There's More to Boxing than Just Boxing

The punches flew fast. So fast, you could hardly see them. So fast, you can hear them cut the air as they hit the target.  

The target in this case was Christine Rodriguez behind some protective gear. Each time Kira DeMorales threw her gloved fist, it sounded like a baseball being thrown at a 100 miles per hour landing dead smack in the middle of a catcher’s mitt.

The boxing world and the fighters she trains refer to Christine as “Mom’s.” Christine and Kira conduct their one-on-one training session in the southeast corner of the JackRabbit Boxing Academy in Long Beach.

The gym has one boxing ring. A few heavy bags ring the left side of the boxing square in an L-shape and several speed bags surround them. In the ring there’s an older man training a boxer in his 20s. There were a couple of fighters alternating between speed bags, each serving a different function.

The heavy bag is used to practice uppercuts. The 300-pound bag is used to help fighters strengthen their power shots. The double-n bag, which moves at you, is used to sharpen fighter’s defensive reactions. Fighters practice ducking and evading the slip bag and also their overall footwork. Last, but not least, the good ol’ fashioned speedbag helps fighters narrow their focus.

Christine was in the southeast corner working with Kira when I was at the academy. She had on a body protector and mitts on each hand to absorb Kira’s blows. Kira was working on her footwork and combos, while Christine was checking her flaws.

Kira moved around slowly, side-stepping and throwing a two-punch combo into Christine’s mitts. The pace of the training increased as the exercise continued. The punching combos, which began with two punches, increased to three then four punch combos and so on.  

Kira’s side-steps turned into a light skipping and her eyes zeroed in on Christine’s mitts before she began throwing out five, six and seven hit combos. Christine’s body protector became the second target, but her face registers no emotion. Christine absorbed each punch Kira threw as if she were a heavy punching bag hanging from the ceiling.   

Christine trains her students like she was taught by her coach, Bill Slayton. Slayton died when he was 82. He had such a remarkable impact on Christine, that she decided to mimic his training regimen for her students when it comes down to the ring and outside of it.    

Christine says there’s little difference in the training regiments of amateur, professional and Olympic boxers, except that women train harder and with more intensity than men.

“I was the only woman at Broadway Gym for about five years and I always wanted to do more than the men, more rounds, more weights [for when I shadowbox.] I would use [eight-pound weights,] while the guys were using [five-pound weights.]”

Christine fought professionally in the late nineties and early 2000s. She regrets entering the professional ranks after only boxing in the amateur ranks for three months--attributing to this her lack of success in her boxing career.

Women boxers still struggle to find good management to represent them.

“We have had many meetings with interested investors and sponsors,” Christine said. “They aren’t willing to be pioneers and sign a female fighter with a female coach. They don’t have any projections for that.”

Still, she feels good about the future of women in the sport.

“The right people will appear when the time is right,” Christine said. “Faith has not failed me yet. Patience, I have learned well.”  

Kira credits Christine for sharpening her skills and tremendously improving her diet.

“Christine is one of the best to me and I’m honored to fight for her,” Kira said. “A friendship on top of just [a] coach and fighter [relationship].”

Kira was not always on track to become a professional boxer. She was initially California State University Dominguez Hills student on a basketball scholarship from Hawaii.

She took up boxing during an off season to stay in shape. At the time, Christine was coaching the school’s women’s boxing team. Christine immediately saw in Kira raw talent and potential, along with natural length and size.

After two years in the basketball program, Kira chose boxing over basketball, believing that her earnings potential would be much higher if she succeeds. Also, she found that she preferred the individualistic nature of boxing where her success or failure depended on her effort alone in the ring. Of course that meant losing her scholarship. To help offset the cost of losing that scholarship, Christine invited Kira to live with her and her son.

Amongst her many jobs, Christine works as a traveling nutritionist to various camps. These camps are where fighters prepare their bodies and minds a few days before their fights. Christine is also a certified massage therapist. She also trains two other boxers.

Christine became a trainer after Coach Slayton died, though it seemed iffy at first. She still wanted to be a champion.

“I didn’t make that choice,” Christine said. “I didn’t think I’d ever make that choice. What happened was my trainer died and then there was a stable of fighters left. I was the next person in line after he died to be their leader. It was just natural. They looked up to me. I instilled and carried his morals and values.

“Once you make that transition to coach, it is a very hard transition if you were a boxer because you want to be the fighter.”

For Christine, the path to becoming a professional boxer is spiritual one that she learned from Coach Slayton. The principles she learned as a boxer are principles she wants to pass on to the boxers she trains.

“It’s about life in general, how to respect each other, help each other ...about sacrifice and giving back. That’s how boxing works,” Christine said. “To boxing, I owe my life, my humility, my faith [and] my wisdom. Everything. I became more heightened spiritually watching Bill die. He did it with grace and dignity. He made me know for certain he was going back home.”

Christine hopes to one day run her own boxing camp, preferably in Big Bear or some similar location.

For now, her home is the JackRabbit in Long Beach and her job is to transfer the lessons that she learned from her trainer to her pupils. She now sees more value in helping fighters reach the best of their abilities.

“It’s not about me being champion, it’s about building many champions in and out of the ring,” Christine said.

Kira will make her professional debut Aug. 21 after posting a 6-0 record as an amature. Her fight will be at the Fight Club OC in Costa Mesa.