By RAY QUIROGA
Publisher@sbnewspaper.com
BROWNSVILLE, TX —By his own admission, Ricardo Camacho never imagined that he’d be here on this night, waiting in an impressively clean locker room, limbering up and having his hands taped while a ring official delivers the rules for the night.
As he receives instruction, Camacho stares expressionless as his trainer, Abel Fonseca II works on his hands and other members of his team prepare him for his upcoming bout marking his second pro fight of his young and unlikely professional boxing career.
Camacho, a Resaca City native, first laced up the gloves and worked the bag some 15 years ago during a San Benito CISD’s Afterschool Program session, led by Fonseca, another San Benito native, now living in Harlingen but still working for the Afterschool Program.
It was there that Camacho fostered a passion for the sport. He also participated in soccer while in high school as a member of the San Benito Greyhound Soccer Team. But as the years passed and life got in the way, Camacho stepped away from boxing, only to find his way back into the ring relatively recently.
“He came up to me and said he wanted to go pro, and I said all right,” Fonseca recalled during a recent training session at Legends Boxing Gym on Harrison in Harlingen.
Fonseca, who celebrated his 45th birthday this week, himself knows a thing or two about fighting, having grown up in the sport and winning the most important fight of them all, the fight for his life against cancer, of which he’s now cancer free.
The boxing seed was planned early on, Fonseca recalls, having been partially raised in Brownsville by his grandfather who was a former boxer.
Fonseca described Camacho, 23, as one of the most dedicated and disciplined individuals he knew, saying that he’s always at their training sessions and was convinced of his dedication when he informed the boxer that he needed to cut over 20 lbs. to make weight as a professional.
Earlier in the year, Camacho battled a more experienced fighter for his first pro fight which resulted in a no contest ruling, a conclusion that Camacho and his team could live with given the experience of his opponent and the fact that the ruling resulted from a head-butt by Camacho’s opponent that cut Camacho.
His second professional fight occurred last Saturday, April 27, at Brownsville Sports Park as he was third on the card during Marines’ Promotions, “Fight Night 2” featuring international fighters from as far as San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Monterrey, Mexico.
Once again, Camacho faced a more experienced fighter yet walked away with a split decision, taking home half of the purse.
Camacho is looking to fight again possibly this summer as he continues to improve on his strengths which he labeled as being able to throw “punches in bunches” while working on his weaknesses, which he cited as the effectiveness of his punches.
As previously reported by the NEWS, Camacho is not the first fighter Fonseca has led to a high level of completion. In 2005, one standout moment came when a young boxer named Santana Sanchez from Ed Downs Elementary made it to the semifinals of the Ringside World Tournament, facing formidable opponents from places such as Puerto Rico, Mexico and Hawaii. Though the match ended in a close decision loss to a Canadian boxer, it was a testament to Fonseca’s impact on the local youth that he was training within the program.
Those interested in the after school boxing program or in Legends Boxing Gym can contact Fonseca at abelfonsecaii@hotmail.com or call (956) 456-6859.
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