Fighting Life’s Battles and Making Choices · said. “I know it’s (boxing) a good outlet. I...
Transcript of Fighting Life’s Battles and Making Choices · said. “I know it’s (boxing) a good outlet. I...
6 WEISER SIGNAL AMERICAN, Monday, December 24, 2012
Fighting Life’s Battles and Making ChoicesBy Bonnie Davidson Everyone is fighting their own battle and sometimes those battles are met with defeat. Others may find some small victories when fighting all the struggles in life. Most people find an outlet or a way to handle the stress of things. Finding a good outlet isn’t as easy or obvious for every person and one Weiserite is now fighting their way into victory, but he found defeat before finding a way. Tommy Turner went pro with his boxing in the last year. Something people may not have taken big notice of around here. Turner has been on ESPN, fought in Vegas and California and has met some pretty well known opponents in the ring. He has also been working with his manager for a non-profit organization in Ontario to help other kids get on the right path. “I turned pro October 2011 and big things have happened since then,” Turner said. “When you’re from Idaho they let you have it, but I’ve been doing well against the guys in California.” Turner wasn’t always in the spotlight for the right reasons. Growing up around the area he found trouble and friends who were hanging out with the wrong crowd. He suffered the consequences and ended up spending a year in prison at Cottonwood. “I was a trouble maker when I was young,” Turner said. “I know it’s (boxing) a good outlet. I was always an athlete growing up, I won state and have always been a competitor.” He started training in martial arts at a young age and never got into trouble for fighting. What he did end up getting into trouble for is what took him away from being a competitor. He began partying and doing drugs. He was more interested in hanging out with his friends then focusing on finishing school and staying on track. He found himself caught for burglary. For him, his time in Cottonwood was the eye opener. He didn’t like anyone he met in the prison. He didn’t like what prison was like, he didn’t like losing his freedom and he didn’t want to go down that path he had been led down. “Two days after I got out I went to a trainer and told him I would take it serious, I started training hard after that,” Turner said. “I always knew I had something in me that I could really do, if I push hard enough, work hard enough and dedicate myself.” Turner had been training a lot more in Mixed Martial Arts and had fought in the ring as an amateur. Once he began training with his manager, Martin Castellanoz, he told him he should look a little more serious into boxing. Castellanoz had worked with Turner before he got into trouble and knew that he should give Turner a chance to turn it all around. “I could see in him that he wanted to change, we’ve been together every since, through the good and the bad,” Castellanoz said. Castellanoz started up his boxing club called K.O. Rats Boxing when he came home from Iraq in 2005. He is a boxer, he has been boxing since he was 7-years
old and after seeing the children in Iraq he decided that kids in America could use a little training to keep them out of trouble. “My old coach from Nyssa once told us that one of these days you’ll be doing this,” Castellanoz said. “I like boxing, I like kids a lot and my family has always been involved with kids.” He began his boxing club and since then has paid out of pocket for much of the expenses. The kids who can’t pay are often covered by his personal funds. He spent somewhere around $75,000 in the last year and said that it’s been rough at times to find funding and keep them going. He trains kids from the age of 8-years old to 34. The idea was to keep kids out of negative environments. “We have around 20 kids training now and not all of them compete. Some just come in for conditioning,” Castellanoz said. This is how Turner got involved in the beginning but it wasn’t until he came back and started taking his
boxing more seriously when they realized he’d be able to go pro. Castellanoz was putting him in the ring with experienced boxers and Turner was taking them down. Turner is an underdog that’s been making his way up in the past year. Without any sponsors other than the gym they train in, Fit for Life in Ontario, they are covering all their expenses out of pocket. Turner is making money for each of his fights but he turns some of that money back into the non-profit organization by buying equipment and he has also had to quit his job to train full time. Turner has been training self defense, boxing and working as a personal trainer at Fit For Life to help make ends meet. They’ve been looking for a good sparring partner for Turner along with local sponsors that might be interested in helping out with equipment and other expenses. Turner has been using some of the income he makes from his matches to help out the kids while they’re in the gym. He also will hand down his gloves to the kids when he gets a new set. Turner also goes to the tournaments with the kids and will coach from the
sidelines, something he really enjoys doing. “If they’re getting out of line I tell them I learned the hard way, and I did,” Turner said. “Ontario has a bunch of gangster kids, they come in the first week and try to pick fights and bring in their gang lingo, they have no respect. After a month of training they totally change.” Castellanoz explained that a lot of the kids that come in are working hard and he has had kids win golden gloves. Two kids in his gym are getting ready to go to the Youth World Championship Jan. 6 through 11. The championship will take place in Reno, Nevada. Enrique Manrajos has 40 fights under his belt and Szel Martinez has 27 fights. “I’ve been boxing for three years, the boxing matches are fun,” Manrajos said. Castellanoz said that the kids will keep training and when it’s time for the Olympics to roll around they should be ready and old enough to compete for a spot. Many of the kids show up to the gym one day and jump into training. He said that Turner is a great inspiration for the other kids and once in a while he’ll let the kids spar with him. Turner is on a different training schedule and program than the little ones but he helps give the younger kids pointers. “With the kids it’s more about points, with Tommy it’s more about power, these are more experienced fighters,” Castellanoz said. Turner currently has a 3-2 record, but he considers it a 4-1 record. His first pro fight was against Carey Dupree from Reno, NV. Depree’s sparring partner is James Toney who is a world champion, Turner won by decision. His second was against Roger Romo Vargas, Vargas is the brother of world champion Frenando Vargas and spars with world champion Sergio Martinez. That was the fight where on the score card Turner was considered the winner but the decision was turned to the judges and they chose Vargas as the victor. In his third match he knocked out, in the first round, Edgar Alvarado, who was an alternate for the Olympic boxing team. His first real loss was in a tournament in Las Vegas, he went up against Rudy Puga, Jr. who was ranked in with the world amateurs. His last match was up against Billy Schmidt in another Las Vegas fight. He was able to knock him out also in the first round. He’s been able to knock out several of his opponents and they’re always in search of a good sparring partner. Right now Turner has been training hard for his upcoming fight in Tacoma, Washington. He’ll fight an opponent that hasn’t been named yet at the Emerald Queen Casino on Saturday, Dec. 29. Turner is also looking to possibly do some more MMA matches in the 2013 season. He currently holds a 23-5 record in his MMA fights. Turner has had to defeat the odds to get where he is today. He’s fought his way up in the boxing world, and fought his way out of a path that was leading him into trouble. Weiser can be proud to have someone around who can inspire other kids to fight the odds. We all make mistakes but it’s how we overcome those mistakes that makes us who we are.
Martin Castellanoz preps Tommy Turner for training. He tapes his hands up for practice to protect them from injury every time he trains or steps in the ring.
Kids from the K.O. Rats Boxing Club practice at Fit for Life in Ontario to keep busy and out of trouble.