By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Is the boxing world ready for another Zavala brother? We’ll find out this weekend.
Daniel Zavala, the younger brother of Del Rio’s Robert “Heavy Artillery” Zavala, will make his professional boxing debut Saturday night in Odessa in a heavyweight bout.
Zavala, 31, has been a part of the No Quit Boxing Club for the past two years, joining at the same time as his older brother. But those aren’t the only similarities between the two.
Both credit their father for developing a love for the sweet science of boxing when they were younger. Both were born and raised in Del Rio and both admit that boxing was the one sport they followed since they were young.
Both also work for the railroad. For Daniel Zavala, his day job has been as a signal maintainer, carrying him from Del Rio to about Sanderson for the past 11 years. That also means long days for the younger Zavala.
“I usually get up around 4 a.m., get ready and then go work out around 5. I get home, shower and change and then drive to work. After that, I drive back home, change and then head over to the gym to train. By the time I get home, it’s around 8:30-9 and I eat, shower and then go to bed until I start it all over again the next day,” Zavala said.
Zavala’s path to the pros began with a chance discovery of the No Quit family. He said he and his brother were driving by and saw people outside the gym doing their exercises. They stopped to check things out and joined in on some of the workouts.
“I liked it and never stopped coming,” Zavala said.
It took about a year before his coaches felt he was ready for his first amateur fight. So in the spring of 2021 Zavala stepped into the ring against an unfamiliar opponent and thus began his career.
He was slated to have about four fights, but two of the fights never happened. One was canceled due to rain and the other was a no-show by his opponent.
Undaunted, he continued to train until his coach, Salvador Pascacio, was contacted by a promoter out of West Texas who was looking for an opponent for his fighter. He initially wanted Robert, but he would not be able to make the trip. But Pascacio knew Daniel was ready so he asked him if he would take the fight. The two agreed he was ready and Daniel took the fight.
“I don’t know the guy I’m fighting, but if coach believes I’m ready then I’m ready,” Zavala said. “I know I’ve put in the work. It’s like coach says, ‘There’s no magic pill for success.’ It takes a lot of hard work. All the running, the cardio, the sparring … in the end, all that hard work prevails.”
Ahead of his first pro fight, Zavala said his older brother, who has several pro fights under his belt, said the best advice to prepare for the fight has been how to handle himself in the ring.
“More than anything he said I needed to stay calm. Forget all those nerves and just relax in the ring. He reminded me that we sweat in training so we don’t bleed in war. In reality, the toughest opponent in that ring will be me,” Daniel said.
Zavala said he and his brother aren’t rivals, but instead push each other and motivate each other to be better. He said every part of training turns into a sort of a competition.
“It’s like if we’re doing push-ups. He will always try to do one more than me and I’ll try and do one more than him. If we’re running, I’ll try and go further or faster and he does the same,” Zavala said. “He’s always been a big role model to me. I love him to death.”
Zavala admits that his age is something he thinks about occasionally. He said boxing against men who are younger than him is a challenge, but he’s grateful to just be able to be in the ring and doing something he enjoys.
“I started doing this late in life. Now I’m in my 30’s with two years of experience. I talk to my brother and we always wonder if we had started where a lot of these young fighters did, when they were 15 or so, where would we be now,” Zavala said. “Will it affect me? No. I’m going to keep going and keep boxing until I can’t anymore. This weekend, if I lose I’ll just take my licks, stand up and keep moving forward.”
Pascacio said that while Robert tries to wear down his opponents, Daniel is more surgical in his approach. He picks his shots and hits with precision. The only similarity they have, Pascacio said, is they both hit with tremendous power.
That comparison isn’t lost on Daniel.
“I’ve been fighting him here in the gym every day for free. I figured I might as well get paid for doing it now,” he said with a laugh.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
