Mexican Favorite Octavio Lara Ends Boxing Career
BY KEVIN WALTERS
Michigan boxing fans will be surprised and saddened to learn that they have seen the last of Detroit favorite Octavio Lara inside the ring. The young man who was once called the “next Tommy Hearns” and who it was hoped would revive the sport of boxing in Detroit revealed exclusively to Sportssummary that he was through boxing professionally.
"I tried to come back and I didn’t see things working out.” - Octavio Lara
The 22-year old Lara assessed his career and made what had to be the toughest decision of his young life: To give up the sport he loves; the sport he worked so hard at for so many years.
Over a bottle of orange juice at a Tim Horton’s restaurant in Lincoln Park, the shy Light Welterweight opened up about his decision to leave the sport, his past difficulties and his plans for the future.
Octavio Lara poses with his father, Javier.
Photo: sportssummary.com
Starting out more reserved, Lara opened up considerably after the arrival of his parents, Javier and Ana, his 12-year old brother Adrian and 5-year old niece, Jocelyn. Lara, not unlike most of us, is a man who feels more comfortable with people he trusts near him.
Born January 13, 1984 in Los Angeles, Lara moved with his family to the city of Detroit three years later.
Boxing and soccer are huge in Mexico, Lara says, and he gravitated toward the former largely because Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. was – and still is – his idol. He watched every televised Chavez fight as a kid and it had quite an effect.
“I would get nervous,” Lara said. “My hands would sweat, everything, just watching him fight. I wanted to do that.”
“He kept me like a keychain. Wherever he would go, I was there.” - Octavio Lara
The young, now ex-fighter, smiles broadly when asked if he has met his idol. The answer is yes, several times. Chavez is one of many big names that Lara met through mentor, coach, trainer and friend Emanuel Steward.
It is here, talking about his relationship with Steward, especially in the early days, that Lara’s broad smile really shines. Remembering the times that Steward took him to meet Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and others.
“He kept me like a keychain,” Lara beamed. “Wherever he would go, I was there.”
So why did this 7-2-0 (5 knockouts) fighter, who won his last fight this past March, decide it was time to stop boxing?
“I didn’t think it was working out for me,” Lara said. “You know, sometimes you can tell when things aren’t working out.”
Lara went on to explain that he had planned, from an early age, to only fight for a certain number of years and then move on. Lara was not going to be climbing through the ropes in middle age.
“I decided for myself that I wanted to jump pro at like 18, 19 years old and do what I can and get out of the sport at twenty-five,” Lara said. “And, it didn’t seem to work out like that.”
Lara blames himself for the trouble he got into, in 2003, and the self-imposed 16-month break from boxing that followed, which interrupted the momentum of what by all accounts was a very promising career.
Talks between Steward and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions were ongoing at that time and, Lara explained, a contract was dependent on his winning the November 22 fight with Rogelio Ramirez. Unfortunately, Lara saw his first professional defeat in the Los Angeles fight by unanimous decision after six rounds.
That fight came just days after his release from police custody following a drive-by shooting in which the 19-year old fighter was a passenger. Lara and several others were held at Detroit’s 4th precinct for four days but released without charges. The driver was charged and convicted – his formal arrest coming the day before Octavio’s L.A. fight – and is currently serving a life sentence in a Michigan prison.
Photo: sportssummary.com
Lara admits he was not prepared “physically or mentally” for the Ramirez battle as a result of injuring his hand two weeks before the scheduled fight and breaking from his training routine as his involvement in Detroit’s gang scene increased.
Lara speaks of the events that led up to the fatal shooting not with machismo or bravado, but with regret both in his mannerism and his voice. He speaks quieter, is less animated, and looks down more frequently than when discussing other aspects of his life.
The L.A. loss was the first of two for Lara, the second coming in a controversial split decision last November to Leo Martinez at The Palace. Opinions, amongst those who saw the fight, as to why Lara lost differ. Some said he was not prepared to fight a Mexican-style fighter while others believe his Columbus, Ohio opponent fought dirty – excessive holding and at least one head butt. As for Lara, he is less blameful, repeating Sunday what he said minutes after that November 4 fight. “If the ref didn’t see it, it’s not illegal.” And the referee didn’t see it.
“I tried to come back,” Lara explained, “and I didn’t see things working out.”
“He is very special to me.”
Emanuel Steward said of Octavio Lara.
Asked what Steward’s reaction was when told of his decision to quit boxing, Lara said the legendary trainer was supportive and repeated an earlier offer of financial help for Lara to attend college.
In a telephone interview from Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was holding a press conference with Jermain Taylor, Steward repeated his offer of financial assistance for college.
“I will pay for your school,” Steward said he told Lara on Tuesday night.
Steward said that he did have one concern with Lara’s plans for college, however.
“It’s too long (waiting until next year),” Steward said. “He needs to go back sooner.”
“He really got me involved again with the younger kids,” Steward said, crediting Lara with helping revive the Kronk Gym’s amateur boxing program, which he said had been dead for four years before a chubby, 7-year old Mexican kid named Octavio started coming to the Detroit gym. “He is very special to me,” Steward said of Lara.
The Future
Lara currently works at a downtown Detroit car dealership.
As for the future, Lara has plans to go to college – either Wayne State in Detroit or Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn – to study, among other things, business. He hopes, also, to remain involved in the sport by helping to train young amateurs and also keep them from making the same mistakes out-of-the-ring that he did
But, college is a few months away.
For the immediate future, Lara has agreed to try his ungloved hands at sports reporting and will cover the upcoming October 20 fight night at The Palace for SportsSummary.
