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Las Cruces boxing coach Joe Hidalgo will be inducted into the New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame.
Hidalgo said that he started boxing when he was 14 years old after his father set up a bag outside his home. His neighbor, another New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame recipient, Sammy Burke, saw him and invited him to train at his gym.
“So, then I went and he ended up being my coach and the rest is history,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo said that he “only had 20 or so” amateur bouts and transferred over to coaching when he got out of the Navy.
“When I turned 18, I joined the service and went to Vietnam on an ammunition ship in Vietnam for four years. When I got out of the service, I ended up helping my old coach coach,” Hidalgo said.
From there, his coaching career grew, and he is currently assisting to coach boxer Stephanie Han who is undefeated and current WBA World Lightweight Champion. She defends her title on August 23.
Hidalgo has also been a referee at the national and professional level.
“We have a lot of amateur national champions here, state champions, gold glove champions. A lot of champions coming out of this gym,” Hidalgo said.
One of the reasons he says he loves what he does is because his work helps kids who need it.
“It teaches kid’s discipline. First of all, a lot of the kids that come into the gym are usually from a poor family, they maybe have a single parent or come from an abusive environment. They are looking for something positive in their life,” Hidalgo said.
Seeing the positive impact this has on their lives makes Hidalgo get the “chills.”
“There is nothing better than running into one of those kids,” Hidalgo said. “As years go by they become successful adults and then you see them some day and they say ‘Hey coach how are you doing?’ and then you know that they have done something with their lives.”
One of those people who he has helped coach is Joe Escamilla who started boxing with Hidalgo when he was 16-years-old in 1975.
“He cares for the kids and especially for them to improve. Everyone gets into the ring to win but even if they don’t win we all learn from our mistakes and he focuses on improving so that we have less mistakes or rather pushes us to use our strengths,” Escamillo said.
Escamillo said that Hidalgo has been coaching for a long time but this is still where he wants to be.
“He is in is 70’s and he is still helping out,” Escamilla said. “He is still a registered coach with USA Boxing. He’s still helping out the kids. That’s where his heart is at.”
The induction ceremony for the New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame is on September 27 in Roswell.
