Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 38
Sign: Aries
City: Montgomery
State: Illinois
Country: US
Signup Date: 11/19/2005
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Saturday, February 07, 2009
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Current mood:  loved Category: Sports
Home Finds The Aurora Boxing Club
By Coyote Duran (Feb 5, 2009)
.."When I go home after practice, I'm just thinking, what can I do to make it better?" - Raul Diaz, President, Aurora Boxing Club
When it comes to the spiky behavior of teenagers and their reluctance to learn from the mistakes and achievements of their parents, I have an adage: We weren't born as adults. The same can be said about fighters.
The need and want to fight comes at an early age. Some kids enter a gym by the will of their parents or guardians; as a means to save their
human potential and not fall victim to what the streets have to offer.
Others enter of their own volition; the lure coming by way of being
fans of the sport or seeing what friends and/or relatives could do,
given half a chance. The fact is, most professional fighters come from
somewhere and more often than not, they come from the smallest gym
environments; guided by mentors with the biggest hearts who dedicate
themselves to fueling the dreams of champions.
I expected nothing less when I walked through the doors of the Aurora
Boxing Club's new 6,000 square foot facility (formerly Sam's Tae Kwon
Do) in neighboring Montgomery, Illinois (my current hometown). The
Club, a standard in my city of birth since 1980, has firm roots; if not
a solid physical location. Having lost its Broadway location in Aurora
due to sale of the building in 1997, The Club has hopped about; using
local parks and the secondary gymnasium of Simmons Middle School. But throughout The Club's trials with finding a home, the standard of their mission has never wavered.
In the early 1990s, head coach Ramiro Ramos took The Club to unmatched heights in its history; guiding the most fighters in any single club to the most Golden Gloves Championships in 1993. As a result, Ramos would earn the privilege of attending the nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas, as a coach.
The Club didn't just breed winners in the ring; but leaders outside of
it. In 1981, Pete Rodriguez won the Chicago Park District, State Junior
Olympic and Regional Junior Olympic Championships while taking second place in the National Junior Olympics. Now an officer for the Aurora Police Department, Rodriguez freely volunteers.
"This is the club I started with when I was about 10 years old. We
‘open-closed, open-closed’ but I fought from the time I was 17 until I
went into the Marine Corps." says Rodriguez, "After that and with work
and all, I was with the Sheriff's department for about eight years on
second shift. I then came to Aurora and have been there on second shift
for a long time and it was really hard for me to do anything (time wise). About a year ago, they came to me and said "Hey, we're about to
do this. Can you help?" and I asked "What do you need me to do?"
What Rodriguez does now is the direct effect of the need to be part of
something great and at such an early age, it says something for those
who crafted the vision from nothingness.
"When the Aurora Boxing Club first started, me, my brother and Ramiro
were probably the first fighters there.” remembers Rodriguez, “He
(Ramiro) was the one that started it. He started it and my brother and
I and a couple of kids were (training) in the basement of my cousin's
house. Within the first six months, we had five Chicago Park District
champions. We took six guys and five won. It was amazing. The fighter
that lost did so in the semifinals. We have a lot of history here."
And that's history that resonates well through the memory of Aurora
Boxing Club President Raul Diaz. What created Diaz as an amateur
inspired him; even when he couldn't continue his next phase as a
professional.
"I fought over 150 amateur fights! In '95, I was a runner-up in the
Nationals." Diaz proudly and excitedly says. "When we fought in the
Golden Gloves in Chicago, everyone knew The Aurora Boxing Club. Every year, we had three or four champions. I was a five-time champion. I had three professional fights (at welterweight) but my mom and dad passed away so I had to give it up to keep money coming in. I had to wind up getting two jobs back then."
But Diaz didn't walk away from boxing altogether. His love of the sport was just too great. The reason is simple.
"This is the best sport and this is why I do this: It takes kids off
the streets and it took me off the streets. And even if the parents
don't like this for their kids, I tell them, OK, then try a different
sport for your kids. As long as they're involved in something, it's
keeping them and their minds busy. You don't have too worry about them doing something else. And we tell the kids, if you don't wanna compete, that's fine. But if you wanna stay here and get in shape, you're more than welcome."
The fighters who did stay the course of competition rarely walked away
without accomplishments. The Aurora Boxing Club netted Golden Gloves Championships in 1989 by Quentin Virgen, 1990 by Diaz and Mike Ramos, 1993 by now-local Pastor David Gray and 1997 by Jorge Pacheco. There has been no shortage in Junior Olympic Champs, for that matter. In 1981, Jesus Contreras gained The Club’s very first Junior Olympics Championship. But it wasn’t until 2008 when The Club flooded the tournament with winners Mercedes Martinez (gold, female division), Emmanuel Ramirez (gold, 15-16 age bracket, 138 pounds), Armando Martinez (gold, 12-13 age bracket, 70 pounds), Jerry Marquez (gold, 10-11 age bracket, 70 pounds), Jonathon Villalobos (gold, 8-9 age bracket, 60 pounds) and Enrique Bahena (silver, 12-13 age bracket, 95 pounds). A figurative foundation was securely in place.
Getting things off the ground when establishing new roots of success
had its drawbacks upon moving in. One was having to start charging
something substantial for use of the facility.
"That's just for us to pay the bills here." says Diaz; who is given a
healthy administrative assist by wife, Edna. Membership fees range from $20 a month for ages 8-17 to $30 a month for age 18 and over. A license to compete is $30. "Our gas bill was $500 last month so that's why we're keeping it a little cold here (Laughs). The kids are gonna warm up anyway."
Funds have always been a major hurdle for The Club since its inception.
"It's hard. Sometimes we've gotta take money out of our own pockets but we're working at it." Diaz laments. Rodriguez agrees. We only started charging kids now because we have to cover the cost because we don't have money (coming in from the city). A lot of it's coming out of our pockets. Any time we have an event, we'll get donations of a couple of cases of water, a couple of cases of pop that we try to sell to make
money."
Even with a relatively new facility, the need to keep costs low is
tightly held close. "My nephew did the art on the walls." Diaz states
proudly; pointing at the walls where an Aurora Boxing Club logo and
painting of the back of a fighter, arms victoriously raised, are
displayed. "He set up the camera, stood by the ring, raised his arms
and did the painting from his picture. I've been off for three months
(from a seasonal lay-off from Diaz’ career in construction) so I
painted (the entire facility) and put up the bags." Diaz then points to
opposing walls where several heavy bags were installed; one row
flanking a wall decorated with military-style, stencil script, reading
'LEADERSHIP.' Around the corner hung four speed bags, two low enough for teens or children to easily reach; each supported by
makeshift-yet-sturdy wooden supports.
When it comes to buying 'new' equipment, Diaz even hits Craigslist.org.
"Before we didn't have nice bags but we've got good bags now."
And for now, the price of the rented site is right. Owner Henry Funk
absorbed the energy and emotion of Diaz, Rodriguez and Coach Ramos and discounted their first six months.
"The Lord is good because he brought this gentleman, Mr. Funk, to us."
Hopefully, those six months can get the staff the time they need to accumulate the precious funds to keep them afloat.
"We're doing whatever we can. I've got two kidneys. I can sell one (everyone laughs) on eBay or something." Rodriguez jokes, at the
cutting of the ribbon; led by Aurora alderman, Juany Garza.
And it's all worth keeping.
"I'll tell you, my eyes watered when we walked into this place." says
Rodriguez, "When I was a kid, we always wanted to have a club to go to. Not in a basement of a bar or some house."
"One time, we had 49, 50 kids training but it was out of the gym of the
middle school." Rodriguez continues, "But we couldn't have any bags or
anything there (due to lack of storage). We were doing mostly
shadowboxing. Right now, we have 30, 35 kids and we've barely started at this location. A lot of people don't know there's a club here. We've just gotta get our name out there. And if I can change one kid for life or make him better, then I did my job. I don't even wanna settle for
one. I'll take more. I'll take one if I can get him, but we want more."
Such is the reality of what drives The Club as a whole.
Diaz is still in awe of his reality.
"We never had a place like this. This is my dream."
A dream that fuels the dreams of champions.
The Aurora Boxing Club is located in the Boulder Hill Market Place, 67 Boulder Hill Pass, Montgomery, Illinois, 60538. Training hours are 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For more information on training, sponsoring The Club or making donations, please call 630-844-8528 or 630-340-3586 or visit www.auroraboxingclub.com
E-mail Coyote at: artofthepaw@yahoo.com
Visit Coyote at: myspace.com/coyote_duran
4:56 PM
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