The Wild West Tale of "El Bandito:"

Sinister

Doctor of Doom
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So before I reply to old threads I figured today is a good day to begin a new one regarding one of my fighters who many of you have already seen. Joseph Macedo is quite a unique kid...ever meet a kid who was poor and spoiled at the same time? That was him. Immigrant Father (who used to fight the Cartels as a Police Officer in Mexico) who barely makes ends meet, but still manages to spoil his Son. Estranged Mother, like all troubled kids Joseph is well-spoken most of the time and has a likeable personality. I watched him be a troublemaker for a few years, but saw a lot of potential. Then one day when he was long-forgotten my other fighter Joey (Da Tooth) had him tome to the Gym in-tow, and asked me if I'd be willing to work with him. I agreed, and History was made, sort of. The first day I had him spar I said to him: "Forget all that brawling shit I used to watch you do. Fight however you want." And right away he'd go backwards. I knew this was no Chavez, this was a Marquez. Natural counter-puncher. However, he also had warrants out for his arrest for fleeing a weekend furlow FROM a Juvenile facility. It was just a matter of time, and that time was that year's Golden Gloves. He got arrested at the show before it began, and then had to do 8 months in another facility.

When he got out we went right to work because he was full of those storied "prison promises" of never doing so and so again. But from October to February of that year was very productive for us. Here's a video of how Joseph looked the year before getting with me:



This was our first tournament where he got fucked on the scale (they said he weighed over but there ain't no way he did, and they wouldn't let him burn off the 1lb they said he was over), but for some stupid reason they let him fight and embarrass the guy they gave the Title to:



He got fucked as well in the Golden Gloves that next year, against a kid who went all the way to the finals in the Nationals. Everyone thought Joseph landed more telling shots and got hit less. But hey, whaddya gonna do? I think due to general discouragement he started falling apart. I got him a job, he got fired from it. Started doing dumb shit again and became terribly inconsistent. I try not to abandon people, though, even when problems arose between his Father and I. Like I'm part of the Family, his Father tents to drunk-text me that I'm a trouble-maker for encouraging Joseph to be his own man. Anyhow, as of recent he's been more consistent and despite not being able to fight at the recent tournament my fighters went to that the guy he sparred with (Rene Moreno) won, he is making his return to the ring this Friday night. Then next year we're coming for every major tournament we can get to. I have managers dying to sign this kid. Here's a bit of why:





This session was against a guy whose trainer told me Joseph was too small:



Rashad Ganaway has over 20 Pro fights, and two regional Titles:



As of right now training for this fight is going very well. He's been consistent and been sparring a lot. Now it's just time to show he's not merely a Gym fighter, He's been doing this for almost 9 years now, but only recently (like Daijon), he's been in the ring with Pros, very high level Amateurs, and showing he deserves to be in there with them. We're pushing to make good of it all. Here's another of he and Rene Moreno (keeping in mind Rene was #2 in the U.S.):



And this kid Chris Harris Jr. has nearly 40 Amateur fights, Joseph has 19. Chris has also been boxing since he was 4, so nearly 13 years:



So come Friday and from there out, you're gonna hear a lot about this one.

P.S. - During that session with Rene, one of the kids at the Gym said: "This is what it would look like if Chavez ever fought Finito Lopez."
 
I've always had a soft spot for bandito. reminds me of a 123lb'er i train with off and on (when he has his shit together). Similiar story, similiar dad, and similiar style though once he counters he tends to charge in and brawl until he gets out gunned which forces him to use his superior footwork to move and box again
 
Wow seems like sky is the limit for that guy... Not to mention hes super fun to watch. I think I speak for a lot of us mma guys out there who dont really follow boxing when I say it would be awesome if you kept us updated on him
 
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Man he's good and what a beautiful style to watch. Doesn't overcommit on his offense, places his shots well, very aware of the opponents counters, stays in range when he's slipping and on the defensive, has good timing and good counters himself, can go backwards and forwards and is methodical about it.

Really awesome to watch. Very impressive how he stood with that pro as well. Good luck to him and the rest of the crew in the upcoming year!
 
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Well, Joseph is also a tale of a kid who never fully does what he's capable of doing. He's always holding back, always concerned over something. This has translated to in-ring as well. In the Gym he's comfortable, so he can and will go balls-out. In the fight he's much less secure. But we got the win nonetheless. Here's the last two sparring sessions before the fight. Of course with my two National-level Southpaws:





Amd then here's the fight itself. He did very well, but he could have stopped this kid:

 
Congrats to Bandito on the win! That left hook was there almost everytime. Seems like he got a bit more comfortable in the second. What would you have liked to see him do differently?

In regards to the sparring video, he did look rather uncomfortable especially in the first vid against Mustard. Like a different fighter almost. Like he couldn't get his timing and couldn't read him. Would you attribute that to the size diff, an off day, or is it a southpaw thing? Well, the guy Mustard is very good as well, so there's that too.

I see what you are saying about the tentative/concerned thing. Seems like when he is confident and calm he sees things and can set things up and controls the fight beautifully. Less so when he's not confident and he tends to brawl. Would that the fair to say?
 
Yeah, no one LIKES sparring Daijon. He has a bad habit of at the very least, making you look and feel ineffective. Joseph is no exception.

And yes, his composure is something we're going to work on. But it has to come from outside the ring. He's still growing up. As an example, he almost didn't get to fight because now, to fight, you have to have an annual physical and it has to be signed by an M.D. Not say, a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant. He was given the names of 3 clinics to go to like two weeks before the fight (never mind that he was told this months ago initially). But Joseph's social life is still somewhat important to him, so he's been to shows, trips to Cali, etc. etc. All the while never saving money to pay for a physical, so the week of the fight he's scrambling to find the cheapest one possible, got to a Walgreen's (which isn't even cheapest, he just didn't want to call one of the clinics twice and be more insistent on getting in), and it was signed by a nurse practitioner.

That's the story of how Joseph makes decisions. And the difference you see between his sparring and how he fights illustrate that part of him. In the actual fight, his confidence is false and he LOOKS like he's in a hurry, like he's trying too hard to be perfect, while at the same time not doing half the shit he's capable of doing because he's not taking initiative to set the pace and distance of the fight. In other words, he's all reaction and not proactive enough. Though I did like that this kid didn't attack him much, because the opponent doing all the work is what he prefers. This time he had to initiate himself. The last time he had to do that he dropped a thin decision to Freudis Rojas Jr., who is right now the #1 fighter in the U.S. at 141lbs.
 
Yeah I see what you're saying. He seems at his best when he's the one making the opponent react and not the other way around. I guess that brawling and hurrying style is more like the old one he had before you?

It's difficult coming from a background like that. If you've grown up poor and still never learned to take any responsibilty or work hard. It's a very chaotic existence. I can relate to that, broken home too and all. Hopefully he'll learn as many of us do, that responsibilty and getting shit done is not such a bad thing.

Ultimately it's his own path, but I think it's great what you're doing for these guys. Keep us posted and good luck to him.
 
Yes, when push comes to shove a fighter will always do the first thing they learned how to do. Complete re-wiring is very difficult. It can be done, but it takes a long time. What's interesting is the official making the announcements always says the first stupid nickname he thinks of when he looks at a kid's name, and for Joseph he said "The Brawler." But yeah, he's much more centered now. Up next is Nevada Golden Gloves.
 
I wish I had known more trainers like you in my younger years, although I can see a commonality in the fighters you have trained and I think I have seen other people post this.

But you really do allow these fighters to develop into their own individual talents, you don't seem to reject fighters that do not fall into a "type" of fighter you prefer to train.

I have seen many a trainer in Muay Thai that would over look a skill set or even a body type......because they don't fall into their idea of a fighter.

These guys are very lucky to have you, keep up the brilliant work and maybe one day more of us will have enough education in the sweet science to have a more in depth discussion.
 
Watched couple sparring videos, dude looks he got the good.
Tell him to keep up the good work, he looked good.
 
I wish I had known more trainers like you in my younger years, although I can see a commonality in the fighters you have trained and I think I have seen other people post this.

But you really do allow these fighters to develop into their own individual talents, you don't seem to reject fighters that do not fall into a "type" of fighter you prefer to train.

I have seen many a trainer in Muay Thai that would over look a skill set or even a body type......because they don't fall into their idea of a fighter.

These guys are very lucky to have you, keep up the brilliant work and maybe one day more of us will have enough education in the sweet science to have a more in depth discussion.

I always say I don't give them a "style"...style is who you are. What you want to do vs. how you respond to being hit. I just give them a set of fundamental practices that assure they can stay sage and do damage, how they apply it becomes their style.

Watched couple sparring videos, dude looks he got the good.
Tell him to keep up the good work, he looked good.

I will. He seems to actually be maturing as a fighter. Which is saying a lot, only took two years.
 
Joseph's latest fight against a kid who used to be ranked #2 in the U.S. before a layoff. You can decide for yourself what you felt the outcome was:

 
There's a tournament this weekend, and Joseph is fighting in it. Also one next weekend. Here's some sparring between he and our 152lb National Champion Alex:

 
Nice work, looking sharp and relaxed! Really enjoyed 2:18 pushing forwards. Good luck with the next couple weekends!
 
Is it me or was Alex going way too easy on bandito. (Presumably because he's also way bigger)

Or was banditos shots really making him that tentative. I mean he had him on he ropes a couple of times but really didn't try to capitalize at all. Also didn't seem to be putting nearly as much effort into his punches as bandito.

And does Alex really fight hands at the waist like that?

Regardless joeseph looked really good. Especially when he went body head
 
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Joseph can hang with Alex, and he has decent enough power to keep bigger guys honest. Alex just doesn't want to play his game, which is giving him range to land his counters. And yes, that's how Alex fights. Some of his bouts are on youtube, I believe. No one at our Gym has a "normal" style.
 
For those of you who like Joseph, he has been very busy over the last year. I think he had 16 fights total, going 12-4, and only losing to Nationally Ranked fighters. And in 2 of those losses I thought he got hosed. The most recent being at the U.S. Elite Championships in Utah, he fought Bruce Carrington who is ranked #4 (was #1 last year) and I thought he should have won. But just even getting that far was a huge achievement as he was a relative unknown. Normally the guys who fight in those tournaments are very well-known to USA Boxing officials as they've been around since they were kids. To get to the Elite Championships you have to place in the top 2 of either the Eastern or Western qualifiers. Joseph finished 3rd but he beat James Browning, who is a very highly regarded Amateur. That got him the "wild card" call.

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As part of the prep for that tournament we fought in the Gene Lewis tournament in Arizona. That one is only 3 days where the Elite is 5. But there were 3 very tough fighters in his division. In the final we had to face an old rival, in one of the posts above, Rene Moreno. But this time we got on the right side of it:



Today Joseph got to spar with the #3 ranked 123lb Amateur in the World, Murodjon Akhmadaliev:

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For those of you who don't know who he is:

 
Since this already pretty much went viral on instagram:

 
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