In the ring with David Mijares

Chase WohrleStaff WriterThe hands of junior David Mijares are registered with the United States of America Boxing Club. If he wanted, he could use them to kill someone.“I’m a very passive person outside of the ring; if you hit me right now I would probably be able to restrain myself,” Mijares said. “Boxing teaches you a lot about decisions.”These “decisions” are not only those made in the ring, but also outside of it. His restraint is drawn from the knowledge of his ability and because the USA Boxing Club will revoke his boxing permit should a fight occur that is not  formal. In the ring, fight strategy is largely based on what Mijares calls “traps,” or different kinds of counters that are set up by the opponent.Mijares’ pacifism outside the ring is a direct result of the aggression that occurs within it; he is able to use his time there to relieve stress and anger.  Among other things, Mijares derives from the sport the importance of respect for others as well as the awareness of one’s surroundings.“It’s taught me to take opportunities that I probably wouldn’t take if I didn’t box,” he said. “It’s very helpful to the mind.”Samo junior Bayete Hawkins is also a regular at Mijares’ gym, and shares his view of boxing as something of a therapeutic activity.“I get my anger out through boxing,” Hawkins said.After graduating from Samo, Mijares plans to intensify his involvement in the sport. He will probably take classes at Santa Monica College due to its close proximity to his gym. When he is 18 or 19, he plans to tryout for the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team.“There’s a special tryout that you have to go to,” he said. “[My father and I] know people, so that process becomes a lot easier. If you don’t know many people, it becomes very difficult. You have to make yourself known, and put yourself out there.”Mijares’ connection to boxing runs deep, dating back to even before he was born. His father has owned and been involved with multiple boxing gyms over the years.A hockey player, who was also skilled in boxing, once visited Mijares and Paul at one of these gyms, and was able to punch with great enough force to knock down a heavy bag. This specific event sparked Mijares’ interest.“I always wanted to knock down a bag,” Mijares said, “and then I realized I could knock down people.”Upon wanting to train, his father David Paul stepped in as his mentor. Paul was qualified to do so considering he had both owned boxing gyms and been an instructor. His father never pushed him into boxing, but was willing to support and train him if he chose to pursue the sport. Because the bond of mentor and mentored is paired with the bond of father and son, the two have only benefited from this multi-layered relationship.“He’s the only person I really listen to,” Mijares said. “That makes us very close, because I listen to everything he says.”Paul’s history with boxing is not a very linear one. He went to college on a gymnast scholarship and stayed with that throughout his four years, restricted from fighting by his family. His first day after college was spent training, in a boxing gym.“There was always a passion for the sport,” Paul said. “I felt that it was always in my blood, and it was. I found out later in life that David’s great grandfather was a fighter for the Philippines.”Mijares’ training takes place at a TSB-44 (Tough Strong Bold No. 44), Mijares’ father’s small boxing gym hidden just north of Olympic on 21st Street.Training begins with taping hands and hitting bags to get warmed up. After that, Mijares practices punches with focus mitts and a body protector, both of which are worn by his father. Sparring with other members of the gym is routine, but occasionally Mijares will travel to different gyms throughout the city, sparring fighters there. Despite weighing only 135 lbs, Mijares is capable of sparring someone up to 200 lbs.“We work a lot on style, and how to become a perfectly rounded fighter,” Mijares said.In amateur boxing, score is based off of punch-count. This allows no room for the consideration of combinations, power, or style. In addition to this, amateur fighters are allowed three rounds in the ring with each other as opposed to the ten or 12 that professionals are allowed. These rounds also last one and a half minutes to two minutes, in professional matches they are three minutes.“[In regards to style,] there are restrictions because you have a short amount of time to get in as many punches as you can,” Mijares said. “You don’t want to be throwing the hardest punches at the other person.”Currently, Mijares holds a record of 4(1)-2-0, with the losses being his first two fights. According to him, a fighter of the same age in another gym might have about 40 fights under his belt opposed to the six that Mijares has had. He says that this small number of fights is largely due to school scheduling conflicts and location, as training for fights is often all day and the fights themselves are usually outside of Los Angeles County.“I’m in a lot better shape during the summer than the school year,” he said. “I have a couple fights during the school year, but I won’t be trained to meet my standards.”A fighter creates an image of himself through both his reputation and name. Almost all boxers are accompanied by their ring name, and this name becomes synonymous with their actual name.  “Junebug,” was Mijares nickname throughout his life and became his ring name when he began boxing.Mijares has earned publicity as a fighter by working with AT&T and Adidas. His involvement with Adidas resulted in a short advertisement for Adidas Boxing that featured multiple boxers, one being Mijares. His work with AT&T was significantly more extensive. AT&T’s U-verse Sports (U-verse is AT&T’s endeavor into bundling phone, internet, and television) released a three-part series about Mijares, following him as he prepared for a fight.“I would get mad-dogged because I had cameras following me,” he said. “Then people saw me fight, and then they knew why.”The fight covered by U-verse Sports resulted in a victory for Mijares with a 48-second total knockout.“That’s when he began to understand what it was like to have cameras pointed at him and pressure put on him. He ate that up and thrived under those conditions,” Paul said. “That’s when it turned into the desire to win.”Mijares’ skill is in no way the pure result of his talent. During training sessions, Mijares sprints when others jog. He stands in the middle of the ring with others in all four corners as they come to spar with him one by one. He will remain in the middle for the duration of the drill. When he is the only person without a partner in partner exercises, Mijares will begin his own routine, and complete it twice. His talent is merely overkill in relation to success through his determination.“I win because of the hard work,” he said, “and the will to win.”cwohrle@thesamohi.com