Starting to fight competitively just this year, Ramiro Marrufo won the Texas Silver Gloves 8-year-old championship in Irving in November.
He won at 65 pounds and is now preparing for regionals in Searcy, Ark., where he will face boxers from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Tennessee.
That is scheduled for Dec. 28-30.
His grandfather and coach Jessie Soto said Ramiro has been fighting since he was little — 4, 5, 6 years old. Even before that, his mom, Selene Marrufo said when she was pregnant and they found out he was a boy, they knew he was going to be a boxer.
“Ramiro is a gym baby; been around it his whole life. (He) didn’t start officially training full time Monday through Friday until March of this year once he turned 8 Feb. 27,” Selene said in a text message.
Soto said he is right handed, but fights left handed. Ramiro has already had 12 fights. Soto said his sons both boxed. He has coached for 20 years and was with the Odessa Boxing Club. He started Familia Boxing Club, the boxing team Ramiro is part of.
Soto has taken Ramiro to other boxing competitions to see what they’re like.
“I’ve been keeping him busy. I like what he’s doing,” Soto said of Ramiro. “He listens to the corner. He’s real easy to work with.”
When Ramiro won the Silver Gloves 8-year-old championship, Soto said he was speechless.
“I was excited, just teary eyed. It was a great feeling,” Soto said.
Ramiro, whose nickname is Bubba, works out Monday through Friday, but he is now working out every day. He runs two miles a day and does conditioning circuits.
“Oh man, he sleeps good at night,” Soto said.
His money punches are a straight 2 and a hook.
“It is a dangerous sport, but he loves it. I also want him to play football next year. I don’t want him to get burned out just boxing. Boxing is a real hard sport, there’s a lot of discipline to it,” Soto said.
He added that his sons had dozens of fights, but they have never gotten into a street fight.
“All their fights were in the ring,” Soto said.
Ramiro said he was happy and excited to win the championship for 8-year-olds. He added that he was happy for his grandfather, too, because he worked hard for it.
Ramiro said he liked boxing when he was little and wanted to do it when he grew up because his uncles did it.
“I want to be a champion one day,” Ramiro said.
A third-grader at Ross Elementary, Ramiro’s favorite subjects are reading and science.
Soto said he’s excited because he gets to relive his son’s boxing days again.
He added that you don’t have to tell Ramiro to keep his hands up.
“You don’t have to tell him to keep his hands up … He goes in and he knows what to do. I really don’t have to be on to him like I do with other kids,” Soto said.
Ramiro’s favorite pro boxer is Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“I like the way he moves and how he dodges punches and how he throws,” he added.
His mom Selene Marrufo said Ramiro likes to wear his uncle’s trunks because he said they have power in them.
“He feels proud to wear their trunks,” Selene said.
