Champion Boxer Palomino Encourages Local Students to Pursue Higher Education

Fame is not a substitute for education and success does not come without sacrifice.

That was world champion boxer Carlos Palomino’s message to the Orange County students at the fifth annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference Friday.

“When you get knocked down, you gotta get back up,” he said as he compared a boxing match to life. “It’s not always going to be easy, but you just have to keep going.”

Palomino rose to fame in the 1970’s both as a boxer and as an actor. Meanwhile, he continued his education at Orange Coast College and later transferred to Cal State Long Beach. After winning the world championship in London in 1977, Palomino retired and in the same year, completed his last semester and earned a bachelor’s degree.

His journey of balancing work and school had not been easy. He recalled the nights where he stayed up past midnight studying, only to have to wake up a few hours later to train before going to school. The family support Palomino received gave him strength to continue.

“My father once said to me, ’Mijo, when you are champion of the world, this will all be worth it.’ It had only been the beginning my career and already he knew.”

Palomino was no stranger to sacrifice. As a child in Mexico, he and his older brother helped earn money for the family by shining shoes. At the age of 10, Palomino moved to California with his parents and siblings in the 1960s.

In California, Palomino continued taking jobs where he could, offering his paycheck to his father every Friday to help raise his family, which included 10 siblings. In high school, Palomino fed his hunger for knowledge by taking welding classes and using his skills to work at a government certified job after graduating from Westminster High School.

In 1970, 20-year-old Palomino was drafted by the U.S. Army and had been scheduled to leave for Vietnam. But instead of fighting in the war, a boxing trainer took a chance on him and allowed him to fight in the rings instead. 
Palomino was told that he was too old to box and that it would take him too long to turn professional because most boxers at his age had begun training at a young age and hda already won several titles.

But his critics were wrong. Palomino went on to win many fights as an amateur and as a professional boxer for the next seven years. His success was dedicated once again to his father’s words. “My dad told me to always do extra. ‘If they ran four miles, you run eight. Whatever you do, always do more.’ And I did.” The same concept applied at school, he added.

Hundreds of high school students from Orange County participated in the conference. This year’s team focused on the “Past, Present and Future” of Latinos in society. The conference consisted of leadership workshops, forum discussions, including the contributions made by Cesar Chavez for United Farm Workers and a change to listen to the story of afternoon keynote speaker, OC Weekly Managing Editor Gustavo Arellano.

In partnership with League of United Latin American Citizens, Coastline has been able to reach out to local students and help discover the leaders of tomorrow, said Coastline Director of Marketing and Public Relations Michelle Ma.

“This event is to help the students discover what they can do,” she said. “We try to localize the Latino history by inviting celebrities who live in the area to come and share their stories to help spark student interests.”

LYC proves to be an empowering event that past participants continue to stay a part of long after high school. Not only do students often inquire about future LULAC events, at least ten returning students volunteered at the conference this year, said Ma.