On a hot weekday afternoon in early May in Coachella, dozens of boxers thumped heavy bags, popped trainers’ mitts and jumped rope at the Coachella Valley Boxing Club.
The dank scent of sweat hovered in the heavy air, and flies buzzed over pairs of red gloves set on a table next to one of the two rings.
Like he has for more than three decades, Lee Espinoza presided over the flurry of punches.
?Up to the hand. Boom!? said Espinoza, the club’s 63-year-old director, to 9-year-old Daniel Toribio. ?Up to the body. Boom!?
Following Espinoza’s steps around the gym, Daniel was practicing his combinations and defensive moves as a Smokey Robinson tune blared from speakers. Espinoza wasn’t wearing mitts, but absorbed Daniel’s punches by clenching his fists and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Daniel’s gray tank top was soaked when he finished his three 3-minute sessions.
?My thing is boxing,? Espinoza said. ?It’s like a drug.?
Espinoza has been fixated on the sport since he took over the fledgling boxing club in the late 1970s at what’s now the Indio Boys & Girls Club.
Passing down his dedication, passion and knowledge to scores of boxers, he sparked the sport’s growth in the Coachella Valley. Each generation of fighters has benefited from the experiences of those who preceded them, culminating in the bout between Timothy Bradley and superstar Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in Las Vegas.
?This is a good hotbed of boxing,? said Bob Arum, Muhammad Ali’s former promoter and the CEO of Top Rank Promotions, whose boxers include Pacquiao and Bradley. ?Nothing surprises me about what’s happening here.?
Espinoza nurtured a young group of more than a dozen amateurs who racked up trophies across the West; one of them, Pancho Segura, became the first boxer from the desert to fight for a major world title. More followed, most notably brothers Joel, Antonio and Julio Diaz.
Bradley idolized those older fighters, and he is now inspiring the next generation, led by pros Randy Caballero and Gabino Saenz.
