Gun, ammunition found at Robstown teen\u2019s home after social media threat to \u201cavenge\u201d killing<\/a><\/p>\nWhen former professional boxer Robert Vela reopened the gym following the pandemic, he began working with two 12-year-olds who were already drifting toward trouble and saw a chance to teach them to fight with gloves instead of guns.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere it\u2019s always been bigger than boxing,\u201d Vela, \u00a0who holds a 14-1-1 professional boxing record, said. \u201cSomething I learned from my father, Greg, who founded the gym over 25 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vela’s father, Greg Gutierrez, trained Vela and countless others at the gym, always emphasizing that the goal has never been limited to success inside the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we\u2019re here for boxing. Yes, we try to make it in boxing,\u201d Vela said. \u201cBut the goal is to become a better person outside the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
By many accounts, 17-year-olds Gauge Lopez and Robert Contreras embody that mission. Both are promising southpaws who hope to turn professional and earn their GEDs within the next year.<\/p>\n
For Contreras, the gym offered a lifeline at a young age. At just 12 years old, he was working to help support his family after losing his mother to a heroin overdose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was paying my grandma\u2019s bills, working at my tia\u2019s BBQ restaurant,\u201d Contreras, who holds a 29-4 amateur boxing record, said. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t until I found the boxing gym. My friends brought me here, and I just built a father-type son relationship with the coach. I\u2019ve been here ever since. I love to fight, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
That father-son bond is no exaggeration. Contreras now lives at the gym \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of got into a dark place in my life,\u201d he said. \u201cI was working out of town, and when I came back, I had nowhere to go. I wound up sleeping there in the ring, and I slept too long. Coach opened the gym up at five o\u2019clock, 5:30, and he saw me in the gym. He was like, \u2018Oh, you know, you can stay here.\u2019 And he took care of me ever since. God put me in the right place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopez\u2019s turning point came after a humbling loss at national competition, followed by an unexpected spiritual reset.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of stopped coming to the gym,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI was really bummed out. I was talking with my girlfriend\u2019s grandma, and she was like, \u2018Get into God, mijo. God does a lot of great things for you.\u2019 I ended up going to church with them, reading the Bible a lot more, and that actually helped me out. Made me feel better inside. That\u2019s when I really came to the gym and started hitting it way harder than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the road has not been easy.<\/p>\n
Contreras learned that firsthand after winning a street fight in November. Days later, while sitting in front of a friend\u2019s house, his opponent returned \u2014 this time armed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came back for revenge, bro, and he shot me in my arm,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cI wound up coming back stronger than ever, and I\u2019m just ready to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now recovered and back in the ring, Contreras says the grind is worth it every time his name is announced before a bout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels awesome, bro,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels like my mom is calling my name again, you know what I mean? Like I\u2019m up next.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Vela, those moments are the true victories \u2014 proof that boxing can still save lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a former Boys & Girls Club in Robstown, a boxing gym is helping teens escape violence, build…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-403370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}