Why Richard Torrez Jr. became a professional boxer

Richard Torrez Jr. has his second professional boxing bout on Friday, July 15, on ESPN. A career in boxing seems like a given, but it wasn’t Torrez’s plan.

With six national boxing titles under his belt and success on the world amateur stage throughout his teenage and early adult years, it seems like a given that Richard Torrez Jr. was bound to become a professional boxer. However, that wasn’t his original plan.

Look beyond Torrez’s 6-foot-2 and nearly 230-pound frame, and you will find an eclectic individual who has the personality of a scholar instead of a pugilist. His character is a quirky fusion that all stems from his family.

“I think what it was, is both my parents are educators,” Torrez said to FanSided. “And so they tried to put me in everything. You know, my dad taught me everything at a young age. My mom was, you know, singing like the nursery rhymes, to whatever it is. And I just always been kind of curious, you know. I hung around with some friends they’re pretty nerdy themselves. And I liked what they did.

“And that led me towards like learning how to solve a Rubik’s Cube, or learning how to build rockets, or playing chess, being a part of the engineering crew when I was in high school.”

Torrez’s mother and father are both educators. His father is the Dean of Students at Mission Oak High School, where Torrez once attended. It’s easy to see where his fascination with academics came from.

Torrez also has an athletic side that originates from his family. He played sports like football in addition to boxing. Combined with his academic pursuits, that makes him an individual with a rare set of talents.

The same can be said for Torrez’s father, Richard Torrez Sr. Before he was a dean, Torrez Sr. was a high-level amateur boxer. His father, Manuel Torrez, founded the Tulare Athletic Boxing Club in Tulare, CA.

Watch Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Roberto Zavala Jr. on Saturday, July 15, on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET

Manuel guided Torrez Sr. to the 1984 Olympic boxing trials. Torrez Sr. didn’t make the team, but his love for boxing never wanned.

Torrez Sr. told The San Joaquin Sun that he wanted to pass boxing on to his son and made a deal with his wife to train him until age 16 and then let Torrez Jr. decide how to proceed. Torrez planned to attend college, but one phone call made him put his focus on boxing.

“I was gonna go to community college in Cuesta, and then transfer to Cal Poly and pursue a degree there,” Torrez said. “And a month after I graduated high school, the Olympic training center called my dad, and they said, ‘Hey, would Richard like to be the resident?’ They had recently canceled the resident program for boxing. And they said, ‘Does Richard want to be the first resident back on the OTC and live there with us in pursuit of the Olympics?'”

Torrez was at an early crossroads in life–go to college or dedicate himself to pursuing a longshot of Olympic dream? He decided to ask his father.

“I go to my dad. I asked him what should I do because college was always the note to hit, you know, ” Torrez said. “College was everything my parents told me to go for, and it was gonna be the best. And as soon as the Olympic training center called me and I said that, that they were like, ‘You can always go back to college. Don’t worry about that, you know. This is the dream right now. Pursue that and do it to your fullest.”

With his parents’ blessing, Torrez pursued gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Torrez steamrolled his way into the gold-medal match against Bakhodir Jalolov. Jalolov had already turned pro and was an amateur world champion.

He was also the only opponent to knock out Torrez. That happened in 2019 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, at the world amateur championships. Jalolov hit Torrez with a straight left that knocked Torrez out cold.

Torrez told FanSided that he has watched that fight back a million times and had many discussions about it, but people should focus on the fact that he came back from that moment to take silver at the 2020 Olympics.

“I came back,” Torrez said. “I went to the Olympics. I medaled, and I’m still here, and I’m making this team. People should either call me crazy or be worried about me. And I think it’s the latter. Like, you should be worried about the mindset I have now.”

Torrez lost a tough-fought decision to Jalolov in the Olympic gold medal match and more than held his own. To many, that would be a major victory. However, Torrez sees it differently.

Winning silver instead of gold left Torrez feeling like there was unfinished business. He’s an admitted perfectionist and feels like there’s more to accomplish in boxing.

“It came to the point where if I would have got a gold medal, I don’t think I would have stayed boxing because I feel like it would accomplish everything I needed to accomplish,” Torrez said. “I feel like there wouldn’t have been drive anymore.

“But getting that silver medal, there’s still that urge. That want for something to be great. And that’s why I’m still fighting. It’s because I want to be on the top. I want to be there. I want to be the best there is, and I wasn’t able to do that in the Olympics. And this is what I’m doing in the pros. And I’m gonna get it done in the pros.”

That’s where Torrez is today. He’s 23 years old and embarking on his second pro fight on ESPN on Friday, July 15. He fights Roberto Zavala Jr. (2-1-1, 2 KOs) at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA.

It’s just the start of his pro career under the Top Rank banner, but Torrez is a proven quantity with a unique combination of intelligence and brawn. He’s a true outlier in and out of the ring.