Elm Student Jeremiah Vera Wins Silver Gloves

On December 9th, 6th Grade Elm student Jeremiah Vera won the prestigious 2024 Illinois State Silver Gloves title fight for the 95 lb weight class. The Silver Gloves are a series of boxing titles for ages 8-15, a companion to the 16+ Golden Gloves. 

Jeremiah has always been competitive and started his athletic career playing football. His father, Alfredo Vera, boxed as a child and thought Jeremiah might do well in the sport as he has the natural advantage of being left-handed. Jeremiah was interested, and he first started training in early elementary school. He picked it up quickly but was halted by the pandemic. In 2023, he decided to return to his training. Jeremiah was invited to compete for the Silver Gloves, and he decided to make it his first tournament since returning to the sport.

Alfredo is not only proud of Jeremiah's victory but also of his mental perseverance throughout the day. After traveling to Rockford, IL, the duo woke up at 6 am for weigh-in, and Jeremiah’s hands were wrapped and ready by noon. As a competitor in the last fight on the card, he sat through the five hours of fights that came before him. Alfredo was worried about the length of the day but was impressed with Jeremiah’s endurance.

“We had to get food and water in his system and keep him loose and limber all day,” Alfredo said. “To have him cool and collected throughout the whole day was a great thing to see.”

When it was finally Jeremiah’s turn, his focus paid off.

“When I am in a fight, I just try to focus on dodging and counter punches,” Jeremiah said. “I am not too worried about the outcome because I am still young.”

Jeremiah won the title fight of the card.

The audience was impressed with his performance; after the fight, he and Alfredo were approached by many families and coaches, asking where their gym was and if they could visit to observe how Jeremiah trains.

“His skill set at his age level is really something to watch, and I love that everyone else noticed that for him,” Alfredo said. “He is such a good kid who gets good grades and is talented at what he does. He is proud of himself and his work, but he is very humble. Nobody would know that he even boxed if I did not tell them.”

Jeremiah trains at Flowers Fitness Club and is trained by Coach Abel Jimez, with additional support from Alfredo. After the pandemic, he started out by training once a week, but as his interest grew, Jeremiah continued to add training days. Leading up to the competition, he was training 7.5 hours a week, four times a week. 

“Boxing is really fun,” Jeremiah said. “I am good at it, so I just kept doing it!”

As there are no other kids his age in his gym, Jeremiah trains with kids older and bigger than him. While frustrating at first, it just pushed Jeremiah harder.

“I would always tell him we could stop; you do not have to do this,” Alfredo said. “But he would always say ‘no, I want to get better.’ Now, he knows that his drive and hard work have paid off, and his confidence is there.”

Left to right: Jeremiah's coach Able Jimenez, Jeremiah Vera, Jeremiah's father Alfredo Vera

While it is hard, Jeremiah likes that the sport made him stronger mentally, physically, and socially. He has gained confidence in his relationships at school, gotten the chance to meet lots of new people through boxing, and has made friends at his gym.

Jeremiah has committed to hard challenges within the sport, but he also knows when to rest. Winning the Silver Gloves qualified him for a regional championship very shortly after, but he decided to sit it out with a sickness combined with the wear and tear of the first fight on his body. After resting, he returned to training once a week and has just added a second day. Going forward, he has the chance for a tournament in the summer and another Silver Gloves fight.

“We do whatever he chooses to do,” Alfredo said. “Whatever the next fight will be, I will just be there to guide him and support him.”

Jeremiah wants to keep winning tournaments. He is interested in going pro, which can happen through joining an amateur league and working his way up. He says it would be cool to go to the Olympics someday.