Ray Gonzalez set to make his amateur boxing debut

Ray Gonzalez, right, with MMA referee Mike Beltran.

DOWNEY — Ray Gonzalez of M.V.P. Family Practice and Sports Medicine in Downey will be making his U.S.A. Boxing amateur debut tonight at the Sugar Bert Boxing Tournament in Ontario at the Ontario Convention Center.

Gonzalez has never had an official amateur boxing match so this will be his debut. Gonzalez has been training on and off for the past two years and has been preparing for this boxing tournament for six weeks where he will fight at 165 pounds.

There have been many motivating factors for Gonzalez to get into the ring. He mentioned two of them to me. First, he comes from a family of very competitive athletes and second, his oldest brother fought for many years for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s boxing team. Gonzalez’s brother has ultimately inspired him to get into the ring.

Gonzalez is currently training at the NGBA Boxing Academy in Lynwood. He is being trained by coach Carlos Barragan and his team. Gonzalez trains every day at 6 a.m. for about an hour and a half and then returns at 7:30 p.m. once he leaves his clinic.

Gonzalez hopes to do well and inspire others in the process. He will turn 50 in a few months but feels like he is in the best shape of his life, healthy and happy.

Gonzalez’s fight will be streamed live on Instagram @mvpmedicine. Best of luck to “Doc Gonzalez” later today in Ontario. His result will be printed in next week’s Downey Patriot.

WARREN FOOTBALL: The Warren High School football program has been busy getting ready for the start of its 2019 football season.

The Bears held their spring football camp from April 29 through May 31, their summer football camp from June 3 through July 13, are currently observing their C.I.F. mandated “dead period” from July 15 through August 4.

The Bears will begin their fall football camp on August 5 through the start of their first football game at St. Anthony’s on Friday, August 30.

Warren finished last season with an overall record of 8-4 and a San Gabriel Valley League record of 4-1. New head coach Kevin Pearson, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of the new season and showcasing the talent the coaching staff has seen in spring, summer and fall football camps.

Newcoming senior quarterback Dylan Guerra (6’0, 185) completed 184/271 pass attempts for 3,091 yards last season at Arcadia. Guerra threw an impressive 35 touchdowns with only seven interceptions and had a QBR rating of 135.

Senior running back Eimajah Hunter (5’8, 175) carried the ball 79 times last season for 492 yards and had four rushing touchdowns. Hunter also had three receiving touchdowns for a total of seven.

Senior wide receivers Xavier Osbey (6’0, 180), Keison Evans (6’2, 175) and Stephen N. Austin II (5’11, 172) all return and are looking to have strong seasons.

Osbey finished last season with eight catches for 187 yards and had two touchdowns. Evans finished last season with 24 catches for 381 yards and had four touchdowns and Austin II finished last season with four catches for 86 yards and had three touchdowns.

DOWNEY FOOTBALL SEASON RECORDS: The Downey High School football program has been busy getting ready for the start of their 2019 football season. As players get ready, I’d like to share some single season records for Downey football. These records extend as far back as Randy Meadows from 1957.

Justin Huff holds the single season rushing record at 2,364 yards from 2012. Kijjon Foots holds the single season passing record of 3,170 yards and most passing touchdowns in a season at 26 in 2017. Chris Atkins holds the single season receiving-yards record at 1,391 yards in 2017. Atkins also holds the single season record for most receiving touchdowns in a season at 14 and most receptions in a season at 67, also in 2017.

Randy Meadows holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in a season at 36 from 1957. Jack Williams holds the interception record in a season at 7 from 1994. Chris Blanton holds the single season record for most sacks at 25.5 in 2014 and Robert Salazar holds the school record for most tackles in a season at 146 from 2012.

Interestingly, eight of these ten records have been set in the past ten years under head coach Jack Williams. It is also a cool fact that Williams himself holds one of the Downey High School season records.

ALL-TIME RECORDS: It would not be fair to mention Downey High School single season football records without mentioning career football records.

With that being said, Justin Huff is the career rushing leader with 4,572 career rushing yards from 2012-15. Trevor Hill is the career passing leader with 4,806 yards from 2013-16. Chris Atkins is the career receiving-yards leader with 2009 yards, career receiving touchdown leader with 18 and career receptions leader with 103 from 2016-17.

Robert Salazar is the career tackles leader at 285 from 2011-13. Randy Meadows is the career rushing touchdown leader with 66 that he set from 1956-58. Dallas Lopez is the career passing touchdown leader with 38 that he set from 2009-12. Jason Thomas is the career interception leader with 9 that he set from 2011-14 and Chris Blanton is the career sacks leader with 34.5 that he set from 2012-15.

Interestingly, seven of the 10 career stat records are held by the same player who holds the same single season record. The only exceptions being Kijjon Foots/Trevor Hill for passing yards, Kijjon Foots/Dallas Lopez for passing touchdowns and Jack Williams/Jason Thomas for interceptions.

Stats are certainly fun to look at and examine. It will be interesting to see if any of these school records will be broken this season and names added to the record books.