Spotlight on “El Terminador’s” Path to Glory
Hard Work. Dedication. Hard Work. Dedication.
You often hear fighters and champions like Floyd Mayweather Jr. repeat this mantra over and over especially during their long hours of road work and countless days spent in the gym.
Hard Work. Dedication. No one knows this better than Richard “El Terminador” Contreras, a young pug fighting out of the Riverside Lincoln Boxing Club. Contreras (10-1-1, 9 KOs) will be featured in the “Path to Glory” main event taking place THIS Friday, May 17 at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. The SoCal fighter will be facing southpaw Victor Sanchez (4-6-1, 1 KO), a 20-year-old challenger from Texas, who upset East L.A.’s Ramon Valadez in March of this year.
After the original headlining bout of Efrain Esquivias-Roberto Castañeda had to be postponed (Castañeda was reportedly car jacked in Mexico), the Contreras-Sanchez clash was elevated to main event status. This hasn’t phased Team Contreras a bit; they are hungry for success–ready for more.
Richard, known for his relentless style, is an up-and-comer fighting under Thompson Boxing Promotions. He had a couple of bumps in his career but is rebounding and taking a strong stance to add to his win column. In his battle versus Daniel Quevedo back in February 2012, the 23-year-old fought to a courageous draw after suffering a jaw injury in the collision. His sole loss to the Denver’s Shawn Nichol was also a pothole on the road to success. But the young slugger says he’s learned from these situations and is focusing on the future.
Contreras relies on a strong support system in the gym and with his close-knit family.
“Team Contreras is my team Joe Esquivel, my dad Chava, Gino Garcia and me,” Richard tells me, when I ask how camp went with his team. “Training went well; I only took the weekend off of training after my last fight and was back at the gym the following Monday! So there was really no break.”
He’s had a busy month of May. His last fight was his May 2 victory at the ESPN special Thursday night fight Omega where he scored two knockdowns, winning by KO in the second round. His opponent Jose Iniquez was felled twice from body shots unleashed by Contreras.
Right after his win, I caught up with the fighter. “The fight went by fast. In the first round, I was trying to get my timing down,” he recalls. “And I wanted to get him in the body–and that’s when the left hook happened.”
Later that night, Mando Muniz, an uncrowned welterweight champ from back in the day, came by wanting to meet Richard. He was impressed with the boy, noticing his tenacity in the ring. An appreciative Contreras took in every word of advice the veteran boxer shared with him, soaking in time-tested experience that his fellow fighters have lived through.
And after that second-round win, his camp was told by his promoter Ken Thompson and matchmaker Alex Camponovo to get ready for the next one!
Now, just two weeks later, the Contreras corner is ready to return to the ring for a scheduled eight rounds of war.
“I’m really looking forward to this Friday!” the boxer known as “The Terminator” adds. “My sparring was great; I sparred a very fast-handed southpaw, Isaac Zarate.”
The Riverside puncher also mentioned that he’s recently sparred with Leo Santa Cruz, Charles Huerta, Jo-Jo Diaz, Hector Serrano and Drian Francisco.
While he will be the hometown favorite going into the fight, the young athlete knows to stay focused, remain disciplined and never take any foe lightly. Having first met him as an amateur and then a brand new pro, I’ve watched his progression through the ranks. This young man eats, breathes and lives boxing.
A gym rat, hard work and dedication is his built-in routine. If you meet him outside the ropes, he wears thick-rimmed glasses, is always polite, keeps a cheerful demeanor, doting on his young niece and nephew. But inside the ring posts, you get a whole different guy. A fighter who turns it up several notches when that bell rings.
A student of the game, when not in the gym, he watches as many live fights or classic oldies any chance he gets. Matching that passion for the sweet science is his unwavering discipline and grueling workouts he subjects himself to while training for battle.
Stoic and strong in his own “Path to Glory,” the boxer knows that getting the job done requires putting in the work.
HARD WORK. DEDICATION.
Looking to make both pay off this Friday night, Richard Contreras and his “El Terminador” team plan on making the most of their main event opportunity.
“Path to Glory”
Friday, May 17, 2013
Tickets: (714) 935-0900