Boxing has been a part of
my family for over 100 years on both sides of my family. My great
grandfather fought more than a dozen world champions in non-title fights
from lightweight to light heavyweight from 1916 to 1930. That was on my
mother's side.
My grandfather on my father's side fought professionally during the same
period but on docks and rail yards in the early 1900s. He moved to East
Los Angeles in the 1920s and that's where my parents met.
While my father was fighting professionally he brought me into boxing at
an early age. I was four years old when I was putting on gloves. When I
was in kindergarten I was put in against older kids. I lost almost every
fight for the next two or three years. When I finally stretched out in
size I began to win matches. But my heart always leaned toward baseball.
I come from a large family of nine brothers and sisters. Fighting was
common and a big part of our lives. Three brothers are former US
Marines. Growing up in East L.A. boxing and baseball has deep roots.
As a teen I was courted to box professionally but baseball was my
passion. It wasn't until much later that I rediscovered my roots in
boxing. I returned to boxing by accident when working as a reporter for
the LA Times I was asked to profile Oscar De La Hoya in 1993. Once I
stepped back into the boxing world I was hooked.
Around 1995, a publisher, who is a college friend of mine, convinced me
to help start a boxing magazine called Uppercut Magazine. One of the
first female fights I saw was Wendy Rodriguez at Pechanga Casino. Her
athleticism and skills impressed me deeply and convinced me that female
boxing was unique. One of the first female fighters I interviewed was
Mia St. John who was just starting and also Bridgett Riley who had been
a former kickboxing champion and was moving into the boxing world.
In 1999 I began working for La Prensa newspaper and the Riverside
Press-Enterprise as a boxing columnist. I also began working for
Maxboxing.com and WBAN as a contributor. In 2005 I signed to work for
TheSweetScience.com and I continue to work for the group that also owns
TheBoxingChannel.com, CanaldeBoxeo.com, ZonaBoxeo.com and
ThePrizefighters.com, a web site dedicated toward female boxing.
Since the late1990s one of my passions has been to push female
prizefighting to the forefront. Whether it's female boxing in Japan,
Germany, Mexico or the U.S. my goal is to push female boxing to greater
heights.
The sport of boxing has always had strong ties in my family. It's an
unbreakable bond I have with the sport. I simply love the art of boxing.
