CBS 13 Sports: In the community’s corner
Local boxers start own gym designed for low income youth in order to provide them opportunities they may never get to have.
YUMA, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - It was always just talk around Goodfellas Barber Shop on 24th street in Yuma between Jeffrey Mendez, Aluc'tec Galindo and Richie Preciado, talk of starting their own boxing gym for local youth.
"We’ve actually been talking about this for the past year," Preciado said. "They are actually my barbers."
Both Preciado and Mendez had their own groups of kids they were training. Preciado at a local club and Mendez at a local park.
"It’s just a passion I have," Preciado said. "My boys are 11 & 10, so I said let’s do something together and it gave us more time together too."
Preciado has been boxing since he was 13. His resume includes boxing for Club Latino, Boys and Girls Club, and in 1998 was ranked 7th in the U.S and went to the U.S. Open Nationals. Then he says, life got in the way.
Jeffrey Mendez also has a long history with boxing.
"I’ve been boxing since I was a kid as well," Mendez said. "I’m originally from Southern California so I boxed out of Los Angeles, San Bernadino County as well, since I was about six or seven years old. I did it for a very long time, amateurs, pro. After I lost a coach, I just decided to train."
Aluc'tec Galindo got involved first as one of Richie's students.
"I’ve been boxing for a year now," Galindo said. "Training with Jay who’s teaching me everything he knows."
The Barbershop talk pulled Galindo in and together, the three dreamed of starting their own boxing gym together.
"It was Richie who said hey, you find a building and if your serious let’s do it," Mendez said.
That's what they did and they eventually found a place at 425 E. 11th Street in Yuma.
"At first it looked a little rugged," Mendez said. "Kind of like a 'Rocky' movie you know. Richie came in here and said you know what, it’s cool."
The area is still rugged and to the naked eye, doesn't look like much. A building in the industrial edge of town with no signage. However, when the doors open just before 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, the gym is brimming with life.
"We also have a 20 by 20 ring so I think it might be the biggest in town," Preciado said. "Everything just fell into place, everything."
That's because of the hard work put in by the three co-owners along with countless volunteers and sponsors.
"We went as low as we can with our pricing," Mendez said. "We went as low as we can so that we can still pay the bills here. We’re not making much money off it, we put all the money back into this gym."
The fee is only $35 a month. $300 down will get the boxer's everything they need from gloves to head gear. The gym knows that not everyone can afford that.
"Many people want to sponsor the gym and we said why don’t you sponsor a kid instead of the gym," Mendez said. "We’ll take care of the gym, you sponsor a kid."
"The kids that gets sponsors, some come from a broken home," Preciado said. "When we tell them that they’ve been chosen because they’ve been working hard and are committed, once we give them recognition they become more committed. We had one kid cry because he’s never been in a sport, so it’s a lot more than just boxing for us."
"This is a sport where you start learning about yourself, these kids end up loving the sport," Mendez said. "You start learning about yourself, you start falling in love with yourself, you start working harder . You start seeing your weaknesses, all your flaws and how to build them up and be better."
Preciado says the change is almost instantaneous.
"It’s more than just boxing, we have kids that are really shy, they don’t have friends, they don’t know how to socialize," Preciado said. "Now they have friends and it’s like family, it’s not just boxing, there’s a lot more to it. I had one kid that would stutter, he was real shy, now you’ll see him sparring, he’s changed so much in the past year."
From the Barbershop to the boxing ring, Azteca boxing is open Monday through Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m and located at 425 E. 11th Street in Yuma.
Newcomers are offered a free trial day to see if it is something they'd like to continue.
"Iron sharpens iron," Mendez said. "We have a lot of kids that didn’t know how to do anything and now they’re great. We make kids great and they start walking different, talking different, the confidence is through the roof."
Azteca also offers morning classes in what they call adult boot camp from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
"The crazy thing about it is, the kids that fall into our laps, are kids like that need the help," Mendez said. "It’s everyday with these kids, we get to know these kids. As soon as they walk through these doors they become our kids."
"We grow this bond with them," Preciado said. "We find out how funny they are, how good they are, how talented they are. We don’t look for talent, we make kids talented."
Although Azteca boxing started just over two months ago, they currently train over 80 kids from early grade school to late teens. The gym is also looking forward to having some of their talented athletes compete in boxing events in the near future.
