Gloves champs target Rio

AS DECEMBER winds down, most people have their sights set on what 2015 will bring. But a crop of New York’s finest boxers is looking ahead to a shot at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

That includes Brian Ceballo, who won his third Daily News Golden Gloves championship last April. After suffering a fracture in his right hand during the national Golden Gloves tournament, Ceballo turned his year back around with victories in the PAL Nationals as well as the WSB and World Championships Team Trial in Chattanooga, Tenn. He is ranked among the best i n the country i n his 152-pound weight class.

Ceballo, who will turn 21 in February, will be back for the Gloves this January before taking several trips on behalf of the national team to compete in the World Series of Boxing that will take him to places like Argentina, Kazakhstan and Italy.

“There’s always more motivation as you keep winning because just getting closer to what you’re trying to get to. Your goal is the part that motivates you. That’s what being an athlete is about,” Ceballo said. “My goal is to get on the Olympic team and then win a gold (medal) in the 2016 Olympics.”

Ceballo is just one of several Gloves champions looking toward Rio, which shows just how competitive the Big Apple can still be in the ring.

“It’s definitely competitive,” Ceballo said. “T here are so many people that want to do it, but there’s only one person that gets to represent the U.S. out of hundreds, maybe thousands that want to get into the Olympics.

“It’s hard work, it doesn’t happen overnight,” he continued. “I’ve been boxing 10 or 11 years now and I think I have a pretty good shot since I have first crack at making the team.”