BY CLIFF SMELLEY
He wasn’t the biggest. He wasn’t the strongest.
Colton Crane and his coach, Giovanni Cruz, will both tell you that. However, what Crane proved at the April 20-21 Florida State Junior Olympics in Brooksville was that he was the best boxer in his bracket.
Crane, who lives in Keystone Heights, went 2-0 at the event to capture his first championship belt since he began training with Cruz, who operates a free gym at his Keystone home.
It has been a fast rise for Crane.
“Two years ago, my uncle introduced me to Coach,” Crane said. “We just hit it off. I just kept coming back. Every day, I just kept coming back. Then, Coach said it was time to go compete. We just kept working, and here we are.”
Including the Florida State Junior Olympics, Crane has fought two fights in each of the last two years. His record is 4-0.
“Some people pick it up faster than others,” Cruz said. “In his case, he picked it up a lot faster than most other people would.”
Based on what he’s seen, Cruz fully expected Crane to win a championship at the Florida State Junior Olympics, even though Crane would have been considered an underdog — not just because of his size and strength compared to others, but also because he’s not attached to an official gym.
“I had no doubt in my mind he had this whole competition in the bag,” Cruz said.
Crane admitted he was nervous prior to his first match of the event, chalking to up to not knowing how things are going to turn out in the end. He and Cruz both said that his opponent in that first match is a “great fighter.”
“I had a feeling it was going to be a war,” Crane said. “I knew I was going to have to dig deep.”
Crane won every round in being declared the unanimous winner.
“It was the best feeling in the world,” he said.
Crane said he hurt his toe, which had to be wrapped prior to his second fight.
“I was still confident, but I knew I was really going to have to fight even harder to get the belt,” Crane said.”
Crane won the championship by a split decision.
Winning a championship is special, but so, too, is having a boxing great in your corner.
“My coach was former heavyweight champ Pinklon Thomas,” Cruz said. “He also worked our corner with me. It was cool having that experience.”
Crane said, “He’s a great motivator. He gets you ready for a fight.”
Thomas’ biggest advice to Crane was to keep pressuring his opponents.
“We got it done,” Crane said.
Crane had been working out with Cruz for six or seven months before Cruz told him he was ready to box for real. Cruz said he saw a number of things in Cruz that let him know he was ready.
“His reflexes are fast, and he’s hard to hit,” Cruz said. “Everything he was being taught he was absorbing like a sponge. He went home and worked on it. It wasn’t just here (in the gym).
“Every time I saw him spar, I saw him put everything (he learned) on display.”
For Crane, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not he thought he was ready.
“I trusted Coach,” he said. “I knew if I trained hard, I’d be OK.”
Crane said there’s no one established boxer he tries to emulate. Instead, he’ll watch multiple fighters and see if anything they do might work for him.
“I honestly just try to take a little bit from everybody and put it into my own game,” Crane said, adding, “I study it all. If I can use it, and it works well for me, I’ll use it.”
Cruz said Crane, based on his skills, is like a combination of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Floyd Mayweather.
If it wasn’t for his toe injury, Crane would’ve been preparing to fight in the National Junior Olympics in Kansas in June.
“My main thing is I don’t want my fighter getting hurt,” Cruz said.
Instead, eyes are toward competing in a Golden Gloves tournament next year.
“Then, we’re going to shoot for Nationals,” Cruz said. “After that, that’s when I intend to turn him pro.”
Until that next event, Crane will remain busy in the gym.
“I can’t stay away,” Crane said. “I like to be in shape and constantly getting better. I’m always coming to the gym, trying to improve and just be the best boxer I can be.”
Crane makes the most of his days. When he’s not in the gym, he’s working in his and his father’s lawn care business.
“I’m outside every day in the heat,” he said. “Then, I come (to the gym) and train. If I’m not doing that, I’m fishing.”
Crane now owns a championship belt, but the belt really belongs to a lot of people. First, there are his family and friends, such as Ricky Crane, Jenifer Crane, Christy Winkler, Eddie Winkler, Hanna Crane, Corey Castell and Sydney Stephenson.
“They support me in anything and everything I do,” Crane said.
Then, there are the people in town who’ve expressed their belief in him and have encouraged him.
“I see people everywhere I go, and they tell me good luck and to keep going. It’s just amazing,” Crane said, adding, “It most definitely takes a village.”
Crane, of course, can’t say enough about Cruz.
“I couldn’t have done it without Coach,” he said. “He’s definitely made me the fighter I am today. He’s spent endless amounts of hours with me. Late nights, Saturday mornings — you name it, he’s there.”
Cruz may have helped, but he said Crane has the right approach to be successful in the ring.
“His mindset is clicked onto the gym and is clicked onto his training,” Cruz said.
When looking at what he’s accomplished in just two years, Crane said, “Hard work and dedication most definitely will pay off in anything you do.”
