Boxing

Jesse James Leija/San Fernando Gym

319 W. Travis

The boxing program teaches discipline and respect in a structured environment through which staff members train, teach, and instruct youths and adults ages 8 to 34 to perform to their highest potential in the sport. The San Fernando Boxing Club trains competitive amateur boxers and is dedicated to providing youth in the community a program that emphasizes sportsmanship, education, and physical conditioning, as well as mental, spiritual and emotional health.

If you're between the ages of 8 and 34, seriously interested in boxing and willing to train hard, this program may be right for you. Coaches are available to assist with training between 4 and 8 p.m. Mondays. The gym is a fully equipped boxing facility. The cost is $55 a year for on-line registration or $65 for paper registration with the U.S. Boxing Association and the department's San Fernando Boxing Club.

For more information, call 207-3127. *Please note, this is not an exercise program.

Program success stories
Three members of the Club won state championships the first weekend in March 2013 in Ft. Worth. They are Hector Tanajara, Crecencio Ramos,18, lightweight, and Steven Cardenas, 165 pounds. All three athletes will compete at the Golden Gloves National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, in May. A fourth boxer, Luis Delgado, finished as a runner-up. Tanajara, 16, a flyweight, competed last year in Kurgen, Russia, as a member of the United Junior Olympic team and won an individual gold medal, along with the team silver cup. He has competed in 80 bouts.

Four boxers represented the San Fernando Boxing Club in the USA Boxing National Championships in Spokane, WA. the first week of April. All four qualified through the LBC State Championship held in Houston. Cresencio Ramos won runner up in the Lightweight Division (132 lbs) after advancing all the way to the finals where he lost a close 2-1 decision. In the event that the champion cannot represent the USA in international competition, then Ramos will take his place. Ramon Cardenas and Joshua Franco also won their first round bouts, but were later eliminated. Luis Delgado lost in his first round bout.

Jesse James Leija Gym
Originally part of the San Fernando Cathedral School complex, the two-story brick building at Travis and Santa Rosa streets was built in 1948 and dedicated Dec. 3, 1950. The gym was used by the Archdiocese of San Antonio for Catholic Youth Organization activities until the early 1970s and on Oct. 31, 1974, the city acquired San Fernando Gym and its .92-acre lot for $52,100. Boxers such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Oscar de la Hoya, and Pernell Whitaker all trained there in years past. The gym was renamed for former world champion Jesse James Leija in 2006. Leija trained at the gym as an amateur in the mid-1980's.