12/7/2023 0 Comments Emanuel steward training routine"I had him being able to do 25- and 50-yard dashes, and you couldn't hear nothing but a whisper," he says, smiling as if a vision of his former student suddenly appeared in front of him. "I used to have a kid that was 13-years-old, 178 pounds - solid - and it was BOOM, BOOM-BOOM," says Gonzalez, stomping his feet on the tile floor. Suddenly, they're bouncing on the balls of their feet, and Gonzalez takes a small step back. It's what the rest of them need to fall in line. "Benny is one."Īn 8-year-old black boy in a gray T-shirt snaps his head up in attention. "Who is sliding their feet?" asks Gonzalez, stepping up to the edge of the ring, eyes darting from one pair of legs to the next. Push, push, push!"įor Gonzalez, these dwindling moments matter most - it's when the boxer must push past the pain and meet the opponent head on. When it turns yellow, Gonzalez barks out: "All right, let's work! Thirty seconds. On the floor nearby, a timer ticks off the seconds of the two-minute rounds. Their wrapped hands protect their youthful faces as if they could be attacked at any moment. They trot sideways in a closed circle, changing directions on the leader's mark. His young fighters, all under the age of 17, struggle to keep the pace. "I want it real nice and quiet in there." "I don't want to hear your feet," says Gonzalez, voice booming with gusto. ![]() ![]() Wearing a long-sleeved black hoodie and gray sweatpants, he stands with arms crossed like a guardsman, studying six of his students and how their bodies move inside the ring. Like the tattered canvas of the 16-by-16-foot boxing ring in front of him, Antonio Gonzalez is worn out. Business Hall of Fame and Community Leader of the Year Awards.
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