How golf has helped Daniel Barrera in his boxing career

Junior bantamweight Daniel “Chucky” Barrera credits golf for teaching him a vital lesson in how to approach his boxing career.

Barrera fights Friday against Christopher Rios in an eight-round bout as the co-featured bout underneath Cain Sandoval vs. Mark Bernaldez at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.

Barrera, 23, picked up the golf as a hobby when he wasn’t in camp two years ago. Since signing with 360 Promotions, they have kept him very active, so he hasn’t been able to golf as much. 

Barrera of Eastvale, California, learned one valuable lesson from golf: It is important not to rush anything, whether it is his golf swing or advancing in his career. 

“Patience,” Barrera told BoxingScene about what golf has taught him. “I can’t rush into anything. Just like how you can’t try to swing fast when you are over your shot. If you rush you can either shank it or get a bad result. The same thing with boxing. You can’t rush into anything and without patience, because you know you’re going to ruin the process.”

Barrera noted that he golfs during his off-time from boxing, though he admits he doesn’t get much time away from the sport of boxing. Barrera signed with 360 Promotions February 2023 and he is approaching his seventh fight in that time span. 

Barrera described how he got into golf. 

“I was hanging out with my friends and one day I was like, let’s do something active,” Barrera said. “Both of my close friends used to golf in high school. One of them went to China to compete in tournaments. I was like, I want to get into golf.”

Outside of the monotonous grind of training for each and every high-level fight, golf has served as a peaceful reprieve. In his last two fights, Barrera has continued to take on stern challenges winning unanimous decisions over Angel Geovanny Meza Morales and Christian Robles. Barrera now faces the 22-year-old Los Angeles native Rios who is on a two-fight losing streak, though those defeats come as a majority decision loss to Andy Dominguez and a split-decision loss to Billy Rodriguez. 

Rios, 10-2 (7 KOs), represents a significant test for Barrera who is looking to enter the mix of being mentioned in the prospect of the year conversation. 

“I just want to win. That’s it,” Barrera, 8-0-1 (4 KOs) said. “I want to put on a dominating performance. I want it to be a good fight for everybody and I just want to win.”

Lucas Ketelle took an unconventional path to boxing, eventually finding his stride in gyms and media. For the past decade, he has hosted the “Lukie Boxing” podcast, filmed training camps for fighters like Arnold Barboza Jnr, Mikey Garcia and Caleb Plant, and worked with top professionals such as Mike Bazzel. Ketelle is also an author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for ProBox TV, BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @LukieBoxing.