RENAN RUIZ – BROOKLYN BOXER

Martin Luther King Jr. once said : “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”
On September 13th, 2016 I was walking down 5th Avenue. in New York City and thinking how, sometimes, greed, lack of compassion and unprofessionalism could break raw talent. “The winner takes it all” blinds people in charge of promoting employees, athletes, aspiring writers and makes them long for those one-minute-starlets. Many true talented gems are being left behind. Very few continue to fight, following their passion, others, unfortunately, in despair, turn to alcohol and/or drugs, letting their dreams crush. As in a vicious circle, new winners replace the defeated ones, no second chances are being given, but, still, more money is being made. And this is the sad reality of any business and the sport industry is not an exception.
It was a chance meeting. Somewhere in the middle of March I came across with inspiring posts of a young man on social media. I instantly was drawn to a non-sheep-like way of thinking this young man in a fearless manner was presenting to the world. Let me just be honest here and confess that due to my ignorance I was further surprised to find out that my new rebellious hero is a professional boxer.
As a blogger who is in constant search for people who can change our world for a better place, I started thinking about interviewing this true leader. Noticing his busy schedule, I was honestly hoping for a cordial “no” to my offer to sit down sometime for a little conversation! I was so eager to spread his ideas further into the world, the ideas that are so worth to be heard in many corners of our home – Earth! Oh my, how I was glad to receive a very kind message of interest of a possible interview!
Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to introduce to you Mr. Renan Ruiz!

Many years ago a second grade teacher once told him that he should choose a real profession instead of being a boxer. Renan was seven years old at that time, but he already knew the motto of his life – To prove people wrong!
We met in Central Park on the corner of 96 Street and 5th Avenue around 7 pm. A very nice young man with so called “old school” manners met me there and at once made the whole conversation very comfortable. I already knew, that before me was standing a very mature, intelligent man of 24 years old. Renan was born on May 8th 1992 in Brooklyn, NY. When he was seven he moved to Puerto Rico and moved back to New York City only when he was 17 years. “I was spending every summer in New York, plus I was watching TV in English” he tells me after I noticed that he spoke with no accent. Ever since he was a little boy, boxing had always been his passion. More over, boxing is a huge part of Puerto Rican culture. “If Pope and Felix Trinidad were in Puerto Rico at the same time, people would go see Felix first, for sure” – joking Renan. And it’s not surprising at all, that while growing up in this culture one would really want to become a professional boxer. “People can go to college, get their degrees, become whatever they want to be in this life. I chose boxing because it is my passion”
Unfortunately, in life the same things sometimes could be very passionate for some people, and just plain business for others. Before going on with the story, Renan reveals himself to me as a true leader. He talks about the nature of the choice, that every person has a choice in this life. “Choice is everything in boxing and I take a full responsibility for everything bad and good I do, it’s just plain common sense”. “The winner takes it all” has its own meaning in boxing. The winners are always surrounded by people who would just be there showering in the light of glory. The scenario changes dramatically when you are not standing on the Mountain Olympus.
“Every time you lose, you are going to lose a lot of people around you, that’s just how it is. When you are up, everybody is on you. It’s tricky and its deceiving. That misleads a lot of people. And it misled me in the way that I was looking at the people around me as if they were my family, good friends. When in reality they were just there to be there. Boxing has been always a huge passion for me, but business for others. The first time when people turned their backs to me it hurt. The second and the third times, I just say thank you and nothing more. As an example, on May 19th 2016 I didn’t win and my promoter didn’t even talk to me after the fight. She went to another fighter’s corner and started talking to him. But I wasn’t hurt, just disappointed. Because I have been there before. I looked at her and said to myself that now I know. That night she didn’t say a word to me. Because of demands of my promoter certain TV Chanel put me off the cart. And that was the fight my team and I spent so much time and money on, only for the event to be cancelled. And that left me broken and depressed. I try to always remember that you are a ticket, a dollar sign. And when that dollar sign is going away, so do the people and your so-called friends. Well, I have been there before and I’m going to do it again and again. This is not my first set back, it is actually my third one. Now I just surround myself with a handful of people that will always hold my best interest when I win or lose. I’m always grateful to my managers in Canada and to my cut woman, who despite of my set back keeps standing by my side. Her I always call my true sister.”
In boxing too, you follow the steps of the Phoenix. The demands of the business crush you down with no chance to continue, but you always resurrect from that dust ready to fight. Renan keeps inspiring me with his different outlook on life, with his philosophy of “NO”. When you shouldn’t be scared to receive “NO”, when you shouldn’t panic when you are being denied. Because at the end it just makes you stronger. You are becoming so immune to “NO”, that you just keep going bettering yourself. “I don’t quit, because I’m battle tested”
Renan believes in short term goals, he enjoys doing what he does now, he gives his 100% to boxing. To his mind long term plans are just very unstable. He doesn’t want to live his life thinking about what he is going to do in 20 years. All his strength and passion are being concentrated in now and here. Renan keeps pushing against the idea of being the victim and being a part of those 99% of people who complain about choices they made without even trying to change their life. Volunteering in a nursing home for elderly people, he always remembers that there shouldn’t be any regrets in life. And one should always follow his/her dreams and it doesn’t matter how hard it gets sometimes in life.

I would like to say thank you to Mr. Renan Ruiz, for the great opportunity to sit down with him for an interview and letting me use the pictures within my blog. Also, Renan thank you so much for inspiring me personally. After our conversation I went home with new ideas and methods to become a better person I was yesterday!

Let the fight continue….

Umar Vorona

September 18th, 2016

Ludlow, Ma