This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Not all athletes at BYU compete in intercollegiate sports for the Cougars. I learned that last night at the Utah Golden Gloves Boxing State Finals.
One of the competitors was Brandon Packard, a 22-year-old BYU junior from Houston, Texas. Packard recently won the USA Boxing state championship at 141 pounds, but fell a bit short on Saturday night in the Golden Gloves title fight. Packard was defeated by Aaron Griffith, a 26-year-old Skyline High graduate from Salt Lake CIty.
Here is video from the third and final round of that bout; Packard is wearing the blue of Fullmer Brothers gym in South Jordan; Griffith fights out of the Fight For Your Life gym in Salt Lake City.
Packard was still upbeat after the loss, saying he has only been boxing for six months or so and still learning what it takes to win. He is now 1-2 against Griffith.
Packard will marry fellow BYU student Aubrey Dyer of Amarillo, Texas, in two weeks. He joked after the bout that he came out of the fight physically unscathed, which is what Aubrey was concerned about with the big day just a couple weeks away.
"No facial bruises," he said.