Photo by Westside Boxing Club
In the spring of 2007, Jose Manuel Saucedo opened a boxing gym in Los Angeles, California.
Since then, the Westside Boxing Club has become one of the most well-known gyms in the nation, even positioning itself as one of “Boxing’s Most Famous Gyms,” according to a recent ESPN article.
It’s been a long and grueling road, but Jose Manuel was not alone. He enlisted his two sons to be the head trainers of the gym: Jose and Nacho Saucedo–or, as they’re better known, the Saucedo brothers.
The Saucedo brothers are currently preparing Middleweight contender Fernando Guerrero for his May 24 bout against David Lemieux, which will be the co-main event for the Light Heavyweight showdown between Adonis Stevenson vs. Andrzej Fofara.
The Saucedo brothers have been working closely with Fernando Guerrero for over a year now–improving his technique, motivating him to be a better fighter, and providing a caring environment for him.
As they head to one of the biggest fights of their careers, Jose and Nacho reflect on how far they’ve come. They, like many others, came to America for a better life.
The Saucedo brothers were born in Chihuahua, Mexico, where they were first introduced into the sport of boxing as away to stay out of trouble. It was a love of the sport given to them by their grandfather.
“It came from my grandfather, who was a boxer in the Mexican army. He made his son a big fan and his son made us into big fans,” said Jose, the older of the two brothers.
In the early 1990s, the Saucedo family moved to the Southern California area where they were not only involved in the sport of boxing as amateurs, but in other sports such as soccer and baseball.
“We were always athletes, doing different sports as kid. However, Nacho had a special talent—he was a really good at soccer player,” said Jose.
“He was so talented that he got scouted by the LA Galaxy when he was playing for the Los Angeles soccer team,” added Jose.
Although nearly becoming a professional goalie, as can be seen by the extra wrapping he provides for himself around his fingers when working with his fighters, Nacho has found more success working alongside his brother as a boxing trainer.
For almost the past decade, in fact, the Saucedo brothers have taken their fighters to various regional, state, and national tournaments, using the ethos of their father to become successful.
“He always taught us to be disciplined and to be hard workers in the gym and at work. We take what he has taught us and it has made us into better trainers,” said Jose.
It is this hard work ethos that will be guiding the Brothers as they make their way to Canada on May 24.
It is this hard work ethic that they also inspire in Guerrero, ensuring that he gets up early nearly everyday to run at the Caballero Canyon Trail in Tarzana, California, or for his strength and conditioning workout with Paul-Brian McReynolds, either of which is only the first half of a boxing workout that is continued during the afternoon.
As the team closes training camp a few days before Guerrero’s fight, after countless rounds of training and well over a hundred miles of running, all that’s left is for them to do is to score a victory Saturday night.
This article is the first of a three-part series documenting Fernando Guerrero’s final week before facing David Lemieux.
