L.A.-area boxing twins are separated in berths

From the time they entered the world two minutes apart, Javier and Oscar Molina shared everything: bunk beds and a bathroom, honors classes and sports teams.

For much of their 18 years, the Commerce twins have also shared a passion for boxing, and a dream of competing in the Olympics.

Now they are one step away from sharing a trip to Beijing -- with a historic twist. If they perform as expected in this week's qualifying tournament in Trinidad, they would become what are believed to be the first twins to compete for different nations at the same Olympics.

"Since we were small we always thought about going to the Olympics," Javier said. "But never like this. It's a little weird."

Javier became the United States champion at 141 pounds at the Olympic trials last August. But because the brothers and their family have vowed that the twins would never have to fight each other, the slightly heavier Oscar stepped up to box 152-pounders at the U.S. championships in June. Encountering a weight disadvantage, he lost by a point in his first bout and never reached the trials.

The fraternal twins are American citizens by birth whose parents emigrated from Mexico.

But because Olympic rules allow athletes to compete for the homeland of their parents, Oscar faced a choice: Try again in 2012, or try to make the Mexican team right away.

"Four years," said his father, Miguel. "A lot can happen in four years."

So Oscar decided to push ahead. By the time of the Mexican trials in December, he had grown into his higher weight, rolling through all five of his opponents to win his spot on the Olympic team.

"This wasn't handed out to us," said Oscar, who has been training in Mexico. "We fought for this like anyone else. We earned this. But it's a little weird. Seeing him on another team and I'm here in Mexico."

In the melting pot that is Southern California, where many families keep their home in one country and their heart in another, the twins' rare accomplishment has drawn little notice.

"Until people started bringing it up, in all honesty we never thought about it," said Roberto Luna, the twins' coach at the Commerce Boxing Club. "Someone might not like the idea that they're both from the United States and one of them is representing Mexico. We never looked at it like that. We always looked at it as a boxing opportunity.

"For us, it was just about the Olympic experience."