After patiently waiting for nearly 18 months, Charles Perales’ boxing dream is about to come true.
Less than two years after opening Hollister Boxing and Fitness, Perales will send his first set of boxers out to fight, competing in tournaments throughout California starting in February. After an up and down year and a half in business, that saw talented boxers come and go, Perales feels ready to debut his boxing projects.
After patiently waiting for nearly 18 months, Charles Perales’ boxing dream is about to come true.
Less than two years after opening Hollister Boxing and Fitness, Perales will send his first set of boxers out to fight, competing in tournaments throughout California starting in February. After an up and down year and a half in business, that saw talented boxers come and go, Perales feels ready to debut his boxing projects.
“As much as I wanted to take the kids and compete, I knew I had to get established. I knew it,” Perales said. “I had some people a little mad that I wouldn’t take their kids to compete but at the end of the day, I think those parents know that it paid off … We trained really hard and we waited and waited and we got better. And through the patience, we are ready.”
In early January, Perales registered five of his boxers in Central California Association USA Boxing to compete in silver and golden glove competitions. The fighters will see their first action in February.
“There is a lot of experience in here with a lot of clubs coming in here to spare,” Perales said. “Now is the time for us to get into the groove in going to tournaments and developing this boxing club that I wanted to start from the beginning. I’m on pace to do it with the kids.”
The fighters ages range from 13 to 18, Perales said. But it’s the 13 year old – Dylan Lafavre – that Perales beams with excitement about. The trainer has taught Lafavre everything for nearly a year and half. In a month, Lafavre will showcase that skill in the ring for the first time.
“I taught him from scratch,” Perales said. “I’m amazed by him. I’ve been told that he fights like he has 40 fights. I have guys that are winning national championships and have won a lot of accomplishments that are coming to spare with him. He is putting me on the map. I’m working hard but he is doing it. It’s pretty cool. Before it was you have to show people, now it’s that’s my fighter right there. I taught him. It sells itself.”
For Lafavre, it’s an honor to be among the gym’s first fighters, he said.
“I’m going to feel rushed and I’m going to feel excited,” Lafavre said of his upcoming first fight. “It doesn’t matter if I lose or win as long as I’m there. It makes me feel good. If my coach has confidence in me I feel better about myself when I box. I don’t know how to describe it. I just feel more confident. I just feel confident in myself when my coach is confident in me.”
But 18 months ago, Lafavre knew nearly nothing about boxing. In fact, if it wasn’t for his father installing the tile on the floor of Hillcrest Road gym, he might never have joined, he said.
“There has been some times where I wanted to quit but I tried to push through that,” he said. “It’s been really fun.”
Lafavre will be also be joined by 18-year-old boxers Jesus Diaz and Roy Buelna, who have been members at the gym since it opened. All three boxers are excited about the opportunity that sits in front of them.
“I’ve always wondered what it’s like to step into the ring and officially fight,” Buelna said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s kind of hard. It’s a lot of training, a lot of conditioning. It’s a lot of repetition. It’s fun. I like boxing because it’s really changed my life.”
Buelna started at the gym during its first week, and has been taught only by Perales.
“Through the year and a half, we’ve been though a lot,” Buelna said. “He has seen me grow from what I was to what I am now. It feels good to know that he has the confidence in me to put me in there.”
For Diaz, it’s proof his hard work has finally started to pay off, he said.
“It’s going to be pretty exciting for me because I’ve never done it before,” he said. “It means a lot. It means a lot to me. He is putting his trust in me, you know because I put in hard work and stuff.”
And the hard work is what Perales looks for in his fighters. Regardless of skill, hard work is the most important thing to building a competing fighter, he said.
“I look for mental toughness, commitment, hard work and dedication,” Perales said. “Just all the above, is what it takes. It’s a rough sport. It’s boring at times. There aren’t a lot of people in the gym. There are no cheerleaders. It’s a sport that doesn’t involve you getting much recognition in school.”
He continued: “If you can step into the ring and do that, you’re ready for anything in the world. They are really mentally tough. I think for me, it means the world because I do have, maybe, some fighters or two that I have started from scratch that are doing really good.”
NOTES: Hollister Boxing and Fitness trainer Charles Perales is looking to establish a traveling boxing team with Hollister-area fighters. Hopefully-fighters that wish to train can “try-out” for a free membership to become a part of the team, he said.
“I want to put the word out there and say come over here,” he said. “We boxers that want to learn the right way. It takes more than just wanting to fight. It’s footwork and skill. It takes a lot of commitment. I have a lot of guys that are really buying into it. If someone can fight, I don’t want them to leave.”
For more information contact Hollister Boxing and Fitness at 831-636-5500.
