{"id":103407,"date":"2023-08-04T15:31:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T20:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=103407"},"modified":"2023-08-04T15:31:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T20:31:50","slug":"ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-boxing champions inspire youth through training, guiding them away from past errors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Jason Beeferman, Qi Zhao and Rika Kojima<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A former heavyweight champion, Fres Oquendo, and an Olympic bronze medalist, Nate Jones, have joined forces to teach boxing to teenagers and kids in Melrose Park, Ill. Boxing provided a safe haven during their troubled past as teenagers. Their mission is to teach disciplines keeping youth away from drugs and street violence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Second-chance champions\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/850983608?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jose Barragan:\u00a0 When I was 11, I started watching boxing fights, and I kind of got into it. So I decided \u2013 so me and my parents decided to look for a gym.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have big dreams of fighting in an arena full of people, cheering my name,\u00a0hoping to get a knockout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Announcer: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">From Chicago, Illinois. Fast Fres Oquendo\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fres Oquendo: I started at the age of 13 at the Chicago Park District. I was one of those kids, at the age of 13, growing up in the Chicago housing projects, Lathrop Homes, which is pretty rough. And boxing was a safe haven. It taught me to say no to gangs and drugs. If it wasn\u2019t for boxing, I don\u2019t know if I would be here with you today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There you go, champ. Pay attention. One, two, three, four, five.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fres Oquendo Boxing Academy, which is FOBA foundation, preventing youth violence through boxing. I have several programs. I have a herb garden; I have yoga for the kids, mental health awareness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Harry Glass: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just. Just twos<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coach: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here\u2019s our heavyweight champion over there. Fres, wanna come up here a minute? He\u2019s the one that won the Open Heavyweight. This is Fres Oquendo\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Omar Perez: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fres, Fres is a great man, I\u2019m not just saying that because he\u2019s my friend. It\u2019s like, seriously, if it wasn\u2019t for him, God knows what I would have been.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glass: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cuz, if I was a kid and this program was around, I would&#8217;ve loved to be in this program. Especially with coaches like Fres and Nate. That&#8217;s like top-tier coaches. Like, you really can&#8217;t get much better than that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There you go, you stay balanced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Barragan: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coach Fres is very a nice and humble person. He\u2019s very loveful to us, all of us. He\u2019s always recording us, telling us that we&#8217;re doing good and stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He\u2019s such a nice and humble person, he\u2019s always there when you need him, whether it be boxing or just life. He\u2019s helping a lot with my mental health too. It\u2019s more of the things he does outside of the boxing ring that I think makes him a great person. &#8216;Cause he does a lot of good things for boxing and for other kids, and I just think outside of the ring he\u2019s such a humble and amazing person<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glass: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One one, one one, one two, one two, one two.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">OK, take your time. No rush. There you go, a little better. Keep them up. There you go, champ. Stay balanced. Bend your knees a little bit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Me and Nate, you know, Coach Nate, we&#8217;ve been in their foot. We\u2019ve been their shoes. You know, I&#8217;m a champion of second chances you know. After a quarter century ago, I finally got my pardon. The governor, (J.B) Pritzker, he ended up pardoning me, clemency, of a record that I had, a felony, when I was a teenager. You know, we all make mistakes. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that&#8217;s why I taught these kids,\u00a0 I&#8217;m a champion of second chances \u2018cause, you know, God, and, you know, people gave me a second chance growing up in the Chicago housing projects. You know, I probably wouldn&#8217;t be here if they still dwell on having a record.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, you know, people change in life, and I&#8217;m an advocate to that and these kids see that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nate Jones: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No hard. Not too hard. Light. Smooth, smooth, smooth. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being from the projects, in 1992 I ended up going to prison. While in prison I decided to start back training. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And once I started training again, I fell in love with the game again. And when I came home from prison, that love just kept going.And so I didn\u2019t wanna go back to the streets, and so I stayed stuck with boxing. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of my dreams was making the Olympic team. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8216;Cuz I told everybody in prison I was going to the next Olympics. And they laughed at me. They thought I was crazy. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two years later, I was in the next Olympics. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I believe in giving back because I was once that kid in the projects that was reaching out for help and some attention. I see these young kids, I see little Nate Jones.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don\u2019t matter if they\u2019re Spanish, Black, white; it doesn\u2019t matter. These kids need a chance in life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Omar Perez: I was, myself, was an alcoholic for many years. I got kicked out of school. I got, I was in fights with the police. I was, I was, I was all over the place. And, you know, there was, I was at really, really, really dark places that Fres knows, only Fres knows about. And &#8216;cuz when kids are dealing with that, I tell them, man,\u00a0 it\u2019s jails, institutions and death. If you\u2019ve been to those two, the only thing that is expecting is death. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The only way to rise above is to have faith in yourself and do, follow the lead of other people. Be with people that want, you want to be with. You see, I came out, I did it. You guys see, like my, my stuff that I do: Just follow my lead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She\u2019s a Labradoodle actually. She is a good baby. Come here, Sophie. Come on, Sophie. Sophie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo:\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And this (is) the most prestigious fight in my career. Chris Byrd, he was the world heavyweight champ, and that&#8217;s one of the most controversial. Even George Foreman was the announcer, HBO and millions of people watched it around the world, seen that fight. And you know, that&#8217;s another world champ, Evander Holyfield, that the whole world seen me beat, controversial decision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, a lot of hard work and sacrifice I had to go through.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There\u2019s my peace. This is my peace. One of my little kids\u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Especially, coming from Puerto Rico, at the time, when I was born, it was kind of a third world. At the age of 1, when I moved to Chicago with my family, with Mom and the siblings, and we were at Humboldt Park, pretty rough, back in the days.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Land of mine, you know. It&#8217;s like therapy. Great neighbors, you know.\u00a0 Positive neighbors. Professionals. They work hard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You will see. Hey, Kev.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hi, coach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you at the gym yet?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, yeah, started to get warmed up right now.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, OK, OK. We should be over there in like in 20 minutes. Are you, are you there? I mean.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I\u2019m already here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">OK, you wanna do a little pad work?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, sounds good.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last one, left hook, right hand. So 10, left hook, right hand. Ten, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Bop. Bop. Beautiful.\u00a0 One more time. Nice. Three jabs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You hit the bag, champ?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good, great.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rika Kojima: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you ready to fight?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, getting ready to win. Feel good already.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Radio announcer: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">About summer kicking off in Chicago, 94.7\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spectator: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a matter of fact, he was produced from the community. The Park District and the Golden Gloves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">See it? Exactly, that\u2019s how far we go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spectator: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He came up in the same program, same thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You hear that, guys?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spectator: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don\u2019t put your weight. Let me do that, OK?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019ve been very prepared for this, I\u2019ve been bugging Fres to find me a fight, and it finally happened, so we\u2019re gonna get to do it and have fun.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before I met Fres, I used to be like really bad and lazy and used like not want to practice or do anything. I\u2019d go to work. Fres showed me that I wanna be someone in life, and I wanna bring my name up there, so people know my name in the future when I box. So I think he helped me a lot to become a man in a way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spectator: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What kind of moisturizer do you use?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mario Melin: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We\u2019ve known Fres for two years already. And yes, my son was a little, he was really apart from us. But with the advice he has given him in fighting. Because you have to fight for it because Fres is talking to him every day: \u201cHow are you? What are you going to do? Where are you going?\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fres has really fought a lot.\u00a0 But yes, he has gotten him through.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin has really gotten through it with the help of Fres, honestly. And the truth is that he\u2019s a person that doesn\u2019t just focus on himself. He helps the community a lot. He helps many men so that they become something in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salinas: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The guy didn\u2019t show up, and I guess he couldn\u2019t make it on time. And I\u2019m gonna fight next week. I already confirmed it with Coach Fres, and we are gonna be at Franklin Park for sure next week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gabriel Ford: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Working with Nate, he just put me in the right mindset. Right discipline.\u00a0I think it made me a good person.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was just having so much fun in high school that I was like skipping classes, but when I got into boxing, I became more disciplined.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the summer,\u00a0 it was like I became more focused. And I started doing real good in school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I wish he would have came because he would have fought. We would have weighed him in, we would have registered and signed his name up. He had to take those steps to fight. He had to be here at six o\u2019clock. If he wasn\u2019t here at six. He wouldn\u2019t have registered. He had to register his name, show him his boxing bout and then you go from there. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He messed up. He messed up. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He should have came. It\u2019s too late now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Come on. Let\u2019s go, Gabe. Put your hands up, put your hands up. Use your jabs.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Come on, get up. We need a big round.\u00a0 Come on. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Work, Gabe. Good work. Work, Gabe. Work, Gabe. Work, Gabe. Don\u2019t stop, Gabe. Don\u2019t stop, Gabe. Oh yeah! Oh yeah.\u00a0Oh yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Referee: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Out of the blue corner, representing Taylor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boxing teach a lot of discipline. Discipline goes very far, especially for these kids, you know, a lot of them are rough on the edges, but the discipline with the sport,\u00a0it changes the narrative, and that\u2019s why these kids, not only successful in the ring, but most importantly, being successful out of the ring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Barragan: Boxing will help you achieve your dreams by \u2014\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There you go, stay balanced. Stay balanced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Barragan: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It makes you wanna work harder to help your parents out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oquendo: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Barragan: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They suffered for us. Now we want to pay them back. With everything that they did for us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jason Beeferman is a combined bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s student in the video &amp; broadcast specialization at Northwestern University. He is also currently a government reporting intern at The Dallas Morning News. Previously, he was a reporting fellow for The Texas Tribune and an intern with the Chicago Sun-Times and The New York Post. You can contact him on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Twitter<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Qi Zhao is a master\u2019s student of health, science and environment journalism at Northwestern University. She is currently a freelance writer for WebMD, Cicero Independiente and Chicago Health. You can contact her on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chelseaqizhao\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Twitter\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rika Kojima is a Medill graduate student in the social justice specialization at Northwestern University. She is passionate about creating documentaries of underrepresented communities through a social justice lens. You can contact her on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rikakojima\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Linkedin<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jason Beeferman, Qi Zhao and Rika Kojima Medill Reports A former heavyweight champion, Fres Oquendo, and an Olympic bronze medalist, Nate Jones, have joined forces to teach boxing to teenagers and kids in Melrose Park, Ill. Boxing provided a safe haven during their troubled past as teenagers. Their mission is to teach disciplines keeping [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":927,"featured_media":103409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,5390],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-summer-2023"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ex-boxing champions inspire youth through training, guiding them away from past errors - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-boxing champions inspire youth through training, guiding them away from past errors - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jason Beeferman, Qi Zhao and Rika Kojima Medill Reports A former heavyweight champion, Fres Oquendo, and an Olympic bronze medalist, Nate Jones, have joined forces to teach boxing to teenagers and kids in Melrose Park, Ill. 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Their mission is to teach disciplines keeping [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-04T20:31:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Fres-Oquendo-for-Medill-Reports.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"681\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rika Kojima\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rika Kojima\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/\",\"name\":\"Ex-boxing champions inspire youth through training, guiding them away from past errors - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Fres-Oquendo-for-Medill-Reports.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-04T20:31:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/706d9c1f1e88fb7a6c6e94f5aa51cca8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/ex-boxing-champions-inspire-youth-through-training-guiding-them-away-from-past-errors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Fres-Oquendo-for-Medill-Reports.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Fres-Oquendo-for-Medill-Reports.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":681,\"caption\":\"Fres Oquendo, a former heavyweight champion, does pads work with his student in Melrose Park, Ill., in May. Dozens of kids come to Oquendo\u2019s classes every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 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