WINTER HAVEN BOXING CLUB by James Coulter For eight years, Marco Fazzini has been training many up-and-coming boxers at Winter Haven Boxing Club, taking them to elite boxing championships, and returning home with them and their medals, belts and other awards. To date, Fazzini has trained two USA national champions, 20 state champions, multiple regional champions, and multiple Sugar Bert Boxing national champions. So many of his students have won so many awards that he hardly keeps track of them all. Fazzini himself was inspired by his father to take up boxing in 1992. Fazzini started training at a local gym in Winter Haven. The more he trained, the more he realized that he made a better trainer than a fighter. Eight years ago, he opened up his gym along Avenue G NW in Winter Haven. He has since taken so many students under his wings that he has moved to a larger facility down the road. Recently, two of his students have earned prestigious titles. DeVine Eraso, 15, won a gold medal two months ago at the Eastern Qualifiers, ranking #1 in the country two years standing. Abdin Lopez, 13, won nationals in November in Kissimmee, ranking #1 in the
country in the Sugar Bert Boxing rankings. Fazzini and his two students recently sat down to answer some questions about their achievements. Here’s what they had to say:
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AUGUST 2020
WHAT GOT YOU STARTED WITH BOXING? My great-grandfather was a prizefighter. My boxing career was not that great. I was more of a knucklehead who stayed in the gym than home. That is another reason I push these kids harder, because I want them to do more, because I really did not do much in the boxing world. So I have always been around it [boxing] all my life. So I am really hard on the kids because I want them to become champions. Being a trainer is what I realized what I wanted to do. I just make sure that they are putting hard work at the gym and eating right, doing right, respecting their parents, and learning the true art of boxing.
WHAT DO YOU OWE THE SUCCESS TO YOUR CAREER AND THE GYM? The consistency. It is hard to find a fulltime coach, and it is hard to find a fulltime fighter. So when you find those two things combined, something special usually happens, and of course, passing down them the right information so I can pass it on to the next generation. WHAT IS A NORMAL FITNESS AND TRAINING REGIME FOR YOUR STUDENTS? When they come in, they do four rounds of jump rope (15 minutes), they shadowbox for another 15 minutes, they hit bags for 30 minutes, they will do Mitts with me for four rounds or eight rounds, and they have a list of calisthenics that they have to complete before they leave the gym.
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