“Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions are made from something deep down inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision.” – Muhammad Ali
The City of Pasadena Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department will host its 9th Annual Centennial Square Boxing Show during the evening of Friday, August 23 in front of Pasadena City Hall.
The minimum age for both female and male youth competitors is eight years old, an idea that may rattle helicopter-parents. But more than a junior slugfest, the event feels more like a rite of passage and perhaps a ticket to ride for forward-thinking young boxers.
We swung by the boxing gym at Villa Parke Community Center last week for a glimpse of the sweet science in action, and to find out what some of the young competitors are thinking as they prepare to step into the ring on Friday night. There we were greeted by program coach Fausto De LaTorre, who began training in this gym as a kid from Zacatecas, Mexico.
“I’m a product of this program,” he says. “I was one of six kids raised by my beautiful single mom. I don’t know how she did it. Her love, along with this program, saved me from the gangs, drugs and violence.”
A petite woman in her 70s passes by after her daily workout on the speedbag. She and Coach De LaTorre bump fists, and he says, “See you tomorrow, champ.”
While people of all ages and abilities are welcome to join The Villa Parke Boxing Program, De LaTorre is focused on boxing hopefuls who are not yet street-legal. Among them is 16-year-old Marvin Gomez, now a junior at Marshall Fundamental Secondary School in Pasadena. Gomez says that his father enrolled him and his younger brother in the program to learn self-defense.
Gomez has been boxing since the age of eight, and points to the banner depicting the Olympic rings which hangs above the row of bags that hang like sides of beef along the mirrored walls.
“My goal is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics,” says Gomez. Part of that goal will be to reach his target weight of 125 pounds. Right now, he’s slender, all sinew, and still growing.
Far from being a mumbling meathead palooka, Gomez is also humble, graceful and well-spoken, adding that discipline allows him to maintain a high GPA, ace his AP classes and participate in the National Honor Society while balancing against an unrelenting training schedule.
He says “Every morning I run between three and a half to four miles, which takes me about half an hour. During the week, I come straight to the gym right after school and stay until the gym closes. I work with the ropes, shadowboxing, mitts, stairs, and sparring. Also, I have to do my share of household chores, or else my mom gets mad.”
He runs a hand through a rooster’s crest of shiny black hair that’s just now growing in after a scalp-close summer buzz cut.
“Word gets out when people know you box,” he says, explaining that the resulting peer-respect gives him the confidence to go on. “Boxing helps you gain a strong mentality, as well as physical speed and power. I’m in this 200 percent, so that my family’s sacrifices are not in vain.”
Adriana Nuñez, now 19, says “My mom put me into boxing when I was 13 or 14.” Both Marvin Gomez and Adriana Nuñez will take to the ring on Friday (although not against each other). Nuñez graduated from Pasadena High School in 2023 and plans to attend Pasadena Community College to study physiotherapy.
Born and raised in Pasadena, she uses her Apple watch to monitor her heart-rate during her daily training which includes track sprints and occasionally sparring with friend and Golden Globes finalist, 25-year-old Fatima Martinez who works for the Sheriff’s Department, where she competes on the department’s boxing team.
Nuñez also trains with Gomez, usually a run followed by a green-juice smoothie. “I stay away from fruit juices, because they’re so sugary,” she says. She also stays away from lifting heavy weights because, she says, “I don’t need the bulk.” Because she’s right-handed, her right hand is dominant, so in sparring she leads with her left.
Does Coach De LaTorre train girls differently than guys? Nuñez smiles “Nah, no difference at all. But I love sparring against boys.”
Asked about the importance of mental health, she says “This place, this work, is my therapy. Hitting the bag, I release all my negative thoughts.” As for this week’s coming fight, which is only her second, she says “When I’m in that ring, I’m listening to Fausto. And that’s it. That’s all. As soon as that bell rings, there is nothing else on my mind. No distracting thoughts. I really want to see how far I can go with this.”
Coach De LaTorre describes amateur and Olympic-style boxing as an art and science. Others call it “chess with the body.”
Differentiated from professional boxing, where the goal is to inflict as much injury and pain as possible, the style that De LaTorre teaches is based upon intelligence, method and strategy. Marvin Gomez is light on his feet as he moves around the ring alone, throwing lightning-fast jab-and- hook combinations and practicing head-dodges to avoid impact with an invisible opponent’s glove.
“Both for offense and defense, there’s a dance aspect to it,” says De LaTorre admiringly. “Tremendous endurance, and also restraint, knowing when to hold back on your energy, and when to really turn up the heat.”
The Villa Parke Community Center is managed by the City of Pasadena’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. De LaTorre says that he’s now in the process of developing boxing programs for Victory Park and Robinson Park, adding “There are so few city gyms these days, and we’re so grateful and proud to offer this program at this facility.”
DEETS
- 9th Annual Centennial Square Boxing Show
- Friday, August 23, 2024
- Pasadena City Hall
- 100 North Garfield Avenue
- 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
- Free family-friendly event
- The program of 12 bouts of Olympic-style boxing will begin with the national anthem and a color guard presentation from Pasadena’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment. Event includes DJ music, classic car show, food for purchase.
- www.CityOfPasadena.net/Parks-And-Rec
- More information: 626-744-6530
