Veteran boxing commentator Claudia Trejos is part of the BYB Extreme analyst team, but her history as a broadcaster has been its own fight.
You’ve often seen sports commentator Claudia Trejos if you’re a boxing fan. Considering her immense work history, how could you miss her?
Trejos has over 30 years of sports commentating experience that has seen her on the airwaves for FOX, Showtime, ESPN, DAZN, and now BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle Fighting. Her onscreen charisma helps build excitement on fight night, which is why she’s a staple in the sport.
Trejos’ career is even more remarkable, considering how she entered it.
Trejos was the 14th child out of 17 in a large family in Colombia. Her family wasn’t heavily into sports, but certain fighters were so captivating the Trejos family stopped to pay attention.
“Well, it’s an interesting story because my family was definitely not into sports at all. But the world would stop at any given moment, specifically when Muhammad Ali was fighting and then Roberto ‘Manos de Piedra’ Duran,” Trejos told FanSided.
Out of all the boxers her family watched, Trejos’ favorite was Muhammad Ali.
“So I must have been about five years old when I saw this beautiful man who’s bigger than life,” Trejos said of Ali.
Trejos continued, “And I was like five years old, and I’m thinking, Oh, my God, what is that? It’s bigger than life and a huge personality. And lo and he behold, that was Muhammad Ali. And he was like, wow.”
Even though Ali’s specter transfixed her at a young age, Trejos never thought of a future as a sports broadcaster. She wanted to enter the medical field as a doctor.
Trejos studied biology at UCLA and seemed to be on her way to achieving her dreams, but a terrible family tragedy interrupted her studies and forever changed her and her family’s lives.
“I got accepted into the [UCLA] biology program, you know, getting my pre-meds yadda, yadda, yadda,” Trejos said. “And then, my mom was kidnapped. And then I had to take care of my family, my sister, my younger sister, and her son.”
Trejos’ mother was a judge in Colombia who was shockingly kidnapped. Amid the horror of her mother’s abduction, Trejos jumped into action to take care of her family.
She sacrificed school and her dream and heroically put her family first. Trejos got a job with a company called Prime Sports doing graphics and editing.
Claudia Trejos brings her broadcast experience to BYB Extreme Bareknuckle fighting for the Biloxi Brawl on May 28
When something terrible happens, people handle trauma in different ways. Rather than be paralyzed by grief, Trejos decided to fight for her family by supporting them financially in any way she could.
“Something to be said about when you’re going through traumatic moments, you just have to be in the moment,” Trejos said. “I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t have time to think. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean that it was almost like fight or flight. It was survival mode.”
Sadly, Trejos and her family never saw her mother again.
Working what Trejos described as a side job, fate threw another curve into her life’s path, but this time for the better. One of the commentators didn’t show up to work a halftime show, and Trejos was asked to be the emergency fill-in.
“The talent didn’t show up,” Trejos recalled. “And it was only a halftime show for a Laker game, and it was all three minutes. And the boss said, ‘You got to do it. We don’t have a choice. It’s already sold. You can do it. You know, you cut it. You edit it, you know, you know.’ And I was like, ‘okay.’ Sure enough. And that was the beginning of the end.”
Trejos made the most of her three minutes on camera. She was then asked to cover tennis at the U.S. Open. That led to the opportunity to work as the Sports Director at L.A.’s KWHY TV channel 22.
Bigger and better options opened up for Trejos, and she never looked back.
“The universe said, I know you got plans,” Trejos said. “I know you got an idea for what it is that you want to be. We got news for you. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years. I have yet to find myself working a day of my life. I still feel like I’m having a great time. I still feel like, ‘I’m getting paid for this?’ I did the NBA. I’ve done the Olympics. I’ve done World Cups, and I get paid for this.”
Ultimately, Trejos’ story is a happy one of successes and triumphs, but they haven’t come easy. As a woman working in a male-dominated field, Trejos has seen the ugliness of gender inequality firsthand. She just chooses not to let it stop her or ruin her love for her career.
“Every day,” Trejos said of the constant instances of gender inequality. “Either we keep focusing on the things that we don’t have, or we focus on the things that we do have. And I know that sounds easy. That sounds ‘Oh, she’s being simplistic.’ And it is that simple. Because this conversation could have gone in a completely different way if I would have told you the sexual harassment da da da. It is not about that. It’s not about that.
“Why? Why am I going to keep feeding that? We’re going to keep feeding forward. You know, there’s a reason why the windshield is that much bigger than our rearview mirror. So, I like to say yes, so s**t does happen. What are we going to do about it? Let’s move forward.”
Trejos forges ahead, working for multiple outlets. She will be in Biloxi, MS, for BYB’s Biloxi Brawl on Saturday, May 28.
BYB has boxing in its title, but it is of the bare-knuckle variety. Trejos is happy to be a part of it and sees another avenue for combat sports athletes to make a living doing what they love.
“Some people make this a lifestyle,” Trejos said. “It’s not just about walking into whatever arena and just beating people up. These are well-trained, high-performing athletes that deserve to be able to make a living just like a basketball player, just like a baseball player, or a hockey player. They deserve to be to get the opportunity.”
Fate continues to work its magic, and Trejos also makes a bit of her own enchantment. Her love for her profession and the sports she covers jumps through the screen, which is why she continues to be one of the best in the business.