The Other 6 Days

A Boxing Legacy: Lee & June Espinoza | The Other 6 Days | Episode 54

• Southwest Church • Season 3 • Episode 54

Share episode

In this episode, we are joined by Lee & June Espinoza, founders & owners of The Coachella Valley Boxing Club in Coachella, California. The Espinoza's let us in their corner of the ring and provide some of the stories, highlights, wins & defeats they have encountered along the way.   

SHOW NOTES & RESOURCES:


For more information or to join the conversation, head over to https://southwestchurch.com/theother6days or email us at theother6days@southwestchurch.com

FOLLOW US!

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theother6dayspodcast/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theother6days
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@theother6days

Speaker 1:

Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the other six days podcast, where we chat about life outside of Sunday and what it means to live from our gatherings, and not just for them. I'm your host, CJ McFadden, here again with pastor Ricky Jenkins, as always, and on this episode we have some very special guests with us today June and Lee Espinoza. The Espinoza are founders and owners of the Coachella Valley boxing club right here in Coachella, California, and they have had a transforming influence in the lives of athletes. The Espinozas are founders and owners of the Coachella Valley Boxing Club right here in Coachella, California, and they have had a transforming influence in the lives of athletes and youth for decades here in both the desert and around the globe. Today, they let us in their corner of the ring and provide some of the stories, highlights, wins and defeats that they've encountered along the way. Today, if anything else, our focus is to celebrate and honor their contribution, influence and impact in the various arenas of sports, community culture and life. Lee and June. Welcome to the podcast, Lee and.

Speaker 3:

June.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Thank you for inviting us, lee, and.

Speaker 4:

June. We are so excited. Lee and June, we're so happy to be here.

Speaker 2:

We are honored that you are here to be with us. It's honestly kind of an opportunity for us to tell our church family and people who kind of care about what's happening at Southwest Church about the heroes of the Valley. So honestly, we think you two are heroes and your story needs to be told, and I think everybody needs to know exactly what God's been doing through you all, all these years, especially God.

Speaker 3:

I don't know what's happened because, uh, god is giving me that, that opportunity to do something like this yeah you know, I was a gardener and everything. And then all of a sudden you know, let's go, that's so cool, let's go.

Speaker 4:

I love it like he never boxed. Yeah, so why he started? It's just that he took my son one time and my son says hey, I want to do that.

Speaker 3:

I can beat those guys.

Speaker 1:

Let's go.

Speaker 4:

That's a God thing, for sure, so we found a gym, and that's where you ended up where you're at.

Speaker 1:

So while we were filming our upcoming At the Movies series it's a new message series this summer at Southwest Church you guys were gracious enough to allow us to film in your facility for that upcoming series. And so while we were there, we were introduced to an elite boxing facility, a gym, a community center, a boxing history museum, full of awards, trophies and accolades all over the walls, and they were covered with countless articles, newspaper stories and a ton of community support as well. And then your guys' hospitality obviously made the whole experience just truly amazing. So maybe we just jump right in and start off and tell our listeners about how it all started. The humble beginnings of the Coachella Valley Boxing Club.

Speaker 4:

Okay, yeah, we started a long time ago, about 35 years or 40?. We started in 1977. Okay, I was born in 1977. We started the program in 1977.

Speaker 2:

So I know for a fact, that's 48 years ago. Okay, 48 years old. That's when we started.

Speaker 4:

And we started at a small gym and then from there we went to the Indian Boys and Girls Club, okay, and then from there we were at the old fire station in Coachella and then when the boys got older and stuff and they were able to apply for grants, then they started, lee went and talked to the city of Coachella. Let me tell the story first. I can go on and on.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know, we had to raffle cows and pigs and things like that to get money. Because since I started this program, all these kids, you know the parents, they don't have no money to take them like you used to. You don't have money to baseball there's a lot of money. Soccer, you have to pay a lot of money and in boxing, since we started, nobody has spent one penny.

Speaker 3:

And because of what we wanted to do, since we started, nobody has spent one penny and because of what we wanted to do you know, and so we started at the Boys and Girls Club with one bag, and then from there they keep telling us well, we're going to use the gym because we have the police, ones like this, and one time we had a, um, a national tournament. There we go, I go, man, we gotta, we gotta train, we gotta train. And they go.

Speaker 3:

Well, you can train outside you know, I attend the basketball court and things like that. So you know when you're not wanted, you know like this, so I I go. So I started going to coachella and the city council and I go look at, look at these kids. We were doing great. We had about 20 kids and all those kids were if I take 10 to the fights, maybe 10 win or maybe one would lose and everybody was incredible and that's why I said that God gave me the gift to train people that I never boxed in my life but to make six world champions from the club. And all the Mayweather, all the Rojo Jr, all the guys legends that they've been in my gym.

Speaker 2:

You know Bobby Chacon, I remember Mr Lee, like CJ said, we're recording this sermon about the movie Creed and we always try to find these places to film, but it's always just OK. Yeah, sure, that's OK, that's a nice place. But I walk in your gym and I'm like how did I not know that this?

Speaker 2:

existed in the Coachella Valley. I mean, it looks like a movie seat or set. It's. It's unreal a movie seat or set. It's unreal Boxing arena or boxing what do you call it? A ring, Boxing rings. There's gloves everywhere. There's pictures of fighters. If you are listening to this and you haven't seen the Coachella Valley Boxing Club, you've missed something that's special. That's going on in the Valley. What was the why? Was it all about getting kids in a healthy environment? What was going on in your hearts to say let's start a boxing club?

Speaker 3:

My son, like I tell you. We went to watch a show and there was little kids six years old Now it's eight, but before you can start at six years old. So we went and we used to live right across the high school.

Speaker 3:

In the high school we'd look at the newspaper and say there was going to be some boxing. So I called my compadre. They said nah, amateur. So I told my wife and the kids went over. So they started little kids and they gave a big trophy, the winner and the loser. My son goes, my God, he goes. Is he going to take it home? That's his, I go. Yeah, well, you know he won it and he goes. It took me a year because we had him in soccer. It took me a year to get a little ball like this, you know, with a piece of wood inside and a little ball.

Speaker 3:

You know what I'm saying it's smaller than the golf ball. So he goes shit, I can beat those guys. And I go, okay. And then he keeps saying it took three, maybe like a month, but he keeps bugging me, bugging me. So I look around and there was a Boys and Girls Club. There was a club, open boxing, and Lalo Gutierrez was the trainer there. So I go hey, I got a kid here. How old he goes six years old, my son's, six and a half because, okay, so bring him. And then he started showing him how to walk and this and that and doing it in three weeks it took him to fight, wow. And then from there, a big trophy man when he wanted my, my, I choked, you know, like I wanted to cry yeah and yeah I say emotional yeah and and uh.

Speaker 3:

After that, you know, to make a long story short, there was nobody in the us could beat him and he had 300, some trophies, you know, know, wow, when he was 15 years old, you know, Wow, and there was incredible fighter, but anyway. So I'm stuck now.

Speaker 4:

In boxing. When the kids turn 16, they become open fighters. Okay so where they could fight somebody Beat all 16, they could fight in their same age level, their weight. But when they go, or they can fight a 20-year-old, 19-year-old, oh wow, at 16?, at 16.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 4:

So, lee, lets them do another sport so they can build up. Well, we let him play football and they broke his arm in one of the games so he couldn't fight anymore. But before that he went to National Champions and stuff like that Marquette, michigan you know, to a lot of them. But when he broke his arm the doctor left him with his arm bent. So, he couldn't but to make a long story short. When he was in college he says, dad, I need money for books. He says, give me a fight.

Speaker 3:

And Lee goes you can't fight, you've got a broken arm so I took him to to Oscar De La Jolla and Big Bear so we can train, she can see how he looked. And yeah, and about two minutes Oscar put his hands down. He goes. I'm glad I'm not in your weight division because Oscar was small and Ruben. Now he went up on weight a lot, yeah, and after that I go, okay.

Speaker 4:

So I got him two fights and, yeah, I stopped the guys in the first round wow, with one hand, because the commission wanted to make sure that he, but with the arm, like that so I was going to say originally it was because Ruben liked trophies.

Speaker 1:

But then come to find out he just needed books for the last two weeks, you know, because he's in college and it's expensive.

Speaker 4:

you know so and you know we're like Lee said, he was a gardener, I'm a housekeeper, so it's hard. We don't make enough money for a lot of the stuff.

Speaker 3:

But talking about God, it was always God help us. And something like this. You know, we have a guy that we was running a clinic and he goes you know what, lee, I there's, nobody can give you money. Forget those raffles because you need a nonprofit organization. So, because nobody can give you some money, so he goes I'm going to tell you what I'm going to start you. So he was the president and then he got, you know, the CPA. He got a group of kids, I mean guys, they did the nonprofit. So once we got the nonprofit organization and they go see it, show us how to go up there and apply and things like that. And we started doing that. But that was one of the keys that I say that God, you know, is always with me.

Speaker 3:

So, always something happens. He picks me up and something like if you lose a one of their sponsors and we cast another guy, hey, like, like, believe it or not, I don't know if you know, if I tell you already that the gym that we got there, we done it on donations. You know, donations people, they come and say Oscar De La Hoya, 40 pairs of gloves he signed. Because I don't know if you know Roger Schnellenberger or you heard about him.

Speaker 3:

Okay, well, he came and we were in a party and he come with Lee, how are you? I go, good, and he sat down and he goes. When Julio fight in Vegas, I was in front row. When he fought in New York, I was in front row. In Madison Square Garden, I was in front row. And when he fought in Miami, I was in front row.

Speaker 3:

I go well, what do you do? He goes I build houses. I go, you're the guy I want to talk to, and he told me why. And I told him the story. I go're the guy I want to talk to and he told me why. And I told I told him the story. I go you know what? We, we don't fit in, and and things like that. And and he goes well, let me go and check it out, we'll see what you want. So he went up there and he goes. Okay, oscar De La Hoya was training there with us, you know, and and and. Then he said if Oscar signs, he says he, if Oscar signs some gloves he's not saying some gloves, like a pair of gloves to up-build it for you and I said, okay, so I talked to Oscar and he goes yeah, definitely. So he brought 40 pairs of gloves.

Speaker 2:

And he was in my office.

Speaker 3:

I started sweating. You know what I mean. I go oh my God, what am I going to tell Oscar? And. Oscar, yeah, he goes. When he came down, he goes. Lee, show me the money. Show me the money, I'll show you that when it's done, okay so. And then we did that, and then another one remember when they were building houses like crazy here in Coachchera.

Speaker 3:

Well, a project manager came to train. He wanted to train there and we only had one train meal. And I go, I want to. My dream is to open more so we can have a fitness center too, so we can have train meals. And he tells me how much do you want? How much do you want? Well, maybe 4,000 or 4,000 feet. And he did it. And we went and got his subs. One of them came and he did the grading and put the cement and put the plumbing.

Speaker 3:

And then even the painter, even the guys that painted. I don't know if you saw all the people lumberyard and everything. So I'm telling you I'm really blessed with what God gave him.

Speaker 1:

So, lee, what would you say? You know obviously started with Ruben a little bit and you know it's kind of obviously expanded largely from there, and you as well, june. But what would you guys say that you know, what have you seen in what you have done and what you continue to do, transforming Coachella and the local community around you, especially the youth in that area?

Speaker 4:

My thing is, and I've always told everyone, that if I save one boy, I save five more. Because, that one boy is going to go back out and say, hey, we've got this look at what we do? And the kids? There's some kids that all they need is someone to say hey you're doing a good job, that's right.

Speaker 4:

And that's what we get glory at to where. If the kids can do that, it's awesome. They've got some place to go and not worry about. They're going to get yelled at or whatever. They're going to be trained and, like a lot of kids, aren't boxers. But, now we have the fitness center so they can do that. They can weight lift. We've got the kids from the high school coming and training.

Speaker 3:

They come the football players yeah.

Speaker 4:

Basketball. They come out, my son brings them in the morning and they weight lift and they go to school.

Speaker 2:

What is?

Speaker 4:

the favorite part of your day. Open-ended Because it seems like you guys come alive when you talk about what goes on down at that boxing club.

Speaker 3:

It's our life well, like me, you know, I'm retired but not retired. You know what I mean getting up in the ring, because that's my fear is, like now I'm not fast enough to go in the ring and then come down. So I now enjoy when our fighters fight. I'm enjoying it, yeah, but I'll be every day. I'm there, yeah, you know, monday through Friday, and then you can see the kids that develop, oh, this guy's going to be good, and on this one, and then you know, so that keeps you alive.

Speaker 3:

You know, what I mean. Otherwise I would have been on TV watching, oh McDonald's. Okay, let's go get something to eat.

Speaker 4:

But no, it's just amazing. It's just awesome to see the kids. And then when you, I love to see the little ones. That's my favorite, the little ones, because the gloves are heavier than they are, they're trying to hold them up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, heavier than they are.

Speaker 4:

You know they're trying to hold them up, yeah, but but you know, to see there we even have older gentlemen that come and they train and whatever. They're not going to box but they're going to train and they have a facility. It's enjoyable.

Speaker 2:

So I'm looking, I'm pulling up my Instagram, so this is the day that we record there, right, and I'm just naturally, you know, I took a picture with you, lee, a couple of selfies and all this kind of stuff, and I just posted it and I just said, wow, didn't know this exist. Thankful to Coachella Valley Boxing Club, whatever the number of people who were, as the youngsters say, dming me. Oh, pastor Rick, oh Patrick, I can't believe you went to my club.

Speaker 4:

Oh Patrick, oh Patrick and I just had no idea.

Speaker 2:

And I go straight to the grocery store, people are stopping me talking about Coachella Valley Boxing Club, that go to our church, and so I felt like the idiot that didn't know anything, jocelyn.

Speaker 3:

Camarillo, she's just 95. She won.

Speaker 2:

Jocelyn goes to Southwest, as does her family. Tell me about Jocelyn. She's going to flip out when she hears this. By the way, that would be great.

Speaker 3:

I trained Jocelyn when she was 13 years old. I made her number one in the US, and so you know one of the girls from Charlie's Angels, one of them.

Speaker 3:

I forgot her name, but anyway, drew Barrymore, yeah, yeah true, drew Barrymore called them because she does a program, two very more, call them. So they wanted, because she does a program. So she went to the program. So they invited her up there in New York and then she went to the program and then I keep telling her listen, this is what they're going to tell you. They're going to tell you what do you do with your spare time? You tell them you're going to be an actress or a model. Okay, you want to go to college and be an actress or a model? Okay, you want to be. You want to go to college and be an actress or a model. And before she went out there, I keep saying it like this okay, so after the program she was getting the bag and you know they talk about it and, um, she told her what are you, what are you doing this birthday?

Speaker 3:

I just watch movies, oh, my god, my God, she goes. Oh, lee's going to kill me. Lee's going to kill me because I go, because if you say that right away, she'll probably take a car and say call me baby and things like that 100% 100%.

Speaker 2:

You're telling me that Jocelyn, this kid at Southwest, did you say she was number one in the nation.

Speaker 3:

In the US, in the US, in the US.

Speaker 4:

That means she won all the tournaments. She's won all the tournaments on different levels.

Speaker 2:

So our church has one of the best female boxers in the country. Is that what you just said? Is that what that means?

Speaker 3:

Well, it means it's like that. It means that you there's nobody that you already beat, you know all the US and she now she's professional and she got five in the four or four, five in the four. So right now she just barely fought. This weekend Saturday.

Speaker 2:

And she won.

Speaker 3:

And so, but we got tons that's just awesome, we have tons like people. I mean like that, you know like I told you who else?

Speaker 1:

yeah, who else did you? You were telling about Diaz brother.

Speaker 3:

Well see the Diaz brothers. I trained him, julio, when he was six years old. Antonio was eight years old. I trained him for 24 years until they retired. Now they got their own company. Now they got their their own uh uh gym and everything. And uh, julio, two-time world champion, antonio world champion, defended his title 12 times the title. So it's amazing for a club like like us. You know, like, like you said, you've been here and you didn't know nothing about summer and most of it, like here too, I'm here, but if I go anywhere, I can go to New York. We go somewhere like this and somebody's going to recognize me and they're going to come take pictures of the legend and come like this, gone to, like Mayweather Mayweather we went to. They put him in the Hall of Fame of Nevada. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And we went and they had people like this around him that nobody could get near him. Yeah, you know. So he was walking, so I went and I go, hey, man, hey, and then he look at me, he stop and put the guys, and then he hugged me and we have the picture right there. So cool.

Speaker 3:

My son took a picture. Wow. But all the world champions they come and they told me you know the commissioners from California I can go to any state anywhere and if I go to a boxing show they're going to recognize me and they're going to come Once they take a picture. And I'm taking pictures and getting in line.

Speaker 4:

That's amazing. Then also now we have the Fundoras that were training at our gym. Okay. Now they're in, I believe, in Tehachapi. Wow, but they still represent Coachella.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 4:

And it's brother and sister of world champions in the pros, which has never happened.

Speaker 3:

No wow.

Speaker 4:

And the girl has five bells.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, five belts. There's four organizations WBC, wba, ibf and WBO so she won one of them and then the other girl had three of them. So she went and she got three of them and then she fought again and she won, and then they said well, what are you going to do now? Since nobody, it goes well, I like belts. What I'm going to do, I'm going to move up a weight and get those belts and then I'm going to come down and I'm going to come down again, more down and win those other belts. And, believe me, there's nobody could beat her. I'm telling you, and the brothers are world champions, they were the WBC world champions too. He just fought Castazú and he's going to fight.

Speaker 4:

Castazú again yeah, but he's going to fight this when.

Speaker 3:

I think next month Like next month, but those are the guys that we have all the world champions from this club and it's amazing that nobody knows highly from here, when you want a world champion, they do a parade. Okay, and we haven't been in a parade, you know, like, but forget that, but what I'm saying that okay we have world champions here in the desert which, like you said, nobody knows about them.

Speaker 4:

Gabi was just named boxer of the year. Female boxer of the year and she's from here. She was training here they were from Florida and they heard about our club and came here are you kidding me?

Speaker 3:

when she was six years old, she was six years old, she was in the club. And then the brothers. There were four brothers, but only two made it only her and the other one. The other one went to the Army. They had a heavy weight but he didn't hit enough. So the father, like I, tell you we don't want nobody to get hurt, that's our. Especially if you don't make it on boxing night go to something else or like this, but yeah, and so Gabby is one of the girls that make history on USA boxing.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing. Have you found it helpful? And I guess my first question is how many kids are a part of that boxing club community Number one. But have you found it, June? I love what you said. If I can reach one, I'll reach five. Have you found it helpful for kids eight, 10, 12 years old to be around that kind of greatness, In other words, all these world champions and best in the nations, coming through? What have you seen that being around all those great athletes does for the little bitty kids, the 10s and the 12s? How does it change their lives.

Speaker 4:

I think it makes them say you know what I want to be that I want to do that you know, and then I tell, I tell the kids, but you have to go to school, you have to study. Boxing is not something not everybody can make it but this is a sport that you can build your body. Build. What do you say?

Speaker 2:

friendship and you know discipline and stuff.

Speaker 4:

This is what boxing does, because not everybody's made. There's different. You know, we've been in all kinds of sports mind you, but boxing is Lee's dream. Sure. But you know, like Lee was saying, my second boy didn't make it in boxing but he went to college and played rugby and I'm like I'd never heard of rugby in my life, you know. So it's something. But now he coaches and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing, it's awesome you know, Wow.

Speaker 4:

But if we can reach the kids, hey. And, like I say, whenever there's a Rocky movie we get an influence of so many kids coming into the job.

Speaker 3:

Yes, because of it, it's a Rocky movie Everybody wants to be a boxer.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing to me.

Speaker 4:

We get between 85 and 100 people today, and we're open from 5 to 9.

Speaker 3:

You can see how many people we had about 20, but now 100, 100-something or 80-something.

Speaker 4:

So sometimes it's so crowded. And then I tell them I went the other day. I go, baby, it's hot in here, Put the air conditioner, he goes. They don't want the air conditioner, I go, I can't be in here.

Speaker 2:

It's just a little bit of sweat.

Speaker 4:

They want to sweat Wow.

Speaker 1:

So we mentioned earlier I want to hone in on this we talked about you guys being local heroes and just what you've done for the community and just what the Coachella Valley Boxing Club has been, and we've heard the monikers for you that say that you're the Valley's godfather of boxing, a local icon, legend, role model and hero. So let's talk about the things that that truly define a hero or greatness in your guys' opinion. Who has been that person in your own lives, or one that's always been in your corner? What would you say?

Speaker 4:

I would say our sponsors. Oh, that's good, the ones that believe in us, our sponsors.

Speaker 3:

We've got Berger Foundation the Bob Hope Classic was one of our first big sponsors.

Speaker 4:

Sure, they felt this is a program that you know, that there's never been around, that they've seen Because we started, you know, the boxing club. Love that. But it's. I think without them we wouldn't have what we have. Yeah, we were struggling, we wouldn't be able to give a facility to people for free, right, and we don't care what age you are, it's free.

Speaker 3:

Love that, that Right. And we don't care what age you are, it's free. Love that, that's awesome. We buy the gloves, we buy everything. We painted the gym. Oscar, dara Hoya donated $30,000. And we put it all on the gym Wow. If you see it, we painted it outside because he was already what? 25 years or 20-some years, and we haven't done nothing to it and then now you've seen it, it looks amazing.

Speaker 4:

So I mean, you know, I just, you know a lot of people tell me, how can you do it? You know I go because he loves it and the kids love it, and you know so and if, like I've said again, if we can bring the kids in and they know they have a place.

Speaker 4:

They have a place to call home and you come in and if you're there, you can see the kids walk in and hi, lee, hi. Everybody shakes everybody's hand. And the boxing I like that. You compete and you're your friend. Next the fight's over and you hug each other, and you know it's a different type of thing. But, like I say, all sports are great, but this is our.

Speaker 2:

I'll tell you what I love about it. All sports are great, but this is I'll tell you what I love about it, and that is happening here. What I love about kids being involved in boxing is that I worry sometimes about the softening of our culture, and I think there's some good in it, but I think there's some harmful in it too, where some of our kids that we're raising they call it the age of gentle parenting, and we're raising up kids that are a little ill prepared for this world. And I tell you what.

Speaker 2:

There's something about a right cross to the face that makes you embrace the reality that life is going to have some ups and downs but it's a community place and that's where their friends are, and I just love the place and that's where their friends are and I just love the values and principles these kids must be growing up with with you guys. I mean I just love it. I just love that it's happening here.

Speaker 4:

And we had kids that were like Lisa before in juvenile hall and stuff like that and we tried working with juvenile hall but they said, oh, it's a violence board. I go, but you know, it all depends on who's in the corner for you.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 4:

You know you've got to have somebody protecting you. And in boxing, in the amateurs, you wear headgear.

Speaker 2:

You wear protective gear.

Speaker 4:

So it's not something you're just going to go out there and punch each other. And it's I don't know. The kids just love it. I mean, you know when we got sick one time and I had to close the gym and they go. June, please let him come back, I go. It's not that I don't want him to come back, but he can't come back when he gets better. He'll you know.

Speaker 4:

So then I told him you know what I'm going to have to open up the gym so that you know the kids can be there. You know, because that's their livelihood. They want to be there, they want to train, they want to you know, and we enjoy it.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I love it too when I was younger. That would have been a perfect place for all the energy, tenacity, the discipline, like I was one of those kids that just needed to be wrangled, and so you were telling me earlier that just how much that has been for a lot of those kids that don't have any outlet for that and so they have a place to come and just really, I mean even to be honest to get out of that aggression, that younger angst in some of those boys and stuff and really just you know, maybe beat a bag or you know and you said there's it's learning to temper that as well.

Speaker 3:

There's some opportunity in it right, you were saying Lee yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know, you even recognize what was the story about your son and he was. You were fighting Exactly.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, even when I told him this son, this is not for you, because he had beaten this guy, that this guy you know in a long time he went represent the US in the Olympics Wow, and he beat him one time. And then we did a show here in Coachella, in Indio, in the Boys and Girls Club, and we met him again and he lost his cool, he forgot about boxing and he just went at it and I go sorry, son, this is not for you and that's why it takes like I tell you, they tell me sometimes I'm harsh, or something like that he's very harsh. I'm harsh because.

Speaker 3:

I tell them sorry, this is not for you, but you don't have to go, you keep coming here, baby when you're like this and you know you.

Speaker 1:

Work out train.

Speaker 3:

Because anywhere you go baseball, they're good people. Boxing, there's good people. They never fight in school. Look at, we've been like I said 40, some years, 45 years or whatever we've been doing, that we got number ones in the world, number this, and that they all graduated from high school from CV, wow Okay. From high school, from CB, wow Okay. Like Graviella. And they got Sylvester they're great the Diaz brothers. They're great. From CB. Nobody fought. They fought in Madison Square Garden. We fought in Africa.

Speaker 2:

We fought in Japan Wow.

Speaker 3:

And that's how we fought all over the world. Wow, like maybe six times in Madison Square Garden.

Speaker 4:

Wow, we had a boy that the principal called us and said, hey, can you take this kid, because we can't handle him we can't handle him. So we went and brought him in. You know troublemaker. But I tell Lee, if you treat the kids with respect, they're going to respect you back, but if you look down on them, they're not going to. Who?

Speaker 2:

are you to?

Speaker 4:

tell me, but you have to be their friend, but at the same time, show that you have the authority. They don't have it. So these kids, he goes how do you do it? Because they'll come, hi, hi, hi. Because we treat them with respect, we don't look down on them and, like I say, kids need that. Kids need to know that they have someone in their corner that'll be there for them.

Speaker 1:

What would you guys say is the legacy that you would love for the Coachella Valley Boxing Club to leave Like? What kind of legacy would you hope that that leaves in the community To?

Speaker 4:

continue that. It continues that when Lee isn't here around, that someone will come up and step up. I believe maybe Marcos, which is our second hand, will probably take over and stuff like that. We'll probably be the background as we are right now. But you know, I think Marcos would be the one that would be ready, or somebody else will come around.

Speaker 1:

And what about in the community for the people? What do you hope that it does for them?

Speaker 4:

Well that they believe in us and continue you know, helping us, you know, Because without their help we wouldn't have anything yeah.

Speaker 3:

Like the other story that I have. Like who will believe people like if I talk to you can ask her that La Jolla slept in my garage.

Speaker 2:

Who's going to believe that?

Speaker 3:

You know, and I you know, so all that stuff, you know. Oscar. De La Hoya slept in my garage. Who's going to believe that?

Speaker 4:

So all that stuff you know, for him to come down, yeah, and like we have, we're helping. Where's the coach from Arizona, honey? Or where we send the equipment to? If we have equipment that we don't use longer, we send it to another boxer Okay, the past boxer so that he can help with his gym, because he doesn't have the money. Yeah, yeah, that's Sorry.

Speaker 3:

That's Marco's son, okay, and he beat Ryan Garcia. There was nobody. I don't know. You don't know Ryan Garcia. You don't know who that is.

Speaker 4:

Ryan Garcia.

Speaker 2:

I don't know Right now. He's like Oscar De La Hoya. He's like he's another Oscar.

Speaker 3:

De La. Hoya.

Speaker 2:

He's another. Oscar De La Hoya.

Speaker 3:

I know Muhammad Ali I love it, I love it, I love it. Any stories about him?

Speaker 1:

Well, so we always want to. We always hope that our conversations are engaging here and you know and this one definitely was but we also want to point people to helpful information and resources. So what are some of the ways that people can support you, follow along, learn more or get involved in your guys' mission and what you're doing?

Speaker 4:

By donations or going Just going. We tell people, just come and watch. Just come and see what we have, so that you can see it's not just us wanting this and that. For us it's for the kids. Yeah, um, for us it's for the kids. Yeah, you know where they have, like, I see some, some place to be.

Speaker 3:

I love it I'm gonna send you some, some, uh, some films. Okay, like the kid I'm training right now is 10 years old, but 50 pounds 50 pounds is like nothing, but that kid have it, has it. You're gonna see the way I train them and the way we're training I would love to see that. And to me right now. I already told them we're going to put them in the state of California. You know there's a tournament for the state, I'm going to put them in there. Wow, wow.

Speaker 4:

That's how much faith I have, yeah, and Will you know what it takes so you can see it, you've got the eye and and what we've done for the kids too is when, when we started, maybe we had been in a baby five, six years we took groups to hawaii. Wow, those kids would have never gone that's right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's right. You know, I've never been to hawaii you know, and yeah, we went three times.

Speaker 4:

I went once, okay, but you know to to get the kids and what I liked when we went to Hawaii. The people there take the kids.

Speaker 3:

And that was a police. So they're in their homes. Oh, that's right, they're in their homes.

Speaker 4:

and then they bring them to the shows. So, that's what it was. It wasn't really a big competition, it's just to get them, the kids, to know what culture is and stuff like that we used to for how many, 25 years. We would take them to Arizona for a whole week. We took them to. Where did we go, honey? Where the people were giving us something, we took the. Where did we go?

Speaker 3:

Anyway, anyway.

Speaker 4:

We took the kids swimming and I go. The kids are barely swimming. We're not going to go to a restaurant, Come on. So we went and sat outside a store. We bought chickens and some bread.

Speaker 2:

Oh amen to that. That's how I was raised.

Speaker 4:

A man came up and he goes hey, there's some cardboard boxes over there you guys need. They thought we were homeless.

Speaker 3:

They said, no, we're at the Marriott right here. Oh yeah, right, just in case, there we are Albuquerque. We were in Albuquerque.

Speaker 4:

It was hilarious because the kids were all. I love that, so you know but this is an experience also for them. It's not just our boxing where they get to go. Yeah, they're experiencing life, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

They're having experiences. They're getting out of outside their neighborhood. I used to pastor in Oakland, california, and you know Oakland's surrounded by these hills on the north and you got this inner city. That's just this harsh environment and when we get kids in our ministry, first thing we would do is take them up to Tahoe or take them up to the snow or take them somewhere, because they'd never been on the other side of that mountain. Yeah, you know, and so I just love that kind of, and so I just love that kind of. It's an imprint on their lives They'll never forget.

Speaker 3:

Yeah exactly.

Speaker 2:

They will never forget you guys for what you've done for them.

Speaker 3:

Well, we have another one. I'm going to show you the newspaper clip. We make history on USA Boxing because it has never happened that two people from the same club got Outstanding Fighters of the Year. Wow, we had Cedali Ortiz and.

Speaker 2:

Gabby.

Speaker 3:

Fundora and there's a story there why we made it. Because you know how, and so I'm going to give you guys a reading, because Cilali Ortiz, she won the world in India.

Speaker 3:

And it says there you know, cilali Ortiz, unknown came over here, she's from right here, coachella because I know Coachella, california, la la, la, la la la, that that didn't the nerves got to know, nurse, she came and she walk away as a world champion, wow. And then Gabriela, she got all the USA boxing, all the USA boxing, all the USA nationals. She swept all the nationals.

Speaker 4:

So there was history on USA boxing that never, happened to people from the same country and we don't only serve just Coachella and Indio. Kids come from Cat City, from DHS, from everybody to come and train. That's a long way to come and train at a gym, but they're there every single day.

Speaker 1:

That's something about what's happening and train at a gym, but they're there every single day. That's something about what's happening. Well, we'll include all of this in the show notes. We're going to include a link to your guys' website and just some other ways that people can go check things out and, you know, find out address, hours, all that stuff and see how they can come down, check it out and get involved. And then also we're going to have our At the Movie series coming up for the summer or should be out already by the time this podcast is out. So we'd invite people to come see that.

Speaker 1:

You can see a little some clips of the boxing ring and check it out and see what's going on down there and we'll have a few other things in there. But any last comments or thoughts before we wrap this thing up? No, we're just.

Speaker 2:

I got one last comment. Thank you on behalf of the Coachella Valley, on behalf of Southwest Church, for being beacons of light in our community for almost 50 years. Thank you for all you've done for the children of this valley. It is awesome To Coachella Valley Boxing Club for floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee. Well, there you have it, guys.

Speaker 1:

Thanks again for joining us on another episode of the Other Six Days podcast. Be sure to hit that. Subscribe no-transcript.