For the second straight year USA Boxing’s Great Western Qualifier and Regional Open Championship is playing out in Albuquerque.

The event has increased in size with over 700 fighters competing at the Albuquerque Convention Center Tuesday through Saturday. Successful boxers who benefited from USA Boxing spoke at the news conference to kick off the event Monday.

Among those in the audience was 2004 Olympic Boxing alternate and former World Champion Austin Trout. Former two-time World Champion Danny Romero Jr. and 1972 Bronze medalist Jesse Valdez also attended the event. He brought his bronze medal with him to show the youth what is possible with hard work.

All of the fighters spoke about how USA Boxing helped them in life. “I was able to travel around and represent the United States in amateur boxing tournaments across the world,” said Trout. “To be able to see the different cultures and the different people at a young age, it opened up my mind.”

Danny Romero Jr. agreed with Trout. “It is much more than what the boxing is,” said Romero. “It goes out into where life is.”

Sharahya Taina Moreu hopes to make it to the Olympics one day. The New Mexico fighter will compete in the qualifier.

Winners at the event go to nationals. It’s the first step for Moreu in her efforts to get the games one day. “Right now I’m confident in everything because I’ve been working hard like anybody else,” said Moreu. “As long as I prepare myself mentally I feel like nobody can beat me at that part.”

Moreu, who recently returned from the Youth World Championships in India, spent last year ranked as a number one amateur fighter. She will be making her elite debut in the tournament, which is ages 18 to 35. “Excited, nervous, overwhelmed because it’s a big difference for me because I’m basically a little child fighting a grown women,” said Moreu.

The event which runs through Saturday is free to the public from Tuesday through Friday only.