6 WEISER SIGNAL AMERICAN, Monday, December 24, 2012

Fighting Life’s Battles and Making ChoicesBy Bonnie Davidson  Everyone is fighting their own battle and sometimes those battles are met with defeat. Others may find some small  victories when fighting  all  the  struggles  in  life. Most people find an outlet or a way to handle the stress of things. Finding a good outlet isn’t as easy or obvious for every person and one Weiserite is now fighting their way into victory, but he found defeat before finding a way.   Tommy Turner went pro with his boxing in the last year. Something people may not have taken big notice of around here. Turner has been on ESPN, fought in Vegas and  California  and  has  met  some  pretty  well  known opponents in the ring. He has also been working with his manager for a non-profit organization in Ontario to help other kids get on the right path.   “I  turned  pro  October  2011  and  big  things  have happened since then,” Turner said. “When you’re from Idaho  they  let  you  have  it,  but  I’ve  been  doing  well against the guys in California.”  Turner wasn’t  always  in  the  spotlight  for  the  right reasons. Growing up around the area he found trouble and  friends  who  were  hanging  out  with  the  wrong crowd.  He  suffered  the  consequences  and  ended  up spending a year in prison at Cottonwood.   “I was a  trouble maker when I was young,” Turner said. “I know it’s (boxing) a good outlet. I was always an athlete growing up, I won state and have always been a competitor.”  He started training in martial arts at a young age and never got into trouble for fighting. What he did end up getting  into  trouble  for  is  what  took  him  away  from being a competitor. He began partying and doing drugs. He was more interested in hanging out with his friends then focusing on finishing school and staying on track. He found himself caught for burglary.   For him, his time in Cottonwood was the eye opener. He didn’t  like anyone he met  in  the prison. He didn’t like  what  prison  was  like,  he  didn’t  like  losing  his freedom and he didn’t want to go down that path he had been led down.   “Two days after I got out I went to a trainer and told him I would take it serious, I started training hard after that,” Turner said. “I always knew I had something in me that I could really do, if I push hard enough, work hard enough and dedicate myself.”  Turner had been training a lot more in Mixed Martial Arts and had fought in the ring as an amateur. Once he began  training with  his manager, Martin Castellanoz, he  told  him  he  should  look  a  little more  serious  into boxing. Castellanoz had worked with Turner before he got into trouble and knew that he should give Turner a chance to turn it all around.   “I could see in him that he wanted to change, we’ve been  together  every  since,  through  the  good  and  the bad,” Castellanoz said.   Castellanoz  started  up  his  boxing  club  called K.O. Rats Boxing when he  came home  from  Iraq  in 2005. He is a boxer, he has been boxing since he was 7-years 

old and after seeing the children in Iraq he decided that kids in America could use a little training to keep them out of trouble.   “My old coach from Nyssa once told us that one of these  days  you’ll  be  doing  this,” Castellanoz  said.  “I like boxing, I like kids a lot and my family has always been involved with kids.”  He began his boxing club and since then has paid out of pocket for much of the expenses. The kids who can’t pay are often covered by his personal funds. He spent somewhere around $75,000 in the last year and said that it’s been rough at times to find funding and keep them going. He trains kids from the age of 8-years old to 34. The idea was to keep kids out of negative environments.   “We have  around  20  kids  training  now  and  not  all of them compete. Some just come in for conditioning,” Castellanoz said.   This  is  how  Turner  got  involved  in  the  beginning but it wasn’t until he came back and started taking his 

boxing more seriously when they realized he’d be able to go pro. Castellanoz was putting him in the ring with experienced boxers and Turner was taking them down. Turner is an underdog that’s been making his way up in the past year. Without any sponsors other than the gym they train in, Fit for Life in Ontario, they are covering all their expenses out of pocket.   Turner  is making money  for  each  of  his  fights  but he  turns  some of  that money back  into  the non-profit organization by buying equipment and he has also had to quit his job to train full time. Turner has been training self defense, boxing and working as a personal trainer at Fit For Life to help make ends meet. They’ve been looking  for  a  good  sparring  partner  for  Turner  along with local sponsors that might be interested in helping out with equipment and other expenses.  Turner has been using some of the income he makes from  his  matches  to  help  out  the  kids  while  they’re in  the gym. He also will hand down his gloves  to  the kids when he gets  a  new  set. Turner  also goes  to  the tournaments  with  the  kids  and  will  coach  from  the 

sidelines, something he really enjoys doing.   “If they’re getting out of line I tell them I learned the hard way, and I did,” Turner said. “Ontario has a bunch of gangster kids, they come in the first week and try to pick fights and bring in their gang lingo, they have no respect. After a month of training they totally change.”  Castellanoz explained that a lot of the kids that come in  are working  hard  and  he  has  had  kids win  golden gloves. Two kids in his gym are getting ready to go to the Youth World Championship Jan. 6 through 11. The championship will take place in Reno, Nevada. Enrique Manrajos has 40 fights under his belt and Szel Martinez has 27 fights.   “I’ve been boxing for three years, the boxing matches are fun,” Manrajos said.   Castellanoz said that the kids will keep training and when  it’s  time  for  the  Olympics  to  roll  around  they should be ready and old enough to compete for a spot. Many of the kids show up to the gym one day and jump into training. He said that Turner is a great inspiration for the other kids and once in a while he’ll let the kids spar with him. Turner is on a different training schedule and program than the little ones but he helps give the younger kids pointers.   “With the kids  it’s more about points, with Tommy it’s  more  about  power,  these  are  more  experienced fighters,” Castellanoz said.   Turner currently has a 3-2 record, but he considers it a 4-1 record. His first pro fight was against Carey Dupree from Reno, NV. Depree’s sparring partner is James Toney who  is a world champion, Turner won by decision. His second  was  against  Roger  Romo Vargas,  Vargas  is  the brother  of  world  champion  Frenando Vargas  and  spars with world champion Sergio Martinez. That was the fight where on the score card Turner was considered the winner but the decision was turned to the judges and they chose Vargas as the victor.   In his  third match he knocked out,  in  the first  round, Edgar Alvarado, who was  an  alternate  for  the Olympic boxing team. His first real loss was in a tournament in Las Vegas, he went up against Rudy Puga, Jr. who was ranked in with the world amateurs. His last match was up against Billy Schmidt in another Las Vegas fight. He was able to knock him out also in the first round.   He’s been able  to knock out several of his opponents and they’re always in search of a good sparring partner. Right now Turner has been training hard for his upcoming fight  in  Tacoma,  Washington.  He’ll  fight  an  opponent that hasn’t been named yet at the Emerald Queen Casino on Saturday, Dec. 29. Turner is also looking to possibly do  some  more MMA matches  in  the  2013  season.  He currently holds a 23-5 record in his MMA fights.   Turner has had  to defeat  the odds  to get where he  is today. He’s fought his way up  in  the boxing world, and fought  his way out  of  a  path  that was  leading him  into trouble. Weiser  can  be  proud  to  have  someone  around who can inspire other kids to fight the odds. We all make mistakes  but  it’s  how we overcome  those mistakes  that makes us who we are. 

Martin Castellanoz preps Tommy Turner for training. He tapes his hands up for practice to protect them from injury every time he trains or steps in the ring.

Kids from the K.O. Rats Boxing Club practice at Fit for Life in Ontario to keep busy and out of trouble.