Pasadena’s Youth Boxing Program Stays in the Fight Amid Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a hard blow to Pasadena’s Villa Parke Youth boxing program, but the program’s trainer says it plans to come back swinging.

Four scheduled events were cancelled as a result of the pandemic, as well as the program’s first planned tournament outside of Pasadena, trainer Fausto De La Torre said.

“We had maybe about seven kids that were looking to make their debut, as far as competing for the very first time on amateur level,” he said. “These kids have dedicated a minimum of at least 13 months to the gym to get to the level of competing and, of course, all their hard work and efforts were, um, were put on hold because of this pandemic.”

But just as he stands in their corner as they compete in the ring, De La Torre is working to support his fighters through the crisis.

“This is a fight that we’re all doing together,” he said. “You’re applying your work ethics from the gym at home now, and with this virus. And we’re going to just beat this virus one punch at a time.”

To help athletes maintain their conditioning, the boxing program has launched a virtual training class to aid in at-home workouts and training.

“We’re doing that on a weekly basis now to reach out to some of our youth to keep them motivated,” De La Torre said. “And I joke about it all the time about social distancing from the refrigerator, because (part of) boxing is to maintain a certain weight all the time.”

He said he also encouraged his fighters to practice positive thinking.

“From my own personal experiences, I hadn’t spent this much time with my kids in I don’t know how long,” De La Torre said. “So I think, on the bright side, it’s a blessing in disguise that we go back to having dinner together, talking to one another, being around each other — just spending time with each other more than anything. And so, I keep reminding the parents to remind their kids to always look at the bright side of things.”