitalized with strep throat.

In the final, however, the string was stopped when Charles Hatley of Dallas built a 20-point lead with a second remaining in the second round.”

“They stopped the fight on the 20-point mercy rule,” he said. “I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Kerwick’s father, Ray, agreed.

“I don’t know what the judges were looking at,” he said. “I went back and scored the fight and I had Hatley ahead by a couple points at most.”

That’s not just a proud father talking. The senior Kerwick is a veteran, top-level amateur boxing coach with international experience in his own right.

The silver medal makes Kerwick the No. 2 seed going into the trials next month.

“Houston in August isn’t going to be pleasant,” he said. “It’s hot and sticky and not a fun place to go. But I’m glad to be going anyway.

“It’s a round-robin tournament, but it’s also a double elimination. I don’t plan to lose, because some of the toughest bouts are in the loser’s bracket. You’re fighting against guys who have the same dream you have – they have it all on the line and they don’t give that up easily.”

Ray Kerwick likes his son’s chances.

“He can win this thing,” he said. “He really can.”

“My dad has always been my biggest supporter, and now that I have a son of my own, I understand,” Mahlon said, referring to eight-month-old Killian. “I can see me supporting him the same way one day.”