Richard Torrez Jr. Shows Why He’s “The Gentleman Boxer”

Richard Torrez Jr is a specimen. At 6’2”, 225 pounds, the southpaw from Tulare, CA, is knocking out everyone who gets in his way as he rises to the top of the professional heavyweight boxing division. But outside of the ring is an intelligent, family-and-friends-orientated human being who finds balance in the special moments he finds outside of intense competition.

M&F sat down with “The Gentleman Boxer,” who currently has an undefeated record of six wins all by way of knockout, to find out what drives him and why it’s important to turn negative experiences into rocket fuel for positive results.

Richard Torrez Jr. Is His Own Harshest Critic

While Torrez Jr should have been elated to take home the silver medal in boxing’s super-heavyweight division at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the truth is that he was devastated because he’d lost in the final bout, missing out on gold. As his family and friends looked on proudly, Torrez felt like a loser, and was extremely hard on himself in the weeks and months that followed. With time, however, the gentle giant came to realize that without this negative experience, he might not be dominating the world of professional boxing today. “I definitely think it’s a blessing in disguise,” reasons the maturing warrior, who is now 24 years of age. “I told my dad before, that if I would have got gold, I wouldn’t be boxing anymore. I would have gone to college, I would have done all the other kinda 10 things that I love to do and see how far that could have taken me. But getting that silver really did keep that hunger alive.”

Richard Torrez Jr. Deals with Boxing Pressures by Having Fun with His Friends

“I think that one reason I like boxing so much, is not only because boxing helps me in my outside life, but my outside life helps me in boxing,” says Torrez. “I kind of like the correlation that boxing has with the rest of my life. I definitely think that being able to implement some of the things that I use in my outside life, in the ring, is very beneficial to my career.”

Keen on chemistry, Torrez found a passion for adrenaline at Mission Oak High School when he and a bunch of friends, that he is still close with now, decided to ask their teacher how to make their rocket fuel more efficient. Troubled by what he had heard, that teacher considered suspending the boys until he called their parents and eventually understood that it was all in the name well-meaning curiosity and enthusiasm. These days, Torrez still love to launch rockets in the safety of the countryside.

He’s a musician, and is also finding time between sparring sessions to learn how to fly. As if all that weren’t enough, there’s another brain sharpening pastime dialing in his strategic abilities; the game of chess. Torrez competed on the chess team in high school and loves to see two or three moves coming before his hapless opponents clock them, just like when he’s searching for the…