CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — “Everything that I've been working for, all the sacrifices that I've made, dedicating my entire life to this literal moment. It’s finally here,” Julian Delgado said.
Delgado is an amateur boxer from Corpus Christi, maybe better known as "King Julian." The King High School graduate has an amateur boxing record of 33-3. Through those matches, he’s become a Corpus Christi, State of Texas and National Golden Glove champion, two times each.
Now he’s got his chance to compete for a spot on Team USA Boxing in the Olympic Trials in Lafayette, Louisiana. Team USA will compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Summer Games.
Since taking up boxing two years ago, 22-year-old Delgado has dreamed of bringing Corpus Christi an Olympic Gold Medal.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said.
Delgado was working in lawn care service before he picked up boxing. Two weeks in, he said he felt it was God's plan to have him make this his career.
He’s using all 36 of his fights to fuel him through the trials. His golden gloves prove to him what he can accomplish. His losses always teach him a lesson.
“The three losses that I have, each one, I've taken so much and I've learned so much from it. And, I’ve used it to just pour it into my training and pour it into my fighting,” Delgado said.
Boxing is Delgado’s full-time job. You’ll find him in the gym for hours on end, sometimes training twice a day.
He boxes for himself, but since he’s had such a meteoric rise in the Corpus Christi boxing community, his outlook has changed. He’s become a role model. Delgado said if people look up to him now, he’s excited about what inspiration he’ll be if he brings gold back from Paris.
“Experiences like that with the younger generation that are going to come behind me, all it does is just motivate me even more.," he said.
As far as he knows, no Corpus Christian has won an Olympic medal for boxing. He said Jesse Benavides is one of the last to fight for a spot on Team USA Boxing, more than 40 years ago.
“I have the community behind me 100 percent," Delgado said. "People here genuinely just want to see me succeed. And, they watch my videos on social media and people, they just like, man we want to see that kid win."
Olympic trials are set up like a tournament where you must win each day to move to the next. Delgado is fighting in the light heavyweight 176 lbs. division. Trials begin on Dec. 4 and the finals are Dec. 9.
USA National Championships will be taking place at the same place and location as the trials.
Delgado said you can watch his fights on the USA Boxing website or you can follow his journey on his social media pages on Instagram @Kingjulian361, TikTok: Juliantheking 361 and Facebook: Julian Delgado.
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