La Colonia Youth Boxing Club is a boxing gym on 1st Street in La Colonia, a neighborhood in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

. Notable

Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

boxers train at the gym and future boxers are also brought up there."A Ring of Dreams Goes Home to the Old Neighborhood : Community: La Colonia Boxing Club returns to the site where some members' ambitions first took root,"
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Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', August 3, 1995."Oxnard Expected to Rebuild Old Boxing Club in La Colonia,"
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'', June 21, 1994.

Gym

The gym is a place where members of the community can train and box. It is complete with punching bags, workout machines, lockers, bathrooms, weight sets, speed bags, and a ring. The owners and trainers of the gym take young boxers to amateur fights throughout southern California to compete against similar gyms."READY TO RUMBLE : La Colonia Holding a Full House,"
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'', July 3, 1996.

Notable fighters

It has produced such notable Mexican American fighters as

Fernando Vargas Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007. He was a two-time light middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 200 ...

, Robert Garcia, Miguel Angel Garcia,

Victor Ortíz Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer and film actor. He held the WBC welterweight title in 2011, and was formerly rated as one of the world's top three active welterweights by most sporting news and boxing web ...

, and

Brandon Rios Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

. Robert Garcia, a former IBF World Champion, is the head trainer. His father Eduardo Garcia is a former amateur boxer and is also a trainer.

, a former resident of La Colonia, is still a regular fixture at the gym.

trained at the gym after moving to Oxnard from Garden City."Rising boxing star Victor Ortiz started at bottom,"
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', June 22, 2009. Daniel Cervantes, junior flyweight champion

Brian Viloria Brian Viloria (born November 24, 1980) is a retired American professional boxer of Filipino descent. He is a former unified WBA and WBO flyweight champion, as well as a former WBC and IBF light flyweight champion. His nickname of "The Hawaii ...

, and

Mia St. John Mia Rosales St. John (born June 24, 1967) is an American professional women's boxing, boxer and former World Boxing Council (WBC) champion in the super welterweight division. She is also the IBA and IFBA lightweight champion. She is also a model, ...

have trained there."A Friend in Need,"
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'', January 18, 2001.

References

{{Reflist Companies based in Oxnard, California Boxing clubs in the United States Boxing in California