Dad’s Lessons Pack a Wallop

Thirteen-year-old Dominic Gonzales doesn’t idolize Oscar De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez or Evander Holyfield--names revered in the boxing world. Instead, the state and regional boxing champion looks to another fighter for inspiration: his father.

Dennis Gonzales, 38, is raising his son to survive in a culture where, in too many Orange County neighborhoods, it’s not easy to be a young Latino. Gonzales knows.

Ringside at the Placentia Boys & Girls Club, he laces his son’s gloves and tests their tautness and comfort. Gonzales is Dominic’s coach. He looks at his son’s hands, then his face to make sure Dominic is ready to enter the ring.

“I’ve lived through hell,” Gonzales said. “But if you’re smart, you know how to fight back.”

When Gonzales was his son’s age, his probation officer told him he would spend his life in prison--or end up dead. Eventually Gonzales did serve time. He has since seen too many family members, friends and enemies killed in drive-by shootings and drug overdoses.

“Every day . . . I think about what I’m going to do better for my kids that day. I tell my kids they can do and be whatever they want to be; you just have to strive and work for it.”

And Dominic is. An honor student at South Junior High School in Anaheim, he recently placed third at the Silvergloves National Boxing Championships in Kansas, a tournament in which more than 350 boxers participated. The Silvergloves division, backed by USA Boxing, is for amateur boxers between the ages of 8 and 15.

“I just try to do everything to the best of my ability,” he said.

Dominic has been training and fighting since he was 9. In January, he won the Silvergloves Regional Championships after defeating his opponent 35 seconds into the first round. He won the state championship in December.

He is a soft-spoken boy, but when the 5-foot-6 125-pounder enters the ring, his punches echo throughout the gym. Others stop to watch him.

Gonzales believes boxing will give Dominic an alternative to the streets, teaching him discipline and the value of hard work. He doesn’t push his son when it comes to his future in the ring, but school is another matter. “The biggest thing I want for him is to get a great education. I don’t worry about anything with Dominic.”