Kids learn finer points of boxing at Villa Park gym

Carlos Robles' boxing gym is anything but high-profile.

Located in the rear of the North Park Mall, a Villa Park shopping center anchored by a Hobo outlet store and a flea market, one doesn't exactly find the gym by accident.

But the Addison man behind it has spent two years using the modest location and his own passion for boxing to teach suburban kids the finer points of the sport.

And the gym is growing.

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Robles, once an aspiring amateur boxer himself, began teaching kids in his garage. That hobby has quickly morphed into a full-time operation with 60 members. Robles -- along with plenty of help from friends and family -- organizes exhibition fights around the Western suburbs.

And recently the gym owner and promoter even added lucha libre Mexican-style wrestling classes to the mix of his offerings at the gym.

But, most importantly, Robles says, the gym is providing an outlet to a new generation of fighters.

"When kids say they want to fight, they fight," Robles said. "We take them to tournaments throughout the state. We give them opportunities to get in front of a crowd. And I don't miss any of their fights."

Robles' boxing gym is certainly not like the large fitness clubs that are scattered across the suburban landscape.

Just a single multi-purpose weight-training machine sits in the back of the white-walled space, most of which is dotted with heavy bags. On the side of the room sits three sets of racks with a full complement of speed ropes, gloves, head gear and all manner of padding.

Yesenia Ballinas, a freshman at Willowbrook High School, bounds in the middle of the room among the bags, sparring with a partner holding hand pads.

The 14-year-old Lombard girl has been a regular at Robles' gym for the last year, finding the place almost by accident one day while her father came into the mall to get his taxes done.

As soon as Yesenia, whose interest was sparked by watching boxing on television growing up, told her father she wanted to join, the resistance began.

"My dad kept asking me if I shouldn't be doing something more feminine, like dance," Yesenia recalled. "My first month at the gym he kept telling me not to tell my friends that I was boxing. I think he was scared I'd get into a fight at school.

"But after the first time he saw me box," she added, "he started going around telling his friends."

Many of the boxers say personal records are a secondary consideration.

Sergio Luna, a sophomore at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, has only won two matches out of the 10 or so he's competed in the last year.

"Sometimes I get butterflies in my stomach when I'm in the ring, and that gets frustrating," Sergio said. "But I didn't want to do a sport that everybody else was doing."

Next month, the Glendale Heights teen will compete in the novice division of the Golden Gloves boxing tournament in Chicago. He's excited about the possibilities, but is keeping the event in perspective.

"I don't really care if I lose," Luna said, "as long as I keep learning."

Robles' next scheduled exhibition boxing match will be April 24 at the Ramada Inn, 780 North Ave., Glendale Heights. The next lucha libre Mexican wrestling event will be Sunday at the Tequilas Restaurant in South Elgin.

For details on either the scheduled fights or the boxing gym, call (630) 563-5219.