By Alberto Suris
22-year-old, 165 Lbs, Yamarco Guzman, a native of Lawrence and trained by David Ortiz of the Canal Street Boxing Gym, was crowned Middleweight Champion in a fight held at Gleason’s Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, NY against Jimmy Baldwin on July 23, 2016.
“These were three-round fights each carried out in a national tournament on the 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd of July this year,” says Guzman. “In each, I faced a different boxer, winning them all by unanimous decision,” he said.
Yamarco, who earns his living as an electrician of Local Union 103 in Boston, never thought he would be a boxer. Had it been for his father, Leoandy Guzman, he would have dedicated himself to the practice of Taekwondo, as it was the favorite sport of the author of his days where he went on to achieve the title of National Champion in the category of Black Belt 3erº sport.
“As a child, I came to practice Taekwondo but I never liked it,” Yamarco says. “It was a tragedy that led me to practice boxing, when my best friend was killed in cold blood by his mother’s boyfriend. The murderer killed not only my friend but also his sister and his mother.”
Yamarco refers to José Luis Tejeda, which on September 5, 2011 shot and killed Milka Rivera 39 with whom he had relations for five years although they never married, her 19-year-old daughter Sachary and her 16-year-old son Max Ariel Montanez. For his crime, which he justified by saying that he was “tired of their complaints and shouting,” Tejeda is serving three life sentences.
“Max and I were inseparable; we played football in the Greater Lawrence Technical School. I got so angry about the death of my friend that wanted to do something but did not know what.
As luck would have it, someone recommended me trying the Canal Street Boxing Gym. This was the best advice ever given to me. Since I came here they have helped me mentally as well as physically, carrying me on the right track, helping me to change my attitude towards violence, channeling it into something that has led me to succeed in life,” said Yamarco.
Currently, Yamarco helps young people who come to the gym with similar problems to what brought him to it. He counsels and offers himself as role model to them.
His next fight will be on September 16 at the Billerica Elks Club in Billerica. “I know it is at 7:00 P.M. although I have not been assigned an opponent as yet, but no matter, I’m ready for the fight,” ended Yamarco.
