Weslaco gym owner commits to boxing, training professionals

WESLACO - A jump rope and boxing gloves hang in the corner of Healthclub 722. While Erasmo Cuellar's gym is filled with treadmills and weight-lifting machines, that corner tells the story of his new personal training venture.

After opening his gym in December 1997, Cuellar started one-on-one training sessions with people who wanted to get in shape or shed some extra pounds. It wasn't until he met professional boxer Robert "La Amenaza" Garcia that he decided to take on a different challenge.

Cuellar is now a fitness and boxing trainer for not only Garcia, but several other professional boxers, including Eric "Drummer Boy" Molina.

"I've always been a fan of the sport, so I go around watching matches and that's how I met Robert," Cuellar said.

After seeing Garcia's improvement and Cuellar's attendance at his matches, other professional boxers started calling Cuellar for training sessions.

While he would like to expand his client base, Cuellar has only accepted training a couple of boxers. Dedication and discipline are very important to him and he will not train anyone who doesn't have them, he said.

Omar "La Panterita" Figueroa, 19, is one of the few who has shown Cuellar his commitment to the sport. Although he is still a teenager, he has fought about 140 matches, has a professional 8-0 record and won the 2007 Golden Gloves State Championship. While it is hard work, Figueroa enjoys Cuellar's training sessions.

"He makes it fun, because he always mixes it up," Figueroa said. "I never know what I'm going to do next."

Brandon Figueroa, 12, watches wide-eyed as his older brother practices, but is beginning to make a name for himself as well.

The younger Figueroa won the 2006 Silver Gloves State Championship when he was only 9.

"My dad used to street fight in Mexico and he got my brother into boxing so I wanted to try it," he said. "It's fun."

Cuellar's love of the sport has caused him to incorporate boxing into his regular one-on-one training sessions.

"I use boxing as a fat-burner, cardio and people really enjoy it," he said. "Instead of 30 minutes of boring running or walking, people have fun with it and get to release some stress."

Some of his clients have even opted for a full hour of boxing instead of the routine cardio and weight training sessions. Among those clients is Juan Gonzalez, 50.

He goes in for a full hour of boxing, even sparring with Cuellar's professional boxing clients at times.

"I'm just cannon fodder for them," he said. "They don't go all out, but they do make me work hard."

Gonzalez began training with Cuellar back in 2001 when his daughters started going to his gym to get in shape for pageants. It wasn't until two years ago that Gonzalez tried boxing and decided to commit his hour of training to it.

"It's just a really good way to stay in shape and it's good stress relief," he said.

Alexandria N. Gonzalez covers general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4425.