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© Ginamarie Russo / Saddo Boxing
The visit to my hand doctor turned out to be more than just a follow up. I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow patient of Dr. Melone’s, light welterweight Joel “Joelo” Torres.
Hailing from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, this young fighter was only in town for a night to follow up on his recovering tendon that he ruptured from his last fight, in May, against Christopher Fernandez.
We, ‘we’ being my twin sister and Tommy, who is also apart of his team, then arranged a meeting and met with Torres and his manager, Ricardo Figueroa, to talk boxing. Torres is just learning English and so Figueroa had to translate.
Torres is a humble 25 year old, with a lingering focus in his eyes. His presence is mellow, while his early memoir is anything but. At eight years of age, his brother was murdered. His mother passed away shortly after due to heartache and depression.
Sadly, this child’s unfortunate circumstances did not end there. At that point in his life, he was living with his sister. She had some medical complications while giving birth and sadly pass on as well. Although Torres lived through a triple tragedy, it was soon after this lamentable time that he laced up his gloves.
Torres’ cousin, Jose Laureano, was a professional fighter who introduced him to the gym. Torres was a natural at the sport and continued to box, because “it kept his mind clear of personal problems.”
The gym is where he found his peace. He trained with both boxing greats, Felix Trinidad Sr. and Felix Trinidad Jr. Although Torres went on to win multiple tournaments in the islands as an amateur, it was obvious that he would be more suitable as a professional. His demeanor, talent and record, 9-0-1 (5), makes that quite evident.
Around his fifth professional fight, Torres signed with Real Fighters manager, Ricardo Figueroa and earlier this year signed with DiBella Entertainment.
When I asked Figueroa about his fighter’s forte in the lion’s den, he said that Torres “is a left hooker. He is deceptively fast and is very accurate when he throws punches. He doesn’t waste them, he lands them.”
Torres’ leverage flows in the ring when he fires his hooks and jabs onto his opponent. Teddy Atlas has described Torres’ style as a jockey navigating a horse through the race. This is a considerable and precise compliment as jockeys are sharp and aim to out do their competition. And that is what happened when Torres stopped Barbados fighter John Trotman in just the second round. His drive in the ring went beyond the expectations of the fans and media when he fought Javier Pérez in Guaynabo. They anticipated this fight to be a bloody brawl but they were awesomely mistaken as Torres knocked out Perez in the first round.
Torres makes his opponents fight, even through a painful hand injury. Back in May at New York’s Gotham Hall, Christopher Fernandez stepped into the ring with the compelling Torres. At the ending of the third round, Torres popped a tendon in his left hand but still incessantly boxed until the final bell. Although the decision was a controversial draw, Torres was persistent and did not allow his setback to disrupt his performance.
Torres is not just a boxer, he is an advocate of the sport. He loves all loves sporting events and promotes youth spectators. He came up with the concept of why boxing is falling out of the public eye. He says it is because “young kids and families want to go to the fights, however the tickets can be very costly.”
His strong feelings on this issue derive from the time he saw two young girls get turned away from a sporting event in Puerto Rico because they did not have enough money for their tickets. And so as the girls began to walk away, back wandering the streets, Torres was appalled that two young children were not allowed to enter.
The very high-minded fighter paid for both their tickets because he would “rather see them enjoying themselves inside a safe place, watching the sport, than to be out on the street.” With Torres’ effort and action, a law was passed in Puerto Rico that children 12 and under, accompanied by an adult, can attend a sporting event for free.
The first thing that comes to Torres’ mind when he is ready to fight, is to thank God for letting him step in the ring. He is confident in himself and his team. Figueroa says what adds to his success in the ring is that he “doesn’t fight angry. He is out there to perform, and does not take it personal. He stays cool and composed when he fights, and once he is in there, his heart comes out.”
Torres has a very large fan base in his hometown where they are very proud of him which is vastly trickling into the states. His dream is to be a world champion; to crossover and be well known for his boxing talent in his Native Puerto Rico as well as The USA.
He is very driven and is currently training in Puerto Rico, where he is receiving physical therapy for his hand and preparing for a November bout. His workouts include running and shadowboxing for now. Torres’ trainer is Uri Ramosand and he trains out of the Wilfredo Gomez Gym in Guaynabo.
Torres was extremely grateful and expressed his appreciation for taking time to speak with him. When I asked him for any last comment or thought, he stated, “the sky’s the limit.” I believe it is a very sunny sky for him, too.
