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By Julie Ball
RUSKIN — “It was nerve wracking to watch when he first started, but it has gotten easier as he’s gotten older. I don’t even like to use the word fight,” says Martha Lagunas of her son Martin Lagunas Jr.
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| Julie Ball Photo
Martin “J.R.” Lagunas poses with his mother, Martha, at the family’s home in Ruskin with all of his championship belts. |
The junior at Lennard High school is only sixteen years old and his name is already well known in the amateur boxing world. Martin, called J.R. by his friends and family, recently won the National PAL Boxing Championships held in San Antonio, Texas.
The Lagunas family moved to the area from Indiana in 1998, though Martin Sr. was raised in Palmetto. J.R. began training with his father, Martin Lagunas, in the gym at around 8 years old.
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| Martin “J.R.” Lagunas pictured here in elementary school was overweight. His father began to work with him to shed the pounds for health reasons. |
“My son was overweight at a young age-probably around 200 pounds when we first started working together. I would work with him everyday. When we first started he couldn’t run a block, but every day we would progress a little further,” said J.R.’s father.
“When we got into the gym and into the ring, he actually wanted to keep going back. He loved it from the beginning and was a natural.”
Now J.R. is fortunate enough to train in Tampa and St. Pete with well known boxing stars Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright. J.R. trains steadily for three months before a big tournament and the National PAL Boxing Championship was no different.
In the years leading up to his first National win, J.R. was boxing in tournaments all around Florida. Claiming number one since 2006, he has yet to lose the State of Florida PAL Championship fight.
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| After winning a gruesome boxing final match in San Antonio, Texas, Martin. “J.R.” poses with his newly won belt. He wears shorts with the Mexican and American flags to represent his heritage. “I am very proud of who I am,” said J.R.
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Next year he hopes to win The U.S. Men’s Championship or the Golden Gloves Championship which in addition to his National PAL win would qualify him for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
“I don’t think anyone could believe that J.R. won the National PAL. He finished the tournament with 20 total fights and went into it with 17,” said Martha. “The three other boxers had 80 or more fights. They all thought they would win against him because he was a newbie to the National PAL.”
J.R. had to box three others to win the Championship, including one boy who had won four worldwide tournaments. However in the end no one was any match for the high school junior. He also received the “Best Fighter of the Night” award at the end of the tournament.
“There was a lot of pressure for J.R. because of the distance our family travelled, all the work put into it and finally because all of us were watching,” said his mom. “But of course he pulled it off.”
J.R. is referred to as “El Gallito” or the rooster when he boxes because of his fighting style. He does not move backwards during a match but tries to only move forward. Moving backwards is a sign of weakness and fatigue in your opponent.
The tournament had a lot of meaning for the Lagunas family because their extended family from the San Antonio area came out to cheer J. R. on as he boxed.
“If I didn’t believe in myself, I couldn’t have done this. All the competitors were forced to realize it wasn’t a fluke because I won all three matches,” said J.R.
Martin “J.R.” Lagunas plans to try and make the 2012 Olympic team in time for London. His peers at Lennard already call him “Golden Boy” because of his well known goals to earn an Olympic medal.
Afterwards he would like to attend college and hopes to be a chef or pharmacist. “There is nothing greater than the feeling of winning something you were not supposed to be able to,” said J.R. of his win.
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