Co-head coach Jesus Solis rallies his young boxing students after a training session at Al Amanecer Boxing Club in Napa on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.
Andy Wilcox
Richard Woodley retired so he could take his sweet old time.
He ended up giving his time instead, to the 'sweet science' at Al Amanecer Boxing Club in Napa.
Jesus Solis, 75, first ran the club from several locations from 1992 to 2002, and then reopened it in the site of a former billiards parlor on the north side of Lincoln Avenue at Main Street. He and his wife, Megan, now run it with his co-head coach, Juan Martinez, a former Napa High football star turned accomplished boxer.
Woodley, a Sonoma County native who retired from a career in sanitation after being injured, needed to work out as rehabilitation. He also used to play and coach rugby and wanted a new physical challenge.
The 68-year-old heard about the gym and enjoyed it from Day 1.
"I live down the street and I was an old guy looking for something to do and so I came down," he recalled at the gym on Nov. 26. "They used to open the gym at 4 a.m. I wake up early, so I would come down here and work out. I did sparring meets and thought 'I'm too old for this sort of stuff,' so I looked into the refereeing end of it. I took some classes with USA Boxing and tested and got a referee certification.
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"I open the gym at 5 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I work with the high school kids and adults. I enjoy my time down here and the people are really friendly. This is a very, very nice gym with a professional-quality ring. The students are very respectful with the equipment so the equipment stays in good shape and that makes it easier to stay on top of things."
He was asked about the big, thick tires piled in the corner.
"It's mostly the competitive boxers who use those, when the gym's not so full. They have their own time, and the coach will torture them with stuff like that," Woodley said. "One of the things they do with them is they flip them around. The other thing they do is set them down and we'll each put a foot inside the tire and take body shots and blocks. You can't punch anybody in the face or head, but they can't run away. It teaches the kids better reflexes and self-control."
Learning the sport with others also opens them up socially.
"Some of the kids when they come in here are so shy. You can't get a word out of them," Woodley said. "But the friendships that they build and the camaraderie help them open up. One of the boys, it was 6-7 months before he really started speaking to me."
Many of the boxers seem to be in it for the long haul.
"Some of the kids and adults who box in this gym are amazing, just what they can do -- the concentration, the speed, the commitment," Woodley said. "These guys don't train only when they have a fight coming up. It's an everyday thing. They have to push today, they have to push tomorrow and be ready if a fight comes up."
Club was gone for 19 years
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Jesus Solis said he felt the need to give kids something to do other than join a gang when he was a Spanish teacher at Vintage High School in the 1990s.
"There were Sureños and Norteños and they would fight in groups, and there was a lot of stuff happening at Vintage," he said. "We wanted to keep the kids off the streets."
Midnight basketball was offered at First Presbyterian Church of Napa on Third Street.
"While we were there, somebody came in and offered judo classes for them. The guy bought the old hardware store on California Boulevard (now HealthQuest Fitness Center) and one of the kids goes 'Do you have any boxing?' My ears perked up and the guy goes 'No, but if you know someone, we have 2,400 square feet of space that you guys can use.' That's where the first Al Amanecer Boxing Club was born.
"Then I heard somebody was coaching professionals and amateurs in the old boys locker room at the old Ridgeview Junior High School, which is now Harvest Middle School. I approached the school board and asked if they would let me use the girls locker room. Since the school was closed, they said yes. We went in there and jackhammered the lockers out and knocked down walls and made it into a mini gymnasium."
Solís was named as the Volunteer of the Year by the Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley in 1993. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hispanic Network in 1998, and was named a "Community Hero" by the Napa County Commission on Self-Esteem in 2000. The Board of Supervisors declared April 23, 2002 "Jesús Solís Day" -- as he was closing the gym.
"Unfortunately, just as my core boxers were reaching adulthood, the club was required to move to the new Boys & Girls Club facility," he told the Register in 2021. "Due to its location inside the clubhouse, my boxers who had reached age 19 were prohibited from participating."
Solis retired after 30 years with the school district and moved his operations to Washington, Hawaii, and Southern California. But the 1968 Napa High graduate missed his hometown. After his gym in Indio was shut down in 2020 because of the pandemic, he moved back to Napa trained boxers at Matias Martial Arts before finding the site on Lincoln.
"There used to be a pool hall here, so we had to take out all the lights and carpet," he recalled on Nov. 26. "Kelly Moore sent someone out to measure how much paint we needed and they donated 25 five-gallon cans of paint. That's when Rasmusen Painting came in with all the sprayers. People would stop by and ask what we needed done. Some were electricians and plumbers who put in new lights and plumbing for the bathrooms."
One of the club's trainees, and Martinez's nephew, is Redwood sixth-grader Jorge Martinez Jr. He said he might follow the paths of uncles Jesus and Juan and go out for Napa High football when he gets there. Jesus was the head coach of the varsity Grizzlies in 2017.
"I've been boxing three years," said the 12-year-old. "I tell people they should join because at first it's hard but you can get used to it and you get to hit people for fun. My first fight was at Harvest Middle School and I got beat, so I knew I had to have more discipline and what I had to work on."
Second-generation member
Oscar Navarro was there on Nov. 26 watching 10-year-old son Vicente, a student at Napa Valley Language Arts, train -- and none if it was a mystery to the bespectacled dad. He trained at the club in the 1990s.
"It shows you discipline and respect. Not just for the club, but for each other," Oscar said. "It just gives you another tool in the box, to have a way to defend yourself if needed. As an adult, it gives you confidence."
When he heard the club was coming back, his son was pumped.
"My son wanted to challenge himself, but my 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. I promised my son that once she was done with treatment he would get to start boxing. The second day after she was done, he said 'Sign me up, Dad.'"
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