By Norm Frauenheim
CARSON, Calif. – An old union card is little bit like a driver’s license for Manny Robles. It’s how he identifies himself.
Robles is a carpenter, Local 409.
These days, he’s busy, building champions like Oscar Valdez Jr. and Jessie Magdaleno in a southern California gym not far from where they will defend their respective titles Saturday night at StubHub Center.
For now, Robles has put down the hammer. But like that union card, it’s always there if Robles needs it. It represents an enduring fundamental, a timeless skill he learned from a late dad who gave his son a trainer’s know how as though it were an old tool.
Robles watched his dad, Manny Sr. as he worked with junior-featherweight great Israel Vazquez, super-flyweight champion Martin Castillo and middleweight champ Reggie Johnson. He also fought a little, or at least until his dad told him he might be better off in some other line of work.
Robles listened, then learned carpentry. He liked working with his hands. But he also thought that maybe he could teach fighters how to use theirs.
He remembered something he heard from the late Chuck Bodak, a legendary cut man who hung out at his dad’s gym.
“You’re a teacher, not a coach,’’ Robles said Bodak told him repeatedly.
Robles, a student too, never forgot the refrain.
He has applied it to Valdez (21-0, 19 KOs), who faces a dangerous challenge from Colombian Miguel Marriaga (25-1, 21 KOs) in the main event of a Top Rank-produced pay-per-view card (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, $44.95) in a second defense of his WBO featherweight title.
He used it to re-energize Magdaleno ((24-0, 17 KOs), who will defend the WBO’s 122-pound title against Brazilian Adeilson Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs) after taking it from Nonito Donaire in a stunner last November.
For Robles, the task has been a holistic one. Discipline, diet and routine are all part of it, of course. But there’s family, too. He says he has worked to be the father that his own dad was.
“It’s more than just trainer and boxer,’’ Robles said. “It has to be.’’
It’s an approach that has begun to win over like-minded fighters in a business so often known for fierce independence. Super-middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez and his trainer Hector Zapari joined Valdez and Magdaleno for workouts at The Rock gym in Carson.
On a loaded card that also includes 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson in his pro debut, Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) faces Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs) for the WBO title he won in a decision over Arthur Abraham a year ago.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum calls them Three Amigos. It’s a reference to a 1986 film, a comedy.
For Robles, it’s probably more like My Three Sons, a television golden oldie. For him, boxing and family have always been inseparable.
The two have guided him through tough times. There was a period after his dad died in 2007, he said, when life was a struggle.
“I lost my dad, I lost my mom, I lost my job,’’ he said. “I was leaving in a one-room place. It was tough, real tough.’’
But there was boxing, including another fundamental about what to do when you get knocked down. Get back up. Robles has done that. Repeatedly he says.
“You start over, start over all over again,’’ he said.
He did, working with amateurs. He even coached Sri Lanka. Yeah, Sri Lanka has a boxing team. Surprised me, too.
Along the way, Robles saw a young Mexican who shares some of his roots. Robles immigrated to the US with his dad from Mexico when he was a kid.
So did Oscar Valdez Jr. He was born in Nogales, Mexico, just on the other side of the border, south of Tucson. As a kid, he moved to Tucson where he went to school and began to box. He returned to his birthplace in his early to mid teens.
Robles recalls seeing him for the first time in fighting for Mexico at tournaments from Milan to Brazil.
“Because of my background, I’ve always been split, cheering for the Americans and the Mexicans,’’ Robles said. “I was in the crowd for the 2009 World Championships, cheering for Oscar. I think that was the first time he saw me. He waved at me. Gave me a thumbs-up. That was also the year he lost to Vasyl Lomachenko.
“Then I was even in the opposite corner from him at a 2012 Olympic qualifier in Brazil, coaching Joe Diaz for the American team. Diaz beat Oscar that day. Today, he jokes with me about that one.’’
For years, they had been circling one another, exchanging greetings from afar in 2009 and competing against each other three years later. Nearly three years ago, the circle was joined.
Top Rank asked Robles to work Valdez’ corner for his 12th pro bout for a minor title in Phoenix on an Iron Boy Promotions card in July 2014.
“I said sure, but I didn’t expect it to be more than that,’’ Robles said. “I was subbing for a coach who couldn’t be there because he was sick or injured. I said sure, and I really didn’t expect anything more than that.’’
Valdez won a decision, one of only two on his record and the first after beginning his pro career with 11 straight KOs.
“Then I got a call,’’ Robles said. “It was Oscar. He said he wanted me to be his trainer. He told me he thought I was the perfect fit.’’
The decision was simple. Perfect, too.
