PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Students at a Port Arthur boxing gym are embodying the iconic Latino boxers who came before them.
12News visited Titans Boxing Gym where club president Ernesto Flores trains anyone willing to accept the challenge.
"I just like getting hit! And then hitting people, you know?" said Ivan Rodriguez, an amateur boxer.
For 17-year-old Rodriguez, pain brings discipline
"I know it sounds crazy but it's just a good feeling getting hit!" Rodriguez said.
He is one of nearly 30 students at Titans Boxing Gym, who turn inspiration into action
When asked who got him into boxing, Rodriguez answered with his hero's name.
"Canelo! Just how good he is! Just knocking people out," he said.
Mexican boxing legends like Canelo Alvarez, Julio Cesar Chavez and Juan Manuel Marquez, demonstrated the world-renowned fighting spirit through decades in the ring on the international stage.
They inspired students and Flores to be the very best both in and out of the gym.
"We started this new youth organization back in 2023. We see a lot with the youth committing a lot of crime, a lot of violence between them and a majority of them are going through these rough patches in life," Flores said.
Flores says he's dedicated to instilling the fighting spirit in the youth to keep them off the streets and in the ring.
"The fighting spirit for me is showing people you aren't afraid of anything. You're a warrior. You have the courage to do anything," he said.
9-year-old Armani Garcia isn't one to shy away from embracing her warrior spirit.
Garcia trains up a weight class and she's already a Golden Gloves champion with only six months of training.
"I just went in there and just fought!" Garcia said.
Laying it all on the line at the first ring of the bell is something Uriel Reyes Jr. is all too familiar with. He's set to turn pro soon following six years of training at Titan's Boxing.
Reyes says friends and family have backed him every round.
"Definitely friends and family that keeps me going. When I fight and see them there supporting me, it's a feeling you can't even describe," Reyes Jr. said.
Reyes is one of many boxers who say they want to continue serving as an inspiration for the younger combatants, so they can, too, can follow in the footsteps of him and so many other Hispanic boxers who stepped up to cement their legacies as some of the greatest to ever fight.
"The plan is to keep training, keep fighting in a couple of amateur shows and just go from there. It's all in God's hands," said Reyes Jr.
"Just train train train, and hopefully become pro soon," Rodriguez said.