Pastorello Still Has Fight in Him

Joe Pastorello will be representing the United States in the Pan American Games this summer as a member of the boxing team. But this wasn’t the likely scenario six years ago.

Back then, Pastorello seemed more interested in self-destruction than self-respect or self-advancement. Pastorello, a Times All-Orange County linebacker and state wrestling champion at Katella High, had a nice career going at the Air Force Academy. He was the Falcons’ starting fullback and offensive MVP in the 1992 Liberty Bowl, but he was also one of the biggest thugs and party animals on campus.

Pastorello never walked away from a fight, or a beer. If he could work both vices into the same evening, he was a happy man.

He couldn’t have been happier on a fall night in 1993, when another drunk accidentally bumped him inside a Colorado Springs bar. After punching out the bouncer and fending off his original sparring partner’s 12 friends with a pocket knife, Pastorello found himself in the back seat of a police car.

Upset that the man who bumped him was not arrested too, Pastorello went into a rage. In an attempt to calm him down, the police doused Pastorello with pepper spray.

“I couldn’t breath and I couldn’t see,” Pastorello said. “I thought I was going to die.”

That night in solitary confinement, Pastorello asked for forgiveness.

“I thought I was getting kicked out of the academy,” he said. “I could not believe where I was. I hit rock bottom that night.”

For the first time, Pastorello prayed.

“I said ‘Lord, if you get me out of this one, I’ll make a change,’ ” Pastorello said.

Somehow, his prayers were answered. The charges were dropped, Pastorello stayed in the academy and he gradually found religion.

“I didn’t happen overnight, but slowly, I started to turn my life around,” he said. “After I got through drinking and partying, I had to start dealing with my emotions. I realized a lot of my problems had to do with coming from a broken home.”

At 5 feet 11, 190 pounds, Pastorello was too small to play football professionally. But he was too competitive to stop playing sports.

“I was 23, and I thought, ‘What could I possibly do to make the Olympics?’ ” he said. “I thought that would be the ultimate accomplishment as an athlete.”

Pastorello wrestled in high school and for Air Force, and he had about 50 street and bar fights under his belt. The only formal boxing he had done was in a class at the Academy, but Pastorello figured boxing would be his easiest road to the Olympics.

He figured right.

After going through sparring partners at a local gym in Colorado Springs and becoming light heavyweight champion of the Air Force Academy, Pastorello set his sights on the Olympic trials. In March, he reached the semifinals of the U.S. Championships in Colorado Springs.

Three weeks ago at the U.S. Challenge, he beat the nation’s No. 2-ranked amateur, Luke Salayandia of Fort Lupton, Colo., and lost to top-ranked Michael Sims of Sacramento, 11-8, in the 178-pound final. Those results were good enough to earn Pastorello a spot on the Pan Am boxing team and one of eight berths in the Olympic trials next February.

Now 28 and living in Temecula with wife Kathleen and 16-month-old daughter Jessica, Pastorello has been training at the Escondido Boxing and Fitness club under the tutelage of Jorge Padilla and Joe Crowder.

Padilla said Pastorello’s story is a familiar one in boxing.

“Boxing has turned around a lot of kids,” Padilla said. “You can’t save them all. But the ones who fall in love with the sport and have the discipline, can make something of their lives. Joe is doing that.”

Pastorello’s best weapon is his right hand and his aggressiveness. But often his aggressive nature is his downfall.

“I think I would have beaten Sims, but I got too aggressive,” he said. “Sims is a counter-puncher. If I’d have just been patient, I’d have whupped him.”

Said Padilla: “I can see why Joe was a good football player. That’s a good rage to have in the ring, but you have to learn how to control it. I think he’s beginning to show some patience.”

Thursday, Pastorello left for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to prepare for the Pan Am Games (July 29-Aug. 7).

“If he keeps his focus, he could make the Olympic team and win a gold medal,” Padilla said. “I think it’s all there for him.”

MARTINEZ HEADLINES POND SHOW

Bantamweight Mauricio Martinez (14-3-1, nine knockouts) of New York will take on Cruz Acosta (17-1, 11 knockouts) of Culiacan, Mexico, in the 10-round main event July 12 at the Arrowhead Pond. Martinez will not be defending his North American Boxing Organization title.

In the 10-round co-main event, junior Dwain Williams (15-3, 11 knockouts) of Los Angeles will face Fidel Avendano (46-11-1, 28 knockouts) of Acapulco. Williams has not fought since he was knocked out in the fifth round by Tito Mendoza of Panama in February at the Pond.