Funez Family Affair

Every fighter has a different story about how exactly they found the sport of boxing. For the 20 year old undefeated featherweight Juan Funez 3-0, he would have to look no further than to the Ten Goose Boxing gym in Van Nuys, CA. This is the gym that so many great fighters have trained at and on Friday night on ESPN2 from Little Creek Casino Resort, Shelton, Washington he plans on being the next in line.

With the importance of a television fight on deck, the young southpaw got the experience of a lifetime to go to the high elevation of Big Bear, CA where he could train alongside the middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and his camp.

“I’ve been sparring with some tough guys like Abner Cotto and Jayson Velez. I’ve never been in something like this and everyone is in great shape. It’s different for me being in Big Bear because the altitude but it’s going to help me a lot. Tripple G is a cool guy, he really makes you feel like he’s known you for years,” said Funez.

Juan Funez knows that he must use his technical skills in order to make fights easier for him and to avoid taking unnecessary punishment. There is a saying in boxing that you can’t teach heart and that is something within the younger Funez.

“What I’ve learned from my last fights are that I’m the type of guy that if I get hit, I know we’re going to go to war. This time I think I just want to learn how to just box because I like to go brawl but this fight I’m trying something new and hopefully I can just box from the outside,” said Funez.

This is a tactic his trainer and uncle Ricky Funez would like to see. He now runs the daily operations at the famous Ten Goose Gym of Van Nuys, CA was a guiding light for young Juan to take in the experiences of his working with fighters such as Diego Corrales, Joel Casamayor and the Ruelas brothers. That type of experience for a trainer came from his own chance meeting with one Joe Goosen.

“Thanks to Goosen Tutor for putting my nephew’s name out there. Even though his last fight was a tough one, they see potential in him,” said Funez.

As his trainer, Ricky Funez understands that not everything will go as planned and that the fighter must prepare for the unexpected. The night of his nephew’s fight an early arrival to the fight location didn’t go so well. Multiple time during that day they were told that their fight was next, resulting in the fighter warming up only to be told to wait. After three or so times this can take its toll on a fighter’s physical and mental mode.

“We were just there warming up and nothing happened till 8 o’clock at night and it was a tough fight but he showed me heart in pulling out the decision,” said Funez.

Not only is Ricky Funez the uncle but he is the lead trainer in the corner who is in charge of making sure that his fighter is ready and has the right game plan come fight night.

“I want him to box more and be a slick boxer. I don’t want him to brawl so much. I learned these things from Joe Goosen who is my teacher. I just don’t want him to be a brawler and have a short career,” said Funez.

For a young fighter it’s important to not take any fighter or opportunities for granted. Juan Funez understands that what is here today could be wasted if squandered.

“I train for every fight like a championship fight. I respect my opponents. I work hard and still train, a loss or undefeated, it doesn’t matter to me,” said Funez.

This is an approach that Ricky Funez agrees with as a trainer. “Even though you’re not in a fight you have to be in the gym.Stay in shape and don’t let yourself go,” said Funez.

The discipline is important and so is the amount of pressure that he must put on his nephew. It’s an interesting dynamic where if he pushes him too much it could break things but he recalls on a lesson from his mentor Goosen.

“At first I used to push him and Joe Goosen said to me, RIcky you want to push him but don’t push him away. I’ve seen like Diego Corrales’ dad and Roy Jones Sr. and lots of fighters who had problems with their dads. I love my nephew like he’s my son and I didn’t want to push him away so I opened my mind to be a little more diplomatic with him,” said Funez.

Friday night Juan and Ricky Funez take the next step in their journey. For Juan Funez it’s a long way from the the days of where he had to be convinced to go to the gym by offering him an X-Box, the truth is he was a bit scared of what was to come. Fast forward to where he is now and you have a fighter about to make his television debut and who better than his uncle to be by his side.

“Stay tuned and hopefully God willing I get a knockout. I want to stay busy and give lots of young fighters an example to work hard and don’t quit. I’m just ready for this fight and I know it going to help me.”

JC Casarez covers boxing and mixed martial arts. You can follow JC Casarez @wildcardking on twitter.