Local marine to be inducted into boxing Hall of Fame

COPRPUS CHRISTI, Texas — An area Marine veteran is now being acknowledged for what he did on lively obligation, and people accomplishments have little to do with fight within the conventional sense.

Whereas Elias Hernandez was on lively obligation throughout Operation Desert Storm his focus wasn’t on Bahgdad. As a substitute, it was on Barcelona, web site of the 1992 Summer season Olympics.

You see, Hernandez is a boxing coach, and he is earned the Corps’ highest boxing honor.

“You could be profitable in something, you need to have willpower,” mentioned Hernandez. “It’s a must to have dedication, the self-discipline, however above all, you have to have the will.”

For Hernandez, that want led him to the Marine Corps Boxing Corridor of Fame.

“I have never been concerned in boxing, now it is my flip to shine once more,” mentioned Hernandez.

As a Marine stationed in Okinawa in. The Nineteen Eighties, Hernandez helped begin a boxing program in a provide room. In a short while, his fighters not solely dominated the pacific, however the whole armed forces.

“We hadn’t received the Armed Forces Boxing Championship since 1974, and that is when (former World Heavyweight Champion, Leon) Spinks was on the group,” mentioned Hernandez. “It had been an extended span, and at last in 1990 it occurred.”

That championship got here at Lackland Air Power Base. Hernandez says he got here residence to verify his mom was there to see it.

Hernandez spent three years teaching the marine corps boxing group.
not solely was he a trainer, he was a pupil, studying from his fellow coaches like Roosevelt Sanders.

“You by no means have every little thing within the bag, there’s at all times extra you are able to do.,” mentioned Hernandez. “Whether or not or not it’s instructing stability, or no matter it is likely to be, you possibly can at all times be taught from one other coach.”

Hernandez nonetheless cannot imagine he is being inducted into the corridor of fame.
He believes the coaches who helped him alongside the way in which,. Like former Corpus Christi Police Officer Tim Brown and his former father-in-law, Jose Nunes Plata, deserve the credit score.

“I’m not getting indicted due to me,” mentioned Hernandez. “These are the unsung heroes, I am only a product of their efforts.”

The ceremony is in early August at Camp Lejune, North Carolina. To lift cash for the journey, Hernandez pulls no punches, promoting commemorative t-shirts, designed by Daniel Maldonado of the T-Shirt Gallery, a neighborhood enterprise owned by David Ramos.

“Numerous folks do fundraisers, like BBQ, however that is a one-time factor,” mentioned Hernandez. “That is the present that retains on giving.”

The t-shirts are $30 and have a particular commemorative design. To buy one, name Hernandez at (361) 336-9973.