Inside the storied walls of Kings Boxing Gym, the steady rhythm of gloves hitting pads sounds like a heartbeat. Coach Danilo Jacob Garcia moves between fighters, calling out instructions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every punch, he said, is a step toward a new direction. Garcia has been watching the Bay Area’s boxing scene swell with new energy.<\/p>\n
“The scene is ripe for boxing right now,” Garcia said. “I think in a few years’ time, you’re going to hear about all the talent that’s being developed right now, that’s on the come up, and it’s just going to be on the world stage.”<\/p>\n
He’s been there himself. A former U.S. Army service member, Garcia represented Team USA as a boxing coach during the 2024 Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n
“I’m a patriot. I served my country in the Army, and then to be able to do it in a boxing sense and representing Team USA internationally. It was such an honor,” he said.<\/p>\n
Now, that honor lives on through the fighters who pass through the gym.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of them, Braulio Ceja Navarro, will step into the ring Aug.16 at\u00a0Straight Outta Oakland, a boxing night at the Oakland Marriott organized by G1 Promotions and Lions Den Promotions.<\/p>\n
Among those on the card is boxer Lorenzo Powell, who promises to make his presence known.<\/p>\n
“Every fight I make the crowd fall in love with me,” Powell said. “Whether I got to get flashy, I got to turn into a dog, go forward, go backwards \u2014 I just want everybody in the room to fall in love with me. And come Aug. 16, they will do that.”<\/p>\n
But the night isn’t just about belts and knockouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Organizers hope the event will connect with young people through the “Guns Down, Gloves Up” movement, offering boxing as an alternative to the streets.<\/p>\n
“For us, it’s boxing, keeping them busy, keeping them away from video games and TV and just something that’s more lucrative to their life,” said Wali Hewari of Lions Den Promotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Boxing teaches respect, discipline, all of that. Not every kid is going to become a world champion in boxing, but they will become a world champion in life. They’ll know how to earn respect, give respect, stay out of the streets and become somebody, somewhere,” Marty Chima said, of G1 Promotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Powell prepares for his moment under the lights, fellow fighter Amari Jones is celebrating a milestone of his own: a signing with Golden Boy Promotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Garcia, who connected with Jones at Kings Boxing gym, said he knows firsthand how the sport can change a life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’ve struggled with things like addiction. I’m 13 years sober, and that’s something I don’t share too often,” Garcia said. “But it’s just another example of how boxing has saved my life.”<\/p>\n
For fans, Aug. 16 promises to be a night of electrifying bouts and authentic Oakland entertainment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the fighters, and for Garcia, it’s another chapter in a story about grit, redemption, and the belief that the ring can be a way out, and a way forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside the storied walls of Kings Boxing Gym, the steady rhythm of gloves hitting pads sounds like a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,37888,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-64258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-oakland","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64258","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=64258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}