Kingsville’s Oscar Cantu will be fighting in the Golden Gloves National Championship Tournament in Little Rock Arkansas this week. Cantu, who won the golden gloves state title in the 114 lb. weight class in Forth Worth in early March, could face two-time Olympian Raushee Warren. Oscar Cantu is probably on the road right now en route to the Golden Gloves National Championship Tournament to be held this week in Little Rock Arkansas. Cantu earned his invitation to the national tier by winning the golden gloves state title in the 114 lb. weight class in Forth Worth back in early March. At Little Rock, Oscar has an excellent chance of getting a shot at Raushee Warren who has participated in the Olympic Games more than once. It is a possibility Oscar is hoping for.

“I just want to see where my own skill levels are at because he is a two-time Olympian,” Cantu said during a break from his job at CB’s Barbecue.

“He has represented the United States and will be a good measuring stick as to how further I must go to get there. In some ways, I believe I am already there.”

Cantu, who is preparing to fight in the Olympic trials in 2011, won a bronze medal at the national golden gloves two years ago. Being too aggressive and straying from his usual strategy back then cost him the chance of winning the gold.

“I am pretty sure I made some mistakes,” Cantu said. “I wasn’t fighting my own fight but instead my opponent’s, who was an Olympic alternate. I was trying to attack too much - staying right there in front of him and throwing lots of punches - and I’m more of a boxer who likes to move in and out while throwing combinations.”

Since then, Cantu has evolved into a smarter and heavier hitter in the open class.

“It is actually getting a little easier because I have developed some power in my punches,” Cantu said. “When I land my punches, I can see the fear in my opponents’ eyes.”

That confidence has Oscar scheduling more and more venues.

“After this I have the state Local Boxing Championships tournament in El Paso,” Cantu said. “If I win that, then I will go to that national tournament too.”