SANTA ANA : Ex-Boxing Champ Says ‘Stay in School’

Yes, Carlos Palomino is a former welterweight boxing champion, millionaire and successful actor with more than a dozen feature films and television shows to his credit.

But Palomino was also once the new kid with a temper who arrived in Orange County from Mexico at age 10 and found himself in “too many” fights as he tried to fit into a new country where students called him a “dirty Mexican.”

Hoping that his story of triumph over adversity will help teen-agers stay in school and off drugs, Palomino spoke Monday to about 200 students at Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley.

“I come from where you are at--maybe a little bit further down,” the 43-year-old Palomino told students. “You are responsible for everything that happens in your life. No matter what situation you are in, if you want it, you can have it. You have to try. You have to have the mental toughness.”

Palomino recalled his earlier days, when fellow students taunted him because he couldn’t speak English, and he retaliated with fights, drinking and refusing to learn.

Eventually, his father sat him down and said, “ ‘No matter how many fights you get into, your color is not going to change. You will also be brown and Mexican.’ He said to always be proud of my culture. . . . That had an effect on me.”

Palomino said he slowly got serious about school, graduating from Westminster High School in the late 1960s, and after a stint in the Army, he attended college and trained to become a professional boxer.

Palomino stressed the importance of staying in school, noting that his college education at Cal State Long Beach helped him greatly after his boxing career ended in 1979.

“I knew someday I would lose that title. I knew I had to have an education to fall back on,” he said. “This is a great time in your life. But you also have to concentrate on your studies.”

Several students said Palomino’s message had added meaning coming from a man with a modest background similar to their own.

“It touched me to have someone like him come here and talk with us,” said George Bedolla, 18, of Santa Ana.