Antonio Diaz Hosts Amateur Bash!
On the eve of Halloween a huge boxing bash took place at the Indio Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley where former champ Antonio Diaz hosted a whopping 25 bouts of amateur action.
I came out to the boxing show to check out some blazing young guns homegrown in this desert region.
The Coachella area has been churning out some top talents through the decades and the whole Diaz family has been immersed in the sport for years.
Toño recently had his farewell bout and final pro victory at the nearby Fantasy Spring Casino where he had always been a top draw. Owning a 47-6-1 record with 30 knockouts, Diaz will now focus solely on training young and future champions. Dedicated to the youngsters, Diaz and the gym also held a prize raffle to raise funds for their burgeoning club.
Brother Joel Diaz is a well-regarded trainer best known for his work with world titlist Timothy Bradley, who will be facing Joel Casamayor on November 12 during the Pacquiao–Marquez undercard. Timmy trains out of this Indio gym and Joel tells me, “We are ready!” when I ask about their upcoming bout. The trainer is going to have a busy month of November. In a couple of weeks, he will be branching out to a new gym. He’ll go back and forth between Indio and his brand new Joel Diaz Training Camp at the Boys & Girls Club in the City of Mecca.
Third brother Julio “The Kidd” Diaz (38-7, 27 KOs) is currently fighting under the Thompson Boxing banner and may lace up again in January. And fourth sibling, Jesus (“Shaggy”) also joined his three brothers at the live boxing show.
Besides the four Diaz brothers, I also caught up with many familiar faces from both the amateur and pro scene at this family-oriented show.
WBC Youth Intercontinental Champ Randy Caballero was there in support of the youth boxers. The super bantamweight is a popular fighter among the fans. With his unbeaten record of 12 victories, the 21-year-old is also on the fast track to stardom. He told me it looks like he’ll be fighting in December. And Team Diaz has Team Caballero hot on their heels as another family dynasty in boxing is growing. The “Diaz 3” have some friendly competition in the “Caballero 3.” Randy has two younger brothers who are already making their names known in the elite amateur ranks. Seventeen-year-old Ryan and Rommel, just 12, are a pair of talents on the rise–and the next generation of champions.
Other notables at Sunday’s “spooktacular” show included famed Coachella Coach Lee Espinoza, trainer Steve Quinonez Sr., fighter Hugo Ramos, Thermal Boxing Club and Desert Showdown’s Ralph Romero, female amateur Tarrah Zael, U.S. National Coach Joe Zanders, USA Boxing’s Dick Jones, and the team of hardworking officials including Delilah Rico (who has two young champs of her own, Denise and Damien), Pat Zanders, Ray Chavez and many others. I also met San Luis PAL’s Ernesto Prieto who was at this desert duel which featured fighters from both Arizona and California.
Coaches Antonio and Joel Diaz had several of their sluggers gloving up that day. Dominic Serna Jr., Javier Padilla, Luis Coria, Lorenzo Segerrano, Juan Rangel, Erwin Monterroso all fought out of the Indio stable. With the Silver Gloves starting this week, this show was a well-timed one to get some work in.
Sabas Rosas, a Team Diaz member, showed me around their gym during a break in the action. The walls are lined with photos of Toño, Tim Bradley, and many of the fresh faces in their amateur squad. One prominent young mug on the team is Dominic Serna Jr. A multiple amateur champ, the 13-year-old is one to watch. “Lil D” and his family said their lives have changed for the better since the boys began to box. Blane Serna, 9, also fights. Parents Dominic Sr. and Michelle Serna relocated their family (of eight kids) to the Coachella Valley just to train with Diaz.
Believing in their sons’ talents and believing in the training of Antonio Diaz, the Serna tribe made the move from Yuma, Arizona
to be closer and join forces with the Indio B&G Boxing Team. Back in AZ, the family would travel five days a week–driving two hours each way from their home in Yuma–so that Lil D could receive tutelage from Toño. Deciding the four-hour trek was worth it, they continued this routine for a while until they made a permanent move to Southern California. Since then, they’ve never looked back, only looking forward as the boys’ work to make their dreams come true. Both Dominic Jr. and Blane competed in the prestigious Ringside World Championships in Kansas City, both bringing home championship belts.
The kids’ mom, Michelle, and I waited ringside for Lil D’s bout to begin. She told me that the teen wants to make the Olympic Team before going pro. Each victory brings them one baby step closer to that dream. The whole family supports the sport; patriarch Dominic Sr. has also been working as a photographer at pro shows as well. At Sunday’s event, all eight of their children were also there to cheer on Lil D.
While the amateurs fight under protective headgear, larger gloves and jerseys, we watched each combatant give it their all in their desire and determination while blasting away at their foes.
On this day, Serna Jr. bested his opponent Oscar Hernandez out of Rhino boxing during three rounds of activity.
All the weekend warriors deserve a big congratulations for their efforts on the canvas–check out these exclusive snapshots from the boxing bash at the Indio Boys & Girls Club.
Congratulations to all the young fighters at the show!
Photos by Michele Chong
Great coverage I wished I would of made this event. I love to see the families pulling together for these kids. All the support they are giving to these kids, not only the family but these trainers are wonderful with these kids, and the upcoming future champs they are training. It is just a super!
Great story Michele. Hey you don’t have to ask him for the high five you can see in the winners pose (LOL)
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