Madera boxer gets support from community
For The Madera Tribune
Vincent Montemayor Jr.
Vincent Montemayor Jr. started boxing at the age of 6 and has continued to make strides ever since.
The 10-year-old boxer, who started his training at Madera’s Renteria’s Boxing Gym, has his eyes set on a long career with support from his family and friends.
Montemayor Jr. has especially relied on his father, Vincent Montemayor Sr., and mother Christina Montemayor.
Montemayor Sr. said he put his son in boxing to learn how to defend himself and he quickly fell in love with it.
“We originally put him with Renteria Boxing — that’s Jesse Renteria out of Madera — just for him to learn to defend himself and he did pretty good, so we went ahead and started doing tournaments,” Montemayor Sr. said.
Montemayor Jr., who now trains in Fresno, has gone to multiple tournaments in recent years and still plans on a lot more. His next adventure will take him to the Golden Gloves tournament in Arizona in July.
The community came together on Feb. 2 to support the young boxer’s dream, helping him raise funds to cover his tournament expenses. The fundraiser, held at Tijuana’s Bar and Grill in Madera, included raffles for Jose Ramirez boxing tickets as well as custom-made T-shirt sales.
Montemayor Sr. said there is a lot of work involved to support his son’s goals, but it’s always rewarding.
“We just keep him focused, making sure he gets to all practices,” Montemayor Sr. said.
He adds that it’s especially important to focus on nutrition and make sure his son can maintain the proper weight.
“We don’t try to starve him. He’s a kid, so he’s gonna get hungry,” Montemayor Sr. said. “Just low carb, high protein and keep him training hard.”
With events such as the recent fundraiser, Montemayor Sr hopes that his son’s name will become more and more recognizable.
“It’s an opportunity to get people in the community to see his face and over time maybe become interested in events that we throw,” Montemayor Sr. said.
The family also invited other young boxers from the area with hopes of helping them get recognition as well.
Montemayor Sr. said the community can expect more events such as a movie night.
“Throughout the summer, maybe put on an older movie and say it’s free to come in with the idea of selling hotdogs and hamburgers,” Montemayor Sr. said. “It’s to help us offset some of the money we’re spending.”
Montemayor Sr. said the family recently wrote up a sponsorship proposal and will be going to businesses to look for help.
