FROM FEISTY KID TO OLYMPIAN BY KERI KAHN, Staff Writer
JOSH EDWARDS’ JOURNE Y
J
OSH EDWARDS IS ABOUT TO LIVE HIS OLYMPIC DREAM.
Last October, the 23 year old punched his ticket to Paris after a semifinal victory over Cuba’s Fernando Arzola Lopez at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago. He followed with a win in the finals, becoming only the second super heavyweight American in history to win Pan Am gold. USA Boxing’s Assistant High Performance Director Derrick
30 • COLORADOMEDIAGROUP.COM
Raedel says that Edwards is considered undersized for super heavyweights — at 6 feet, 3 inches tall and approximately 220 pounds — which makes him a threat. “It’s kind of a David versus Goliath thing,” Raedel says. “His speed and footwork are hard to beat against those bigger super heavyweights. He showed that in Pan Am where he beat a Cuban.” Cuba is one of the tougher countries to best in the world of amateur boxing. Hailing from the historic boxing
city of Houston, Edwards gives much credit to his father, who put him in the gym around age six. “I was all over the place,” Edwards says. “It started with my dad just seeing that I needed something to put some energy into so I wouldn’t be so bad at school.” Once he stepped into the ring, his dad, Henry, saw visions of gold. “From there, he was just a guiding hand, making sure I stayed on track and was the best me I could be.” Eventually, a teenage Edwards
