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Three-time Golden Gloves champion Jorge Pacheco remembers the exact moment he decided to take up boxing during a fight against a bigger rival as a teenager.
“I was 15, 16 years old, maybe 5’4,” 175 pounds, which is kind of chubby, and he was just ripped,” Pacheco said. “During the introduction, he looked at me and smiled, like, this is going to be a great fight, and I just shook my head. So we started fighting and he started yelling at me, just punch, hook, hook. I was just blocking and then the punches got lighter and I looked up and the guy got tired and it was just me. [thinking]: It’s my turn. And I started hitting this guy and the crowd got into him and everybody was going, ‘Gordito, Gordito, Gordito!’ He started encouraging. When I beat this guy for two rounds, they’re going crazy, people are loving it. From then on I was hooked. “
Pacheco said growing up in suburban Aurora, boxing was as much a part of his family’s life as fans and boxers themselves.
“Boxing was part of our culture,” Pacheco said. “Oscar de la Hoyas, Fernando Vargas, all the great Mexican fighters, we watched every fight. When I started boxing, I lost my friend and started eating too much, so I wanted to lose weight. I asked my dad if I could take him to the gym and he said, ‘Sure, go in.’ He didn’t expect me to stay with him.”
Pacheco showed promise as a young boxer and began looking for places to compete.
“We travel to Chicago at least twice to compete in their tournaments, from the Park District tournaments, CYO, to the Golden Gloves,” Pacheco said.
(Contributed by Jorge Pacheco)
Pacheco says he fell in love with Chicago’s tribal tapestry during those tournaments.
“You’ve got the Mexicans, the Irish, the Italians, and they’re pretty competitive,” Pacheco said. “It’s not violence or nobody’s upset, but everybody’s there to support their fighter.”
Pacheco won three Golden Gloves championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Belts from those championships and other boxing memorabilia now adorn Apache Service & Supply, a company founded in 2002.
“We’ve grown to be a service provider for many cool buildings in Chicago, like the Harold Washington Library,” Pacheco said. “We serve Chicago Public Schools, we serve hospitals, and it’s been a great ride.
Although he ultimately chose to turn professional, Pacheco credits his lessons of throwing punches and taking them for business success.
“I owe my life to boxing,” Pacheco said. “Boxing has taught me endurance, perseverance, hard work, dedication to something. And I carry that over to my work. I was about 20 years old and they were not 20 easy years. I bumped my way to where I was. And I have worked hard and sacrificed a lot. Just like in the ring, sacrifice and hard work make champions equal.
The 100th edition of the Chicago Golden Gloves boxing tournament begins this weekend, and the championship rounds are April 13-15. Tickets and information are available on the Golden Gloves website.
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