It wasn’t the first trip to Lubbock, Texas for Marques Tovar, an incoming freshman at Turlock High School, who competed in the 2021 Junior Olympics, but what he experienced two years ago didn’t compare to what he went through last week at the 2023 tournament.

Not only did Tovar step up in weight class from 95 pounds to 101 pounds for this year’s Junior Olympics, but he ended up competing four days in a row enroute to a second-place finish. He was the only boxer in the wight division to have four fights in the tournament, as he was unranked in the class. All other unranked fighters were either eliminated through the first three days while the handful of ranked fighters he stood beside on the podium had byes.

“It was a little new to me, but I do spar a lot and it helped, but at the same time, I noticed my body was sore in some fights. They were bigger guys too, so it showed me that I can compete at this level with these other guys at this weight and age,” Tovar said.

The track record he put together proved it, with two of his matches going against top seeded boxers in the weight class, and one of them being on the wrong end of a milestone moment for Tovar.

In his first fight against unranked Brian Perales of Kansas City, Tovar cruised to a unanimous decision victory. His reward was a date with second seeded Demarr Williams of Michigan, a fight that marked a milestone in Tovar’s career. In the middle of a back-and-forth match, Tovar threw a straight right that landed clean on his opponent’s chin sending Williams to the canvas – the first knockdown of the Turlocker’s career. It was the first of two eight counts that Williams received in Tovar’s eventual unanimous decision win.

“It was beautiful boxing. They were really going at it. He put him right on his rear end and I had never seen him do that. It was so loud. It was just pure intensity going on,” said father and coach Jeff Tovar.

“It felt good because I knew they were a bit bigger and older than me and it told me that I’m getting my strength now, getting my power,” added Tovar, who competes under the banner of Tovar Boxing and also trains under Team Trouble in Hollister.

He would go on to beat unranked Jorge Lievana of Colorado in 3-2 split decision to clinch a spot in the Saturday night title fight against #1 seed Fabricio Orocio of Texas. Though Tovar and his father believed that they won more rounds, Orocio was awarded a 4-1 split.

“Things happen, man, especially being so far from home and the other guy being a hometown kid. But it’s all about experience,” said Jeff.

Despite the second-place finish, Tovar breaks into the 101-pound national rankings at #2.

“The whole week showed me that I can go against the top fighters like Demarr and Jorge. I faced them. It gave me a lot of confidence to push harder and train harder. I feel like I can take it next time,” said Tovar.

Next up for Tovar is the USA Championships in Lafayette, Louisiana on Dec. 5.