It took more than a year of training and sparing for Enrique Nunez before he stepped into the ring for his first amateur boxing match.

It took less than five minutes for him to step out.

The 17-year old senior at Warsaw Community High School won by technical knockout in the second round over DeKalb Boxing Club's Landen Harvey Saturday night at the River City Boxing Club in Fort Wayne.

It's the first of what Nunez and trainer Rick Rivera hope to be many successful bouts for the right-handed 194-pound heavyweight.

For Nunez, boxing is in his blood. His uncle boxed until an injury ended his career. His father was a skilled fighter who was forced to hang up the gloves at age 17 in order to provide for his family while his grandfather is a local legend in his hometown of Guadalupe, Mexico for inventing a unique fighting style.

"I come from a family of fighters. Boxing has always been a sweet science to me," said Nunez.

Boxing is often an overlooked sport nowadays. That's partially due to the crookedness of professional boxing's governing bodies and all the alphabet soup titles floating around.

What the Don King's of the world can't take away from the sport is what young fighters like Nunez are bringing to the sport.

Boxing requires stamina, toughness, quick reflexes, strength, power, discipline and an ability to analyze your opponent's weaknesses.

Boxing is unlike any sport A boxer imposes his will directly on the opponent with his fists rather than using an intermediary like a ball to do it.

Nunez tried football and wrestling at WCHS but those didn't feel right to him.

"I did those things more for the popularity factor of them. Then I said who cares. You have to do what you like," said Nunez.

His heart wasn't in football or wrestling. It was in the same place as his father's was and his grandfather's before him.

That's where Rivera stepped in. Rivera heads up a boxing class at Hill's Tae Kwon Do USA and the Fighting Tiger Boxing Club.

Nunez showed interest in becoming an amateur boxer.

Amateur boxing differs from pro boxing in the scoring. Pro fights have three judges that decide the winner of each round based on things such as ring generalship, clean punching, effective aggression and defense. Of course a fighter can win by knocking his opponent out but the judges are used in case the fight goes the distance.

In amateur bouts, with the fights usually being limited to three rounds, the emphasis is on the number of punches landed.

Nunez landed plenty of punches Saturday.

"I worked his body pretty good in the first round," said Nunez of his first fight. "In between the first and second round my trainer was saying I was having too much fun out there and I needed to finish (Harvey) off. So I went after him."

Nunez connected on an uppercut early in the second round that stunned Harvey. Nunez worked combinations of punches that left Harvey defenseless and forced the referee to stop the bout.

"He looked better than I thought he would," said Rivera, a boxer himself as a youth. "I couldn't ask for anything more. I told him he did better in his first fight than I did. I didn't know how to finish my opponent and Enrique did."

Rivera wants Nunez to fight in as many matches as he can to gain experience for the state Golden Gloves competition in Indianapolis next March.

After that when Nunez is 18, he looks to move into the open division of Golden Gloves, which then could eventually lead to the Olympics.

The Olympics are a world away for Nunez right now, and while it's something he dreams of, his goals are more immediate.

His next match is Sep. 10 at St. James Boxing Mega Plaza in Goshen at 6 p.m.

Nunez doesn't know who is next opponent is. While that may present a challenge in preparing, Nunez wouldn't have it any other way.

"The surprises are half the fun," said Nunez.

Nunez said he grew up idolizing Julio-Cesar Chavez. Chavez is considered one of, if not the greatest lightweight champion in the history of boxing.

While Nunez fights as a heavyweight, he says he patterned his style after Chavez.

Chavez was known as a ring tactician who could change to what his opponent was doing.

Nunez works on being that same type of fighter.

"I don't think I'd ever rely on one skill," said Nunez. "It's about being able to adapt. If they want to box then I can't box them. If they want to swing for the fences I can do that too."

Rivera said he would take on more boxers if they had the drive and determination that Nunez has shown.

For more information on the Fighting Tiger Boxing Club, contact Rick Rivera at 574-268-7273. [[In-content Ad]]