About four years ago, Charles Perales ended a journeyman professional basketball career that took him to teams in Greece’s second division, the Mexican League and a short stint in the revamped American Basketball Association.
Perales, now 32 and living in Hollister, chased a dream and found mild success along the way, particularly in the Mexican League, he said, where his 6-foot-4 athletic frame, defensive focus and dribble-drive style on offense allowed him to settle in for about two and a half years.
He took the hoops route – “Basketball was my thing,” he said – despite having a father obsessed with boxing. His dad Jonathan, now a retired carpenter, trained him as a young kid. In his teens, Charles also spent some time with local training icon Zeke Lopez from Bulldog Boxing.
In the Perales household, Julio César Chávez, Sr. fights were always a major event. Boxing legends were referenced like members of the family.
“He’d make me watch the old tapes in black and white,” Perales said of his father. “They’re still in the trunk of my car.”
They’re still in the trunk for good reason. Around six years ago, the two started training in the back yard of Jonathan’s Hollister home. It sparked the unraveling, or maybe more like explosion, of a competitive tension in the younger Perales that brought him from a post-basketball hangover to a new sport, a new dream, and a new endeavor altogether. He is focusing his efforts on teaching others and pushing hard to make it as a professional boxing trainer, while his time in the ring has been limited to training and recreational fights.
With the shadow of his basketball prime gone, Perales has come to increasingly appreciate the sport that his dad, and now he, loves so much.
“I think it’s actually a gentleman’s sport,” Perales said.
Perales explained his now-romantic view of the sport while at Hollister Boxing and Fitness, 320 Hillcrest Road, the gym he and his dad opened in the summer of 2011.
Perales said Hollister Boxing puts a big emphasis on conditioning, with its adult membership at around 10 to 15 people – there are inherent fluctuations with membership numbers – and about twice as many kids, some who receive scholarships to train with Perales and two other coaches routinely running the gym.
“It’s cool to have kids find their avenue,” said Perales, who mentioned some former youth members, from the initial group two years ago, going on to college or the military.
Perales constantly harped on the idea of members succeeding inside and outside of the ring. He mentioned having his kids at one point do a writing exercise during which they confessed they would have been “lazy” or “playing video games” if not for the gym.
As for the gentleman’s approach, he stressed that boxing is mostly mental and that he doesn’t push members into the ring if they don’t want to fight.
In a firm tone, he rattled off a mantra shared at the gym to the kids – to do well in school, listen to their parents and eat healthy.
“It’s keeping structure and having fun, but learning to block, or slip a punch,” he said.
On an early evening last week, Perales had been finishing a training session with a few youth members. Outside the ring, a mix of boys and girls were hitting punching bags, with adults Leo Alvarez and Carlos Rocha there working out and helping oversee the gym as well.
“It’s a very friendly vibe,” Rocha said. “It’s not like other gyms where you feel intimidated.”
Inside the ring, Perales was absorbing students’ punches to his hand mitts, gliding from student to student. One young boxer whose head barely reached over Perales’ waist smacked the teacher’s gloves, yelling “Hey, hey, hey!” as he punched. Then Perales ordered “Body,” while twisting to take a simulated shot to his side. His eyes focused on the students’ sight line, Perales finally called for six straight shots from each before telling them “Good job” and ending the drills.
It’s about conditioning and training and discipline first, but Perales does keep a close eye out for prospects and trains potential fighters ranging in all ages and levels. He travels with his boxers, usually every other weekend or sometimes consecutive weekends, and has six of them ready to compete through USA Boxing right now, with others thinking about it.
His own priorities, to this point, have remained with training. His outwardly proud father, though, believes his son could perform well against professionals. He has started to draw curiosity in boxing and martial arts ranks as a sparring partner, his dad said.
Jonathan Perales said his son is at the “journeyman” level now.
“It’s unspeakable,” his father said. “Because a lot of people are coming down here and wondering who he is. He’s never really had a pro fight.”
Charles Perales said he’s committed to training – because he couldn’t run the gym and box.
“I guess I train still like I’m going to fight,” Perales said, perhaps indicating there might be hope for a fight at some point.
He has fought below the amateur level in some “smokers” bouts, he said. He also said he’s “pretty confident” while boxing with professionals and recently sparred with Paul Mendez, a middleweight from Delano who’s 13-2-1.
“I gave him some good looks,” Perales said.
Whether it’s to get prepared for a fight someday or to merely set an example for his students, his father called Perales “a monster” when it comes to training compared with others.
“Nobody likes to train,” his dad said. “Nobody likes to get up and run for eight miles. Nobody wants to do the heavy bag work.”
