Manny Sepeda’s Fight Factory Gym: Always Ready To Fight! - Interview - By Jason Petock
Manny Sepeda’s Fight Factory Gym: Always Ready To Fight! By Jason Petock, Doghouse Boxing (April 3, 2013) Doghouse Boxing
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Manny
Sepeda is no stranger to the boxing ring. During his career as a
professional fighter he faced several notable boxers, such as
Clarence “Bones” Adams and Junior “Poison” Jones to name a
few, and fought with a fierce determination and focus that recalls
back to earlier times of the discipline. Today, Coach Sepeda
continues on with that same strength that he once used to deliver his
own punches in the ring to now teach and mentor a new breed of fast
rising young stars to do the same. His gym, Fight Factory, in San
Marcos, Texas continues to produce an extremely hungry and capable
stable of ambitious fighters resolute in making a huge indelible mark
on the boxing world today.
Two
boxers in particular have put in their blood and sweat daily at the
Fight Factory to fully realize their dreams. Both hailing from “The
Alamo City,” San Antonio, Texas, brothers Kendo “Tremendo”
Castaneda, 19, lightweight, (2-0/1 KO) and Felipe “El Silencioso”
Castaneda, 23, bantamweight, (9-3-1/3 KOs) have become household
names across the state. They are looking to expand their namesake and
take over the boxing world by storm. Kendo is a 2012 Texas Golden
Gloves Champion with a commitment to training and a natural power
that has him sparring with other fighters in the gym who are at much
higher weight classes, seeing as the other lightweights just can’t
handle his strength. Also in the mix is Jairo Castaneda, 22, light
welterweight, (2-0/1 KO) who along with his other two brothers used
to train at the San Fernando Boxing Club in San Antonio before
joining forces with Manny Sepeda at the Fight Factory.
Heavyweight
fighter Angelo Guiterrez (2-1/2 KOs) also fights out of the gym, a
former MMA fighter who transitioned successfully into boxing becoming
a knockout artist in the process. Rounding out the talent laden
stable is Cesar Vila, Jr., (2-0/1 KO), also a 2012 Texas Golden
Gloves Champion who is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Anyone can
clearly see that the Fight Factory is overflowing with young, fresh
talent that are out the gate and running, looking to further showcase
their talents in the ring and face their next challenge. All of the
aforementioned fighters are going to continue to do big things so
take note of their names and reach out to Coach Sepeda if you’re
interested in setting up fights. They’re more than ready, are you?
Coach
Sepeda was gracious enough to grant me the following exclusive
interview recently on Easter Sunday. Respect and thanks go out to
him, his family, and the entire Fight Factory Team. Kendo is
currently in training camp for his upcoming bout on April 13th which is just around the corner. Best of luck to Team Tremendo!
JP:
Thanks for this interview. So tell me about these guys you have in
your gym.
MS: No
problem. I got these kids, man, in my gym, they’re brothers,
there’s three of them, okay. The younger two are probably the most
rounded. The oldest one has a record of 9-3; I’ve gotten him two
wins in a row in his last two fights. The youngest one has the most
natural talent, he’s a two time Texas state Golden Gloves Champion.
This past year he made it to the semi-finals but there was politics
involved, some kid from Philadelphia. But man, this kid, his name is
Kendo Castaneda and he’s good. He was being trained by Jesse James
Leija, and he convinced Leija to come and train with me, that’s
kind of crazy you know?
JP:
Yeah, that’s pretty big.
MS: Yeah,
definitely. It’s very big. Leija has his own promotional company,
he’s actually hooked up with Golden Boy and they’re doing a show
on April 20th.
Kendo gave up a lot to come and train with us. He’s fighting on
April 13th in Corpus Christi; he’s actually on the Golden Boy card. I’m
trying to get him on with those guys. I hope this story can help him
get signed with the promoter.
JP:
I hope so too man. What kind of background does he have?
MS: So
Kendo probably has over one hundred, I’d say one hundred and twenty
amateur fights. He’s from San Antonio. He’s kind of won every
regional tournament going up through the ranks. I mean he’s a good
pro, man. He has great motivation. He’s been sparring kids like
undefeated Casey Ramos and he’s been putting hands on those guys,
you know what I’m saying?
JP:
Is Kendo a boxer/puncher? How would you describe him?
MS: Definitely
a boxer/puncher. Like right now I got him sparring with 154 pound
pros because he’s too big at 130. He probably walks around at 150,
but he’s been in camp with me here for about I’d say 2 ½ weeks
now and he just went home today for Easter, but I got him sparring
with bigger guys just because the smaller guys, the guys in his
weight class, can’t handle him. He’s just too big.
JP:
How old is he and does he fight orthodox or southpaw?
MS: He’s
19. He’s a right hander.
JP:
Didn’t you just take him up to the Golden Gloves recently?
MS: I
did the year before, this past year he turned pro before this year’s
Golden Gloves came up. In 2011 and 2012 he was back to back Golden
Gloves State Champion in Texas.
JP:
So how is your gym doing? It seems to be taking off.
MS: Man,
it’s prospering. I mean there’s people like Angelo and these kids
that keep people coming, man. I think too that since I have more of
an open gym setting, most of the kids I have there, and I mean not
just the kids, but even the adults are just so happy to be around
here. They are able to go and see them fight. They get to be able to
see what we’re producing; you know what I’m saying? It’s pretty
awesome.
JP:
It looks like you’re gym is doing really good, man.
MS: Dude
it is. I’m blessed. I just can’t, can’t get over it. I’m real
busy with the gym which is pretty cool.
JP:
So what other kids do you work with at the Fight Factory?
MS: I
got Jairo Castaneda, that’s Kendo’s brother. He’s the middle
brother and he’s 2-0 with one knockout. He’s actually the one
that just fought on Fox Deportes; it was a Golden Boy card in San
Antonio. He fought another well-rounded fighter out of San Antonio. I
don’t know what made those guys take the fight; I think it was just
a bad judgment call on their part. Jairo’s a beast. In Jairo’s
first pro fight he fought a kid with 10 pro fights. He knocked him
out in like 28 seconds. He’s a beast. These two guys, Kendo and
Jairo, are Texas’ hottest prospects right now.
JP:
I can see that would make it tough to get fights, that no one would
want to fight him.
MS: Yeah,
no doubt. He has a little bit more power than Kendo. He’s 6 feet
tall and 140 pounds, so it’s going to be hard to beat that kid at
140 pounds. He has that height and reach.
JP:
He’s real rangy?
MS: Yeah,
he’s real lanky. He has the power and the height and reach that
give him an advantage, definitely.
JP:
So how long has Kendo Castaneda been with you?
MS: Kendo’s
been with me for about; I’d say a month and a half. Okay, the
oldest brother, he’s been with me for a year. Now they all came at
one point to my gym, then the two younger ones left for about 6 or 8
months. Then they said, hey, we really want to come back, what’s
going on? We want to be a part of your team. I had to lay down the
law. I said, look this is what I do. I didn’t abandon my gym
because you guys left, I’m still going to train my fighters. And so
they actually said, ok, we want to come back. Kendo’s actually
living with me right now, which is a big commitment for someone his
age. So I mean he’s done everything that he’s needed to do. He’s
a good listener and a really good kid. I can’t believe that he’s
given up so much and is sacrificing like he is in this camp so we can
get ready. We got two fights already set, April 13th and then he fights on May 11th.
This is what he needs to do to be able to set the foundation for his
future and not just get wins but to stay ready and fight every month.
Because that’s what I want him to do. You know he doesn’t have a
lot of responsibilities; he needs to be able to look for those wins,
stay in shape and be committed, you know what I’m saying? His
brother Jairo and Felipe, they’re all young, 23 and Jairo’s 22,
they’re not married, but they have girlfriends and kids. So it’s
a lot harder for them, they both work. I had a long talk with Kendo.
I told him your brothers don’t have a choice, they have to go to
work to support their families, but you have a choice. You can be in
camp and not have to worry about being ready. He’s actually been
here for the last 3 ½ weeks getting ready for this fight and it’s
made a big difference.
JP:
Who is he fighting on April 13th? MS: He’s
fighting an eight fight pro; he’s out of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. It’s
a southpaw that he’s fighting. But man, that guy’s going to be in
trouble. Now May 11th is going to be a good fight for Kendo. He’ll be fighting a kid
who’s undefeated at 3-0 out of the Valley, and that is going to be
a good fight. It’s going to be a good test, it’s a fight I took
easily because I don’t think the guy has the experience that we
have. He has somewhat of a name, but I think, you know, he’ll stop
him. And I like the fact that Kendo has so much confidence in what
we’re doing as a team that he doesn’t question fighting an
undefeated kid this early in his career.
JP:
He knows that you’ll guide him in the right direction.
MS: Yeah
man. But I like the fact that he’s confident. He’s a good kid. I
like that about the kid. But he’s not boastful confident. He’s
just, coach with what we’re doing I think we can do anything! So
when it comes to that, I like that.
JP:
Sounds like a solid prospect. You said that you are trying to get
him in with Golden Boy, right?
MS: Yeah
I’m trying to. We had a kid from Austin, we’ve been sparring him
a lot. Maybe twice a week. His name is Travell Mazion. Travell just
signed with Top Rank and he’s fighting here in Austin at the end of
April. I’m just trying to get someone to take a look at Kendo and
get hands on and help him, you know? You know how that is, you know
what I’m saying?
JP:
Yeah, it’s tough man. Hopefully we can get the word out. I’m
glad your gym took off.
MS: Yeah,
me too man. They’re going to use my big ring. You remember the one
we used to have in our gym? They’re going to use my ring for the
Canelo fight.
JP:
So they’re going to use your ring for the Canelo fight in San
Antonio?
MS: Yeah,
we’ll get to be there so that’s pretty cool.
JP:
Is there anything else you want me to let the public know about your
guys?
MS: I
also have a heavyweight, Angelo Guiterrez. He’s 2-1/2 KOs.
JP:
How long has Angelo been with you?
MS: He’s
been with me from the gate. What happened was that Angelo was
originally an MMA fighter. An amateur MMA fighter. He was a beast,
man. I took him to the LBC Tournament, knocked everybody out. Then
with 3 amateur boxing fights I turned him open in the San Antonio
Golden Gloves, he couldn’t make the one in Austin. And in the San
Antonio Regional Gloves I had to fight with them to let him turn
open. They were saying that 3 fights wasn’t enough. So I fought
with them. I said he had 3 amateur MMA fights, after 5 fights it’s
at the coach’s discretion whether he could turn him open or not. So
I finally convinced them to turn him open and he knocked everybody in
the San Antonio Gloves out. Everybody in the State Gloves in 2012.
JP:
Are you training MMA guys too?
MS: Well
I train MMA guys, but I only train them in stand up, you know what
I’m saying?
JP:
Yeah. So you teach them how to box?
MS: Yeah.
I mean it’s a hodge podge in our area for MMA right now. We train a
lot of MMA guys to learn to box.
JP:
But that gives them a good stand up game then? Seeing as they’re
actually learning boxing.
MS: I
have a veteran guy that does the stand up. He’s doing a lot of that
circuit over here. His name is Nick “The Ghost” Gonzales, he’s
from Austin. He’s a pretty good kid. He’s actually with Legacy,
an MMA promotions company that’s pretty big in Texas right now.
JP:
Are there any other boxers at your gym that people should know
about?
MS: I
have another kid that’s 2-0, Cesar Vila, from Corpus Christi. Him
and Kendo and Angelo were all together at the Golden Gloves
representing Texas. They come quite a bit to our gym; you know what
I’m saying? Cesar does quite a bit and he has been training really
well. The pro stable that I have been wishing and hoping for has been
really coming together.
JP:
Sounds like you have a really good bunch of kids over there right
now.
MS: Oh
man, it’s going really good. We stay busy. I got 4 amateur fights
this weekend, the following weekend Kendo fights in Corpus, then the
following weekend the Canelo Alvarez fight, I’m swamped dude,
swamped.
JP:
I saw a picture of that huge mural that you have on the wall in your
gym. Pretty cool.
MS: Yeah
man, one of my brothers put that up. It was freaking awesome.
JP:
Is there anything else about your fighters that you want the public
to know?
MS: The
Castaneda brothers are from San Antonio. I mean they grew up in Alamo
City. They trained at the San Fernando Boxing Gym under Mr. Cantu.
They ended up coming over here to me. They’re really good kids. And
I’m really good friends with their old trainer, and they didn’t
take anything personal.
JP:
Well hopefully you can get them with Golden Boy and things can start
picking up.
MS: Yeah
I hope so.
JP:
But they’ll be fighting on Showtime now, so. Not HBO anymore.
MS: Yeah.
Did you see that fight last night?
JP:
Yeah man. That was crazy. I was telling my friend Alvarado was going
to win. He said no way.
MS: At
first I thought he wasn’t going with a game plan, because he was
fighting toe-to-toe, you know?
JP:
He got rocked too, man.
MS: Ah,
they both got rocked.
JP:
I appreciate it man. Stay blessed.
MS: You
too brother. Happy Easter to you and your family.
Should you have any questions, comments, concerns, or complaints that you would like to throw at Jason please don’t hesitate to e-mail him at boxingwarrior@hotmail.com. Your opinions matter.
