Omar E. Zapata /The Rider
Communication graduate student Noe Mendoza Jr. of Weslaco paved the way for college boxers in Texas by launching the UTRGV Boxing Club last year and the Texas A&M Boxing Club during his undergraduate career.
Mendoza graduated from Texas A&M College Station in 2016 with a degree in philosophy and a concentration in pre-law.
The Weslaco native said he took to the ring from a young age thanks to his father, Noe Mendoza, who was an amateur boxer in his youth. In his adolescence, Mendoza watched his father run Las Brisas Boxing Club, named after their subdivision. The gym is not only a safe space Mendoza, but also for local kids who are given free lessons.
As he approaches the completion of his master’s degree this semester, Mendoza plans to step outside the ring and into the courtroom. His goal: to practice law and become a professional boxing promoter to bring world-class talent to the Rio Grande Valley and eventually host collegiate events on campus.
Q: What are you most proud of?
A: “I would say [I’m most proud of] … the amount of lives I’ve been able to touch. I’ve worked with many people, meaning that they all come from different walks of life, and, you know, they’re all excited to learn from me, and what I’m able to teach. So, I think that that, in and of itself … is something that goes beyond any, like, victory in the ring.”
Q: Who is your favorite athlete in the sport?
A: “My favorite boxer has been Canelo Alvarez since, like, the early 2010s. I’ve been following him in the sport for a while. And prior to him was Oscar De La Hoya. I think a big reason why these are my favorite boxers could just kind of be, like, a disposition from the culture. You know, we are down here in the southern region, and I’m just really prideful of the Mexican Americans and the Mexicans in the sport.
Q: What is your favorite thing about the Rio Grande Valley?
A: “My favorite thing about the Valley is our people. I went to College Station, so I experienced a bit of culture shock out there, initially, when I first got out there. And, after a while, you just learn to miss home, you know, what you grew up in. A lot of people say, ‘If you want to leave the Valley, you don’t want to come back,’ but … I beg to differ. I couldn’t wait to come back and bring everything that I learned up there home.”
Q: Do you have a favorite boxing movie?
A: “There’s been a run … of the original ‘Rocky’ movies and it was about ‘Creed.’ My favorite thing about that movie was that Creed had the same name as his father, Adonis Creed. But, he chose Adonis Johnson, I believe. And he chose to do so because he didn’t want to live in his father’s footsteps. He wants to create his own legacy. And I think that was kind of like my own branch, you know, my own father as well. I kind of see myself vicariously through Creed.”
Q: What advice would you give to a beginner boxer?
A: “Every day, just understand … that boxing itself is all about repetition, and that some people entering the sport may want to learn everything that there is under the sun within boxing. They may turn to tutorials on YouTube or Instagram. But, in reality, the only way you’re going to learn is not through the theory that you learn through information or videos like on YouTube or Instagram, but really through the application of it.”
–Compiled by Omar E. Zapata
–Alejandra Yañez contributed to this report.
