New Kensington teen boxer earns 3rd USA Boxing championship in 2 years

New Kensington’s Gea Fultz is one step closer to her dream of joining the 2028 Olympic boxing team.

The 15-year-old Valley High School sophomore recently earned herself an early Christmas present with a third USA Boxing national championship title in the past three years, and has been invited to join the USA Boxing Women’s High Performance Team, one of the precursors to eventually compete for a spot on the 2028 U.S. Olympic team.

“She beat the No. 1 seed in the finals, Zion Hensley, who is a six-time national champion,” said Fultz’s coach, James Hoy, who trains members of the Pittsburgh National Youth Boxing Team at the Third Avenue Gym in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Fultz said Hoy and her team members helped to build her confidence as the championship fight was approaching.

“The fight was tough,” she said. “We were both fighting for something big, which is a lot of pressure.”

Hoy said Fultz’s coaching team made sure to prepare for Hensley.

“We knew those two were probably on a collision course,” Hoy said. “We wanted Gea to press her and stay with the fundamentals. We wanted her to try and remove herself from the emotion of the event. She kept saying she didn’t want to let everyone down — and I had to tell her as long as she’s doing her best, she’s never going to disappoint anyone.”

Fultz advanced through the first two rounds of the tournament by walkover — in one scheduled bout, her opponent did not make weight, and, in a second bout, her opponent pulled out of the fight. Both instances mean a disqualification from the competition.

Fultz said maintaining weight is a big challenge for fighters.

“Especially for girls, sometimes you can gain water weight, and you can be an ounce over and they won’t let you fight,” she said. “It’s difficult, and it takes a lot of discipline.”

The championship win, in the female 15-and-16-year-old division at 110 pounds, also earned Fultz an invitation to join the USA Boxing Women’s High Performance Team this summer in California.

After her three national titles — one in 2023 at a Toledo, Ohio, competition and two this year in Lafayette, La., and Richmond, Va. — the high-performance team is the next step on the road to competing for a spot on the 2028 Olympic boxing team.

Hoy said it was amazing to watch Fultz in the ring, especially with her team rooting hard from the stands.

“Most people consider boxing an individual sport because it’s just you out there fighting, but the team made so much noise and really showed up to support her,” Hoy said. “They made it a team effort.”

Fultz agreed.

“They’re so supportive,” she said. “I was also the last one to fight, and we hadn’t had anyone else from our team win a championship yet this time. You feel like the whole team is depending on you. Honestly, if it wasn’t for them being there cheering, I don’t know if I’d have won the fight.”

For Fultz’s father, Michael Jones of New Kensington, there was a bit of an adjustment period when he found out his little girl wanted to fight for sport.

“She and my mother started this journey before I got involved in it, so the credit goes to them,” Jones said. “But at the beginning, I was nervous. Then I saw what a natural she was, and most of the nerves subside. Now it’s more confidence in her ability to do what she does.”

Other members of the Pittsburgh youth team also did well at the tournament, held last week: Niko Wilson earned a bronze medal in the youth 15-and-16-year-old division at 101 pounds, and Trinity Burke earned a bronze in the elite (18-and-older) female division at 165 pounds.