One glance at the family trophy case is all the proof one needs that Santa Maria’s Baldaras brothers pack quite a punch.
The latest hardware hoisted by the sibling pugilists came from Coachella, where 14-year-old Rudy won the annual Desert Showdown on July 18.
“The fights weren’t easy, but they weren’t hard, either,” Rudy said. “The first kid I fought, I stopped him in the second round, and the next one, I just brawled with him.”
Not to be outdone, his younger brother, 12-year-old Carlos, is fresh off of winning his second Oxnard Police Activities League National Boxing Tournament title on July 12.
In big matches, according to the boys’ uncle and trainer David Baldaras, the boxer with the best game plan wins the fight.
“For these kind of tournaments, you want them to weigh less,” David said. “The faster you are, the better you are. In amateur boxing, it’s more about points,
so we concentrate on that.”
The boys travel to Lompoc’s Roy Baca Gym to train every day. There, they prepare each other mentally and physically for the rigors of ring combat.
“Me and my brother train harder than anyone in the gym,” Carlos said. “When I spar with him, I usually win a lot of fights.”
Carlos has a lot to show for his four years of boxing experience. In addition to a junior boxing record of 22 wins and just three losses, he’s also won the PAL Junior Olympics, two Desert Showdown tournaments, and the Oxnard Nationals last year.
For the 80-pounder, boxing has always been in his blood.
“Ever since I was small, I used to put the gloves on. There was just something about it that I used to like so much,” Carlos said. “It’s cool to fight people from different places.”
Elder brother Rudy, who said he likes “the pain and the punching” of the sport, has the past success to match. He won the PAL Nationals in 2007 and the PAL State title in 2008.
The Baldaras brothers both attended Arellanas Junior High, and Rudy is going to Santa Maria High School next year. Both boys hope to go pro someday, but first they want to add Olympic gold to their collection: Rudy representing the United States and Carlos for Mexico.
“We’re still up-and-coming fighters,” Carlos said. “So don’t stop believing.”
This article appears in Jul 23-30, 2009.