Alvarado balances the challenging roles of running a fight team, training her daughter, featherweight Roxy Verduzco – better known as “Right Hook Roxy” – and being a mother to Verduzco, all at the same time.
Verduzco, 22, will fight for the second time as a professional against Colleen Davis, 33, in a six-round bout on Friday night at the Commerce Casino.
For this camp, Verduzco (1-0), of Los Angeles, sparred with former two-time titleholder Erica Frias and worked with her teammate Alan Garcia, getting sparring at Knockouts Boxing.
Manny Robles is a head coach for a team on the Team Combat League, so a lot of great female fighters are in his gym. Yet, the most nuanced detail might be how her mother and trainer balances her two different duties outside the ring.
“I’m always going to be mom, I’m going to be coach, but I keep it very professional,” Alvarado said. “Sometimes when she’s making weight, I don’t want to bother her so much. So when I make phone calls to her and I just want to check on my daughter, I say, ‘Hi, this is mommy calling.’ ’How you feeling? I love you,’ and then I’ll call back three hours later. She will tell me, ‘Mom, I got to run right now.’ Then I’ll call her three hours later and say, ‘This is coach calling.’ So she knows I’m not there to mix up mom with coach.”
With Verduzco’s extensive amateur experience and just getting started professionally, it has been a difficult task finding suitable opponents. Alvarado explained the process of securing Davis (3-1-1, 1 KO), of Pittsburgh.
“I knew it was going to be difficult for them,” Alvarado added. “I warned them, and they said there were several people who said, ‘No, no and heck no.’ So it came down to Colleen Davis, who is 3-1-1. She has a winning record. She has more wins than my daughter has fights – my daughter has one fight – and we just took the fight. We have no video, no film on her. I just trust in my daughter.”
Verduzco was a member of the first season of Team Combat League. Alvarado reflected on the experience, where Verduzco went toe-to-toe with many experienced veterans. Team Combat League features a fight team representing a city, with fighters competing for one round, and the bout scored cumulatively for the team.
“They’re like Costco samples that got her ready for her pro debut, fighting with no headgear and eight-ounce gloves on,” Alvarado said. “It prepared her very well.”
Now, it is time for Verduzco to live up to the billing of her pedigree and social media following. With almost 94,000 followers on Instagram and an amateur record of 101-6, Verduzco is not signed with a major promoter as she prepares to fight on a 360 Promotions card this Friday.
“It’s surprising because my daughter has everything,” Alvarado said of her lack of promotional attachments. “She has the experience, she has the pedigree, she has the look, she has the fans – she has everything a trainer or promoter dreams to have. However, it’s a little more difficult for females, and we’re not in a hurry to sign.”
Alvarado maintains a positive attitude, knowing how the business of boxing works.
“It’s OK, let me build her,” Alvarado said. “I know what I gotta do. Like every other fighter, we build them, and today’s price is not tomorrow’s price.”
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