Rau'shee Warren, 15, poses in his Mt. Airy apartment with many of the trophies he has earned from boxing. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

        Having already surpassed his idol in national boxing belts won (seven), Rau'shee Warren hopes to do him one better in another category.

        “I want to win Olympic gold,” said Warren, 15, of Mount Airy.

        His idol, Taft High grad Ricardo Williams Jr., won Olympic silver at 139 pounds at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.

        Last weekend, Warren, a freshman at Western Hills High School, won the Ringside Boxing Tournament in Kansas City at 112 pounds.

        “That's a step up for him in weight,” coach Mike Stafford said. “We'd like to have him back at 106 (for the Olympic Trials), because that's where he's best.”

        Warren boxes out of Buddy LaRosa's Police Athletic League gyms in Millvale and Mount Auburn, where Williams also trains.

        Like Williams, Warren is known for hand and foot speed.

        “Ric's a good role model, because he works hard and never takes an opponent lightly,” Warren said. “He can change his style depending on who he's boxing, and I do the same.”

        But it was Warren's brothers — Steven, 21; Ortayga, 20; and Antonio, 16 — whom Rau'shee followed into the gym.

        “I started going to the gym with my brother when I was 6, I was training at 7 and had my first (tournament) match when I was 8,” Rau'shee said. “I got knocked around at first. That's just the way it is in boxing. You're always going to find somebody bigger, tougher, stronger, when you start out. But, you outwork 'em and outsmart 'em, and that's how you get the upper hand on 'em.”

        His mother, Paulette, who grew up in downtown Cincinnati, has always liked boxing. As a girl, she hung out with boxers Tommy Ayers, Jeff Whaley and Cornell Jones, who trained at the Emmanuel Center.

        “I figured I'd get my sons started in it to keep them off the street and ... focused on a goal,” Paulette said. “I never expected one of them to take it as far as Rau'shee has. I go to all his tournaments. It's taken us all over the country — Kansas; Philly; St. Louis; Marquette, Mich.; Cleveland — and I've learned a lot more about boxing than I knew growing up.”

        Rau'shee was a promising basketball player, but now concentrates solely on boxing.

        “I like the action, most of all,” he said. “Basketball is fast, but nothing can compare with boxing. And you control the outcome personally more than you do in other sports.”

        He said his favorite boxers are Williams, Roy Jones and Felix Trinidad.

        From Sept. 30 through Oct. 5, Warren will go for another national title, this one the PAL crown in Michigan.

        “Boxing is what boxers do,” he said. “The more experience I have, the better my chances of making the Olympic team. That's what I'm shooting for.”

        That, and the gold.

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