FORT WORTH – Human frailty being what it is, few of us can get through this lifetime of ours without needing a mulligan or two.
Brandon DeSpain hadn’t yet finished his teens, just out of high school in Port Huron, Mich., when he needed to start over. A boxer, but one who had fallen away from the sport, DeSpain and his parents picked up the pieces of his life, and all of his boxing hopes and dreams, and packed them into a moving truck.
Their destination: Fort Worth, Texas.
After arriving, the 19-year-old found some of the best to help him chase his re-established pugilist dreams, the trainers at Reyes Boxing Gym, Vincent Reyes, Jabbar Hurd and, always nearby, the inimitable Paul Reyes, the godfather of Fort Worth trainers, and mentor and sensei to soon-to-be-Hall-of-Famer Donald Curry.
The old masters, it has been said, do know a little something.
After felling and, in the end, outpointing Hector Cruz on Wednesday night at the Watt Arena in the Will Rogers Memorial Center, DeSpain now finds himself in the championship round of the Fort Worth Regional Golden Gloves Tournament, a clear favorite to win the 141-pound Open Division and advance to the state tournament next week.
The look in his eyes, the enthusiasm, not to mention the words, made it clear he clearly believes that is where he belongs.
This trip to Texas has been a reawakening.
He knocked down Cruz in the first round, though he failed to finish him off, the only noticeable blemish in an otherwise dominant performance. It was all more a credit to the resilience of Cruz than really any failing on the part of DeSpain.
“I knocked him down and saw his eyes roll back,” DeSpain talked energetically afterward. “I’ve never knocked someone down and watched their eyes roll back, and then he gets right back up. Never in my life. A real good fighter.”
Reyes, the senior, likes the prospects of the fighter in Vince’s stable. In fact, the Reyes gym has a couple of good fighters in the Open Division. In addition to DeSpain, Chris Martinez appears to be a good bet in the 123-pound division after witnessing his dismantling of Jmaure Booth on Wednesday.
Over the course of his 80 years, Paul Reyes has seen his share of boxers.
It’s boxers that he likes. “I’ll take a boxer over a slugger any time,” he said. DeSpain is a boxer, patient and fundamentally strong.
DeSpain does have punching power, however, a left hand that is dreadfully accurate and as bitter as a shot of Tequila. The left is what an unsuspecting Cruz ran straight into in the later part of the first round. (The Open Division fought two-minute rounds on Wednesday.)
A boxing writer with a better name than the one you’re reading, Pierce Egan, wrote of a pugilist in the 1820s that “one hit from his right hand, given the proper distance, can gain a victory. But three of them are positively enough to dispose of a giant.”
That description came to mind when watching the strength of DeSpain’s left hand.
As an aside, our TCU guys advanced to championship bouts in the lower rounds with victories on Wednesday.
Desmon White, the former Horned Frogs receiver, below, will fight for the title in the 141 of the Men’s Novice division. White defeated Frank McCray in the semifinals. Aaron Curry, in his first amateur bout, will do the same in the 201-plus.
Those fights are set for Saturday night.
Curry, a former TCU defensive lineman, forced two standing eight counts on Dustin Apodaca before finally outpointing him and winning a unanimous decision.
It didn’t feel even that close. Curry handled him like a Division III backup on the offensive line.
“I wanted to get that knockout in my first fight,” Curry said with a big smile. “But it’s all right.”
Boxing shape and football shape are as different as east and west.
Curry, a criminal justice graduate, whose real job is as a private security officer, is down 40 pounds from his playing days at TCU. He weighed in at 221 pounds. He still does two-a-days, but year-round, and now at the Faith, Hope and Gloves gymnasium, another good boxing club, under Ray Barrera.
Initially, Curry, below, had visions of fighting in the Open Division this year after beginning boxing about a year ago. It is a common hunger pang for newbies to the amateur fight business. Trainers emphasize to them that their eyes are bigger than the stomach.
And then there is
the administrative reality. Generally speaking, fighters aren’t allowed into the Open Division until they’ve had 10 fights at Novice. There is a loophole in which a fighter can participate in Open with a minimum of five scored bouts, and if his trainer believes he is up to it.
Otherwise, it would be one white towel toss after another.
The differences in the Open and Novice divisions are immense.
Sometimes, a novice fight can more resemble a tornado.
For three one-minute rounds they channel the spirit of Zeus, firing off any and all sorts of combinations of thunderbolts, bulls and oaks. Whatever they lack in ring sophistication, they more than make up for in persistence.
As a judge, you need a very discerning eye.
Mostly, what they lack is seasoning. The more hours they get in, the better they get.
DeSpain has a polish about him, but he’s been doing this for years, even if you don’t count the last two years, when he didn’t fight at all.
Instead of his dreams, during that time he was chasing dead ends with deadbeats.
We’ve all heard the story before … wrong crowd, bad decisions.
“They didn’t have anything going on with their lives,” DeSpain said. “I was hanging with them, doing nothing, in the street fighting. I didn’t want that in my life anymore. I’m not one to talk about coming from the bottom, but I came from the bottom and definitely working my way to the top.”
Here’s guessing he won more of those fights than he lost.
Luckily, he had a family who cared enough about him to get him the hell out of there. Not everybody is so fortunate.
They were all at Will Rogers on Wednesday, his parents, and his grandparents and extended family from Michigan.
DeSpain is happy and flourishing in Texas with a future again.
The immediate future would seem to be the Golden Gloves state tournament next week, also at the Watt Arena. For his tomorrow, DeSpain wants a pro career. Those don’t just grow on trees, but his ambition is in the right hands.
“Vince and JB, they made me realize what I can do in this sport and where I should be at,” DeSpain said. “It’s one of the best gyms in Texas. When my mom and I visited [to check out], it felt like family instantly.”
Wednesday’s results
Intermediate novice
154 pounds championship: Angel Jaquez d. Adolfo Nava, decision.
Senior novice
106 pounds championship: Devin Young d. Jesus Rojas, dec.
114 pounds championship: Daniel Perez d. Adrian Barrera, RSC (referee stopped contest), third round.
132 pounds championship: Jeewlian Martinez d. Gabriel Gonzales, dec.
Female bantam novice
80 pounds championship: Elianna Nunez d. Sindy Segovia, dec.
Men’s novice
132 pounds semifinals: Dearon Bursey d. Jonathan Heckart, corner concession, third round; Brandon Martinez d. Isaac Mateo, dec.
141 pounds semifinals: Desmon White d. Frank McCray, dec.; Keinon Douglas d. Bryan Rios, dec.
152 pounds quarterfinals: Isaiah Hannie d. James Sheriff, dec.; Jose Alvarez d. James Moss, dec.; Dakendrick Wallace d. Brandon Martinez, dec; Mathew Gray d. Luis Pastrana, dec.; Trystan Hulsey d. Adam Luck, dec.; James Henderson d. Rinaldo Hardeman, default; Jama Mberwa d. Jose Guzman, dec.
178 pounds quarterfinals: Taylor Kervaugh d. Anthony Hernandez, dec.; Roger Braxton d. Nestor Frayre, default.
201-plus pounds: Aaron Curry d. Dustin Apodaca, dec.; Cyril Ogbeide d. Joseph Bokor, dec.
Men’s open
123 pounds quarterfinals: Christopher Martinez d. Jmaure Booth, RSC, second round.
141 pounds semifinals: Brandon DeSpain d. Hector Cruz, dec.; Gabriel Aguilar d. Jarmonte Barnes, dec.;
152 pounds quarterfinals: Juan Gomez d. Benjamin Gurment, dec.; Edgar Hernandez d. Abass Fofanahm, dec.; Adam Salgado d. Levi Pena, dec.; Emmanuel Tennison d. Tyree Murphy, RSC, second round.
Thursday’s bouts
Bantam open
60 pounds: Leon Bonilla vs. Angel Vargas.
70 pounds: Yeshawn Long vs. Isaac Sanchez.
Junior novice
80 pounds: Elizjah Henderson vs. Christian Giron.
101 pounds: Devin Franklyn vs. Joseph Mollinedo.
132 pounds: Victor Del Gadillo vs. Stephen Buck.
Junior open
85 pounds: Edwardo Rangel vs. Iziah Garcia.
Intermediate novice
106 pounds: Jeremy Alverio vs. Isaac Nunez.
119 pounds: Miguel Gomez vs. Juan De la Cruz.
Intermediate open
106 pounds: Christian Cantu vs. Emanuel Moreno.
Bantam female novice
95 pounds: Devony Andrade vs. Anaya Guerrero.
Junior female open
85 pounds: Angelina Ramirez vs. Zakyria Franklin.
95 pounds: Yarlette Bonilla vs. Valerie Guerreca.
Men’s novice
152 pounds semifinals: David Anthony vs. Isaiah Hannie; Jose Alvarez vs. Dakendrick Wallace; Mathew Gray vs. Trystan Hulsey; James Henderson vs. Jama Mberwa.
165 pounds quarterfinals: Bryan Garcia vs. Kuinteion Newman; Edward Tanguma vs. Marcus Simmons; Nathaniel Primous vs. Levi Stephens; John Santos vs. Adam Morrison.
201 pounds semifinals: Humberto Martinez vs. Cesar Gomez; Christopher Todaro vs. Dametrez Marshall.
Men’s open
123 pounds semifinals: Aron Hernandez vs. Manuel Ochoa; Christopher Martinez vs. Fernando Solis.
152 pounds semifinals: Juan Gomez vs. Edgar Hernandez; Adam Salgado vs. Emmanuel Tennison.
