Rene Herrera

Rene Herrera

Article by. D.A.

 

39 year old

Rene Francisco Herrera who is a retired professional welter weight boxer still receives several unexpected phone calls from boxing promoters seeking to line him up against popular fighters.

“Boxing is a business and when the industry is in need of a fill in, they tend to come to me”, said Herrera who now focuses all of his time and effort in operating his Auto Repair Shop in central El Paso.

Herrera told us how tempting it is for some boxers to want to take on one of these fights and score some easy money. But doing so can be dangerous.  “They tend to call you when you’re least prepared and that’s disastrous when you’re up against a fighter who’s been training all season.” Said Herrera. 

That’s exactly what happened to the 17 year boxing veteran throughout his last few fights. He never had a chance to prepare for them. But he did learn a valuable lesson Sun Zsu instilled in his warriors during the B.C. era. Boxing is war and you can’t afford to get caught sleeping. Boxers must train consistently, even while on vacation because war is always on the horizon. 

That’s a lesson all boxers learn, after all, every dog has his day. We also had the great honor of speaking with Thomas W. McKay, author of “The Black Knight of Kickboxing Magic Magic Magic”, a book about boxing great Cliff “Magic” Thomas.

 Just listening to Herrera and McKay talk about the great sport of boxing was an excellent learning experience. 

McKay who is a current kickboxing trainer helped form the Southwest International Amateur Association in 1966.

Our special thanks go out to Rene Herrera who honored us with his time and great boxing experience, Mr. Thomas McKay who educated us in areas of boxing we never would of known if we had not met him, and Mr. F.L. Arredondo who introduced us to these quality individuals.

 

 

About

Rene Francisco Herrera

Global ID 5711
Stance southpaw
D.O.B 1969-11-24
Division middleweight

Residence El Paso, Texas
Birth place Chihuahua, CH, Mexico

US ID TX024939
won 26 (KO 19) + lost 17 (KO 12) + drawn 0 = 43
rounds boxed 253 : KO% 44.19

 

 

About

Thomas W. McKay

 

Thomas Winfield McKay, a retired science teacher, earned his baccalaureate degree in Liberal Arts with honors from The University of Texas at El Paso in 1971 and his Master's Degree in 1975. Upon obtaining his baccalaureate degree, McKay was also honored as one of the "Top Ten Seniors". One of his research projects for his Master's was in sports injuries, especially hematoma's of the brain in contact sports. He also did studies with an accelerometer to evaluate punching power by both boxers and kicking power by karate fighters. Kenpo, Kempo, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do practitioners were some amateur and professional boxers.

A former U.S. Marine, McKay has also coached boxing for over thirty years. He founded the El Paso Boxing/Karate Hall of Fame and served as its first president. He has worked with kick boxers on occasion, especially Cliff 'Magic' Thomas and his magnificent journey from the jaws of death to the pinnacle of success.

 

“Tom Mc Kay brings back the dramatic and inspiring story of Cliff “Magic” Thomas, doing it with his own unique, enthusiastic style. He takes the reader on a joyride through Thomas’ colorful career, a career that spanned the golden age of sport.”

Bill Knight
Senior Sportswriter
El Paso Times.

 

 

About

Fernando

Fernando is a boxing aficionado who's spent his entire life following the fights of the worlds finest boxing legacies. He boxed as a teen and continues to maintain great health on the punching bag.

 

 

 

Rene Francisco Herrera

Rene Francisco Herrera

Boxing history articles, articles about legendary fights and boxers