Avila Perspective Chap 269 Joel Iriarte, 22, Whiz Kid from Bakersfield, Golden Boy Show and More

Boxers come in all shapes and backgrounds but seldom include scholars.

Guys like Bakersfield’s Joel Iriarte are as rare as a first edition Guttenberg Bible. You just don’t find them anywhere and least of all in a small town in Central California.

Iriarte (9-0, 8 Kos) makes his third appearance at the Honda Center when he faces a hard-hitting Haitian fighter Rock Dodler Myrthil (17-2-1, 13 Kos) on Saturday March 14. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card.

It’s rare to find a prizefighter who could easily find an easier occupation than trading blows with killers named “Lights Out” or “Assassin” or so forth, but it’s the world chosen by the whiz kid from Bakersfield.

In the span of boxing’s history there have been a few like Iriarte who chose boxing over books or gentler professions. In the past you had the great Benny Leonard, Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera and Chris Algieri come to mind. They all had options such as  stockbrokers, attorneys-at-law, or medicine. All preferred to lace up the gloves.

For Iriarte, boxing began at age six.

“One of my dad’s friends opened up a gym,” said Iriarte who was living in the San Fernando Valley at the time. “My dad kind of decided to take me there.”

Eventually the Iriarte family moved to Bakersfield in search of a more affordable home. The area is famous for agriculture like grapes. almonds, citrus, alfalfa, cotton and roses. Also located in the city of 400,000 is the world’s largest ice cream plant.

Successful boxers are not a common commodity in Bakersfield. Only a handful of pugilists emanated from the area including Mike Dallas Jr. and the late Ruben Castillo who recently passed away a few weeks ago.

Now here comes Iriarte, who started making a name for himself at a young age.

“When I was seven or eight (years old) I was fighting in shows. First national win at 12,” Iriarte said about his amateur start. “I won every national there was. Since I was 14, I was representing the USA. Four years consecutive titles as an amateur.”

One thing the Bakersfield youngster knew was that his boxing style was more suited for the professional level. Eight of his opponents did not hear the final bell and were vanquished from blows coming from his 74-inch reach.

“I’m more patient. More composed in having time to decipher my opponents. I don’t have to win the first round because I’m going to run out of time like in amateurs,” Iriarte said about the comparison between amateurs and prize fighting.

Since making his pro debut in March 2024, he has only been forced to exceed three rounds once when he went a full eight rounds to defeat Kevin Johnson by unanimous decision at the Honda Center last June.

“You figure out soon I wasn’t going to knock everyone out. I fell into his (Johnson) game plan of surviving,” Iriarte said. “We made some adjustments.”

With a total of nine pro fights, eight were eliminated via knockout. Possessing height, reach, speed and power, Iriarte was recently selected by Ryan “KingRy” Garcia as a sparring partner in preparation for the world title showdown with Mario Barrios last month.

Iriarte was not surprised by the results, but the speed of the domination.

“It was funny. I had told everyone he is going to land that sneaky overhand right. It’s almost like a slap that comes over the guard and hurt him,” Iriarte said. “I didn’t expect to hurt him that first round.”

Iriarte’s big lesson in sparring the likes of new welterweight king Garcia and others in the pro game is respecting everyone’s power.

“Everyone has a heavy hand when you are fighting grown men,” he said.

Outside of the ropes

Not everything revolves around boxing.

Iriarte, 22, has interests in business and community ties that keep him busy when not lacing up the gloves. He created and runs a nonprofit called The Warmup Project in Bakersfield.

The mission: is dedicated to empowering foster youth, adaptive athletes, and at-risk youth from low-income communities through inclusive fitness, mentorship, and life-skills programming.

“We give out 750 meals to the homeless and do empowerment work shops and visit elementary schools. It’s important to get a grasp and point on life,” Iriarte said. “To be able to depend on yourself and have confidence. And not be so emotionally,controlled.”

You would think that working on a nonprofit and preparing to exchange blows with professional fighters would overwhelm him. Not so.

“I’ve been able to create downtime when I’m done with training. Instead of parties. I will come up with good ideas on my laptop. Or identify opportunities to make a safe environment,” said Iriarte.

Iriarte is a rare breed.

Inside or outside the ring, the Bakersfield fighter can make his mark. Only time will tell.

Loaded GBP card

Several top prospects are included in the Golden Boy card. One is welterweight from Coachella Cayden Griffiths (7-0, 6 Kos), another is Indio’s super welter Grant Flores (12-0, 9 Kos), and super feather from Cathedral City named Leonardo Sanchez (8-0, 7 Kos). All are tasked with credible opposition.

The main card is headlined by Arnold Barboza (32-1) who meets Kenneth Sims (22-3-1) in a welterweight showdown set for 12 rounds. Barboza’s last contest saw him lose to Teofimo Lopez in a technical match that went the distance in Times Square in NYC.

Also, Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo (13-0, 10 Kos) defends the WBO minimumweight title against Jesus Haro (13-3). This is Collazo’s seventh world title defense. Usually the minimumweights rarely defend more than two times. Collazo is in rarefied air that is reserved for guys like “Chocolatito”, “Finito”, and “Iron Boy”. He is a special talent.

Also, undisputed female flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora (17-0, 9 Kos) defends against Australia’s Viviana Ruiz (10-2). Fundora is considered among the top female fighters pound for pound.

And another welterweight battle pits Santa Ana’s Alexis Roach (25-2-1, 16 Kos) against former world champion Joseph “Jojo” Diaz (34-8-1, 15 Kos). Both are southpaws with exceptional gas tanks.

ProBox TV card

Najee Lopez (15-0, 12 Kos) fights Manuel Gallegos (22-3-1, 19 Kos) on the main event tonight March 13, in Kissimmee, Florida. ProBox.TV will show the light heavyweight fight on a variety of options including Amazon, Roku, LG, YouTube, Sling and Google TV.

Action starts at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

ProBox.TV has successfully produced some of the best fight cards the past two years. Next week they bring one of their shows to San Bernardino, Calif. Super welterweight slugger Lester Martinez headlines the card on March 21 at the Orange Show.

Fights to Watch

Fri. ProBoxTV  5 p.m. Najee Lopez (15-0) vs Manuel Gallegos (22-3-1).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Arnold Barboza (32-1) vs Kenneth Sims (22-2-1), Oscar Collazo (13-0) vs Jesus Haro (13-3); Alexis Rocha (25-2-1) vs Jojo Diaz (34-8-1); Gabriela Fundora (17-0) vs Viviana Ruiz (10-2).

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