By Kyle Kinder-
When Brownsville and boxing are mentioned in the same sentence, the name Mike Tyson usually emerges from someone’s mouth. And if it doesn’t, there’s a good chance the name of another Brownsville champion does; perhaps Riddick Bowe or Shannon Briggs, maybe Zab Judah or Daniel Jacobs.
There’s another Brownsville though, some 2,000 miles from the boxing-rich Brooklyn streets of Tyson’s youth. Just across the border from Matamores, Mexico, this Brownsville has yet to produce a world champion. At 8-0 with 5KO’s, junior welterweight Omar “El Relampago” Juarez is on a mission to change that.
With a population north of 182,000 people, Brownsville claims the southernmost point on mainland USA and is the most populous municipality comprising Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. And while boxing’s roots run deep in Brownsville, it wasn’t until recently that the city and surrounding region have begun to produce world-class fighters.
In the Rio Grande Valley, like the rest of Texas, football is king. Most boys grow up playing youth football with the dream of one day achieving glory under Texas’ famed Friday Night Lights. So perhaps it was a bit of a divergence then, that at 8 years old, Omar Juarez stuffed his fists into padded gloves and committed himself to boxing.
“My father was a huge fan of boxing,” Juarez, now 21, said. “It all started with me just wanting to make my parents proud.”
Just a year later Juarez began boxing competitively…if you can call it that. He got walloped in his first ten amateur bouts, losing them all.
“I got knocked down twice in my first fight,” he recalled. “I would lose left and right..and of course I was knocked down left and right…but I just stuck to it. It was a very bumpy road, but I stuck to it.”
Juarez’s persistence, combined with a steady diet of hard-work and discipline eventually paid off. After a cruel introduction to the world of amatuer boxing, Juarez started to win…and win often. He went on to claim victory in 90 of his final 110 amateur contests before turning pro in September 2018 under Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) promotional banner.
In his first six fights, which spanned September 2018 to November 2019, Juarez faced opponents with a combined record of 11-21-5, stopping three of them inside the distance.
But in 2020, PBC matchmakers upped Juarez’s opposition level, pitting the Mexican-American against four boxers whose combined record read 59-34-3.
In February Juarez squared off against his toughest foe yet, Mexico’s Martin Angel Martinez; a gritty veteran who had shared the ring with former world champions Lucas Matthysse and Marcos Maidana. After eight hardfought rounds, all three judges awarded Juarez a wide decision.
“I learned a lot in that experience especially from a fighter that had over 40 fights and fought a lot of good fighters,” said Juarez. “Originally, we thought we were going to fight someone else, but I told myself whoever it is, it doesn’t matter. I trained hard, I put in all the hard work in camp. It turned out to be one of my hardest fights, but I definitely learned a lot.”
Riding high after the biggest win of his career, Juarez hoped to get back in the ring in early spring. In a perfect world, he wanted to fight five more times in 2020.
But less than a month later, COVID-19 thrust the majority of the country into lockdown. Although his plans for the year were altered, Juarez knew boxing would likely resume in the summer. He made certain that when it did, he’d be ready to fight.
“We actually quarantined here for about two to three months,” Juarez said. “During the quarantine I was getting up every day, there was nothing open, I was here in my backyard, in my garage…using the resources we had to stay in shape to be ready.
“Something told me this was not going to last,” he continued. “Eventually it will go back to normal and they were going to call me and ask if I’m ready and that’s exactly what happened. About four weeks before my August fight, which was the first fight after the pandemic….I said I’m ready.”
In that August fight, Juarez, who is trained by his father Rudy, earned a wide six round unanimous decision against once-defeated Willie Shaw. He picked up another convincing eight round decision in a slugfest against West Virginia’s Dakota Linger the following month. And on December 26, Juarez closed out 2020 with a bang, dropping veteran Raul Chirinos four times in the opening round en route to a first round TKO.
As his national profile grows with each win, the Brownsville-born fighter remains grounded, vowing to be a force for good in his south Texas community.
Roughly three years ago, Juarez decided to delve into the world of motivational speaking. As a boxer who dropped his first ten amateur contests, yet persisted to become a top junior welterweight prospect in the pro ranks, Juarez felt his story could inspire others. He wanted to let kids in the Valley know that with hard work, dedication, and persistence, they could do the same.
“I was fresh out of high school…I wanted to start motivating students,” said Juarez. “What motivated me a lot was listening to motivational speeches by famous athletes and motivational speakers…specifically Eric Thomas and David Goggins. I said to myself, you know, if these guys can help me fight adversity in life, I’m more than sure that I can help somebody else.
“So we started with elementary schools at first to see how it went,” he continued. “And from there, just with word of mouth, it blew up by itself. And from there we had gigs left and right speaking at middle schools, high schools, pep rallies. We were sometimes doing three schools per day. Every single time we have an event I have to speak at, I’m always getting up with a smile on my face ready to speak from my heart and that’s why I like it.”
It’s unsurprising that Juarez’s motivational speaking events combined with his in-ring success, have coincided in a boxing boom of sorts in the Valley.
Juarez is humble enough to not claim any credit himself, but acknowledges the Valley’s interest in boxing is peaking.
“The sport is growing a lot here in the Rio Grande Valley,” Juarez said. “We have champions and I feel like we have a lot of talent coming up with the amateur fighters that are training currently and fighting all over the place.”
Although already in the throes of amateur boxing as a young teen, Juarez himself was inspired by a fellow Valley boxer, former WBC World Lightweight Champion Omar Figuroa, who hails from nearby Weslaco.
“I remember growing up when Omar was getting pretty big…watching him did motivate me,” Juarez said. “I remember going to I think it was in Corpus [Christi] to watch him….and seeing all the lights, all the action, it was everything I ever dreamt of.
“I was still an amateur and just watching would bring a spark inside of me,” he went on. “I’d come back from a fight and go want to workout….it would pump me up.”
Though Omar Figueroa is now inactive, his younger brother Brandon picked up the mantle, and as the current WBA Regular Super Bantamweight world titlist, is the Valley’s lone world champion.
And while Juarez and the Figueroa brothers represent the present and future of boxing in the Valley, there have been recent efforts to celebrate the region’s fighting past. In Fall 2018 the RGV Boxing Hall of Fame was founded and five local boxers and physicians were inducted in the first inaugural class: Dr. Benjamin Salinas, Alfredo “Chicken” Gomez, Herberto “Beto” Carr, Tomas Barrientes, and Andrew Maynard. Juarez’s younger brother Sebastian took home the first annual RGV Amateur of the Year award.
There is little doubt that Juarez will one day himself be inducted into the RGV Hall of Fame, but not anytime soon. Juarez has his immediate sights set on competing in lengthier fights this calendar year against increasingly tougher opposition.
“A perfect 2021 would be four to five fights,” Juarez said. “I don’t doubt I’ll get four, hopefully we squeak in five. I want to become a world champion as soon as possible.”
He continued, “This year I’m looking to get into ten or hopefully twelve rounders and start making some noise. But I know that I’m not ready, I’m only a prospect, but I believe in two or three years, it’s [becoming a world champion] going to happen. I just have to continue to be consistent, stay patient, and continue to work hard.”
If Juarez’s dream ever becomes reality, he’ll join a long, illustrious list of world champions from Brownsville.
But he’ll be the first and only one from Brownsville, Texas.
