By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Another Del Rio boxer will get his chance to shine in front of a national audience tonight.
“Heavy Artillery” Robert Zavala Jr., who fights out of Del Rio’s No Quit Boxing Gym, will take on former Olympian Richard Torrez Jr. live at 6 p.m., 8 p.m. our time, on ESPN as part of a Top Rank card airing from the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Ca.
This will be Zavala’s fourth fight as a professional. He has two wins, one loss and one draw with two wins by KO.
Fighting is a family affair for the Zavalas. Zavala’s brother, Daniel Zavala, is also a professional fighter out of the No Quit gym.
Torrez, who won his professional debut in March with a second round knockout of Allen Melson, was a silver medalist in the 2020 Olympics. Listed at 6’ 2” and 230 pounds, the 23-year-old Torrez is taller and younger than Zavala, who stands at 5’ 11” and is 34. He is also the son of former boxer Richard Torrez Sr.
According to a story that appeared in the Visalia Times-Delta, Torrez has been a hot commodity since the 2020 Olympics and big things are expected from the California native.
“Torrez is considered by many boxing experts as a top up-and-coming boxer in the heavyweight division,” Vongni Yang of the Visalia Times-Delta wrote.
A former US Army field artilleryman, Zavala has been boxing since November 2019. He made his professional debut in June 2021 with a win in Galveston. He had three fights as an amateur before turning pro. It was his time in the military, and his punching power, that led him to earn the nickname of “Heavy Artillery.”
This will be the biggest fight of Zavala’s young career, but it marks almost one year to the day that he became a viral sensation after knocking Levi West out with a thunderous right that sent West through the ropes. The knockout was posted to Instagram by ESPN Deportes’ Chava Rodriguez and quickly began making the rounds through social media.
For tonight’s fight, Zavala will be joined by No Quit’s coaches Salvador and Karina Pascacio. He will also wear a customized robe that bears a red decal of the state of Texas with the words Robb Elementary and a heart with the word Uvalde beneath it. There will also be a pair of purple glove decals that feature the names of the victims of the Robb Elementary shooting that took place in May.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
