Rock Island Today

Abraham Flores was crowned a Chicago Golden Gloves champion in April, which is considered one of the most elite Golden Glove Tournaments in the country. 

At 114 pounds, Flores, 26, is a fighter in the lightweight division, and he won the open class by unanimous decision to earn the title. His success came with a lot of road blocks, but they never stopped him.

Flores explained that he started boxing at the age of 11 because he joined a friend who was also a boxer. He asked his friend if he could attend and the coach, Steve VanDeWalle, agreed to Flores’ request and began training him at Visconi Tigers.

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After VanDeWalle opened up his own gym, called Quad Cities Pride, Flores did most of his training there.

“VanDeWalle taught me a lot of things and took me to shows and competitions like any good coach would,” Flores recently told Rock Island Today. “However, a coach can only do so much to keep a someone out of trouble.”

At some point during his first round of training, Flores was sent away to a correctional center. When he was released, he moved to Sterling where he found Al Silva’s Boxing Team in Rock Falls. Then he continued to train.

Flores explained that he eventually moved back to East Moline and got into more trouble with the law and found himself doing nine months in Scott County. When he got out of jail, he settled down with his girlfriend, whom he married later -- and in 2012 they had a child.

After six years of being out of the ring, Flores went back to train at numerous gyms. With a new family and a new lease on life, Flores heard about the Golden Gloves competition and he decided to dedicate himself to winning it.

Flores returned to his first gym, Visconi Tigers, for a while and he was trained by Ramsey Vesey and Rick Ybarra. He also trained at Ring of Champions.

“A week before the Golden Gloves competition, I asked Jeff Perez from Alley Cats to join my team to Golden Gloves and did my last bit of training with him,” he said.

He explained that he did not win his first Golden Gloves competition; although he did well, he was discouraged and dropped out of training for a few months.

Once he regained some perspective, Flores went to train at Nile Pena’s Gym.

“After intense work outs that Coach Nile Pena put me through, less than a month later, I was awarded Ringside Champion for the 123-pound division,” he said.

He also competed to be part of the 2016 Olympic team, but was cut on the last stage of the trials. Despite his disappointment, Flores is optimistic that he will make his dreams a reality.

“Abraham Flores is a proof that boxing can change someone’s life,” Pena told Rock Island Today. “He started out as a trouble-making kid, but he found a positive way out through the sport of boxing to later become amateur world champion. He has a great story.”

Flores' aggressive drive to succeed is not only about title belts. He fights for his family, as well.

“Now that I have a son and a wife, I want to earn more money to support my family,” Flores said. “(Turning pro) has always been in the back of my mind. I want to make this a career.”

Flores is confident that his recent titles and successes will help to build his reputation as an amateur boxer, which will hopefully lead to him signing with a promoter so he can turn pro.