Three Pasadena Fighters Step Into the Ring as Golden Gloves Tournament Hits Day Two

Three boxers from Pasadena’s Villa Parke Boxing Program will compete Friday night against top amateur fighters from across Southern California as the 2026 Golden Gloves Regional Boxing Tournament continues its second day at Victory Park Recreation Center.

The four-day tournament, a partnership between the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and California Golden Gloves, features Olympic-style bouts among male and female athletes ages 18 and older, according to a city press release issued March 9. Winners advance to the California Golden Gloves State Championships — also scheduled at Victory Park — on April 11 and 12, and from there to the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. Marvin Gomez, Fatima Martinez, and Adriana Nuñez are the Villa Parke fighters in the bracket.

The man in their corner is the same one running the statewide show. Fausto De La Torre, who has led Pasadena’s boxing program for more than 30 years, also serves as California Delegate in Charge for the entire state Golden Gloves organization, according to the California Golden Gloves website. He oversees events for all four regional branches — Northern, Central, Southern, and Cal-Border — while still coaching fighters daily at the Villa Parke Community Center at 363 E. Villa St.

The Golden Gloves traces its origins to 1923, when the Chicago Tribune launched a tournament that became one of amateur boxing’s defining competitions. The organization now operates through 30 franchises nationwide, according to Golden Gloves of America. California’s franchise was established in the late 1930s. Alumni of the national program include Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Oscar De La Hoya.

Pasadena’s place in that pipeline runs deep. The Villa Parke Boxing Program dates to the 1940s and now counts more than 300 active members, according to a 2025 Pasadena Star-News report cited by Pasadena Now. The program currently fields 12 elite boxers who compete at regional, state, and national levels and has produced two Olympic try-out representatives, Pasadena Now reported.

Koko Panossian, the city’s director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, noted the program’s growth in August 2025. “We’ve noticed quite the increase in demand for the boxing program and the success of most recently held the Golden Gloves tournament where we doubled the number of participants in that tournament,” Panossian said, according to Pasadena Now.

De La Torre has said the tournaments are part of a broader push toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “Our main concern is to prepare these kids for the upcoming 2028 Olympics, and this is definitely one of the biggest tournaments that will establish them to lead towards the Olympics,” he said in a February 2025 interview with Pasadena Now.

The three Pasadena fighters bring different profiles to the ring. Gomez, who started boxing at age eight, has spoken openly about what the sport has done for him. “It has really helped with my physical condition, my mental condition, because it takes a lot of discipline and hard work and training,” Gomez said in a 2023 interview with Pasadena Now. Nuñez, who began boxing at 13 after watching her brother train, has credited Martinez as an inspiration. Martinez advanced to the Golden Gloves nationals in 2023 after winning at the state championships, Pasadena Now reported.

De La Torre, who was born and raised in Pasadena near Villa Parke, has spoken about the program’s role beyond athletics. “I tell them to remember that life is boxing,” he said in a 2016 Pasadena Now profile. “You’re going to get low blows in life, but what are you going to do? You’re not going to give up.”

Friday bouts begin at 6 p.m. at Victory Park Recreation Center, 2575 Paloma St. Competition continues at noon Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under, available at the door only. For information, contact the City Service Center at (626) 744-7311 or visit CityOfPasadena.net.

The state championships in April will bring regional winners from across California back to the same Pasadena ring — with De La Torre on both sides of the operation, coaching his fighters and running the tournament they are fighting in.