Already known for having one of the most decorated amateur careers in the region, local boxing star Orlando Zamora recently added one of the most prestigious belts to his collection.
Between February and May, the Turlock native competed in the National Golden Gloves Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., where he went undefeated in five matches to claim the famed gold and red belt in the 121-pound weight division.
Zamora has competed in other national competitions over the years, and most recently traveled the world as part of USA Boxing’s Elite High Performance Team. But never has he even tried his hand(s) in the Golden Gloves tournament.
For the 2024 Turlock High graduate, this first time at Golden Gloves was the charm.
“It was an amazing experience to travel all over the world representing the United States over the past year,” said Zamora. “I had some tough losses, and maybe some fights didn’t go the way I wanted, so when I came back home, I wanted to challenge myself and try something new.
“Golden Gloves is such a big tournament, the one that everybody knows about and wants to win at this level. It’s the one tournament I haven’t competed in, so I decided, why not try to win this and add it to my resume?”
Zamora, who has spent parts of the last two years training with the United States national team and splits time at home between the Palacio Truth Boxing Gym in west Turlock and Marquitos Boxing in Fresno and Winton, won all five of his bouts in Tulsa by decision.
The Turlocker began his run with consecutive 4-1 splits against Ohio’s Francis Stewart and Minnesota’s Aiden Bymers. His final three contests against Kansas’ Melvin Wesley, Florida’s Yedrian Otero, and in the championship bout against Ohio’s Yu’Shore Williams, Zamora cruised to 5-0 unanimous decisions.
The Golden Gloves marked Zamora’s seventh national championship. He now sports an amateur record of 89-25.
“It’s an amazing feeling to get back in the ring and get some wins under my belt,” Zamora said. “It was a great experience, and I’m happy that I got to finally compete on that stage.”
Zamora qualified to the national tournament after winning the Central Valley Golden Gloves with a 2-0 record, punching his ticket to the California Golden Gloves championship.
Prior to his regional and national Golden Gloves run, Zamora won the Oxnard International - National Police Activities League title for the second straight year in October. The recent string of championships came after a grueling schedule with the national team, and experience that Zamora said made him stronger as he now weighs his amateur and potential professional options.
As a member of USA Boxing’s Elite High Performance Team, Zamora competed represented the red, white and blue at the 2025 World Boxing Cup in Brazil in late March and early April, the World Boxing Challenge in the Czech Republic in June, the World Boxing Cup in Kazakhstan between June and July, and the World Tournament in London.
“It was a great experience to go to all of these places around the world that I’ve never been to before,” he said. “Some of the results didn’t go the way I wanted, but to be able to train with Team USA and test my skills against some of the best in the world was good. But I wanted to end the year, and maybe even my amateur career, on a high note, with some wins.”
With the Golden Gloves to his name, the 20-year-old said that he has received heightened interest from professional promotions.
“The goal is to obviously go pro,” said Zamora. “Whether that’s next or if I end up fighting a few more times as an amateur, I’m not sure yet. But the interest is there and I’ve been talking to a few organizations. The deal needs to be right.
“I’m happy with how I came back to put in more work and apply some of what I learned with Team USA to these last couple of events. I’m feeling good, continuing to train, so I’m excited for whatever comes next.”
