Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

People
hit machine
Pugilist Packs a Punch
Clara de la Torre, ’95, enters professional boxing ring
Clara de la Torre has the
makings of a champion.
She trains hard—a
rigorous and regimented
six days a week—and can hold her
own against formidable opponents.
In a sport once dominated by men—
boxing—de la Torre has fought her
way from amateur status to the
ranks of professional boxer.
Coach Mario Montoya, who has
trained de la Torre,
34, for more than two
years, has full faith
that his fighter will
be a titleholder and
world champion in the
foreseeable future. In
de la Torre he sees the fire necessary to
be successful in the competitive sport.
It was de la Torre’s palpable spark
and drive that first caught Montoya’s
eye when he saw her spar with other
boxers in a gym in Santa Fe, New
Mexico more than two years ago.
For years de la Torre has studied
martial arts, starting in the Muay
Thai style of kickboxing.
Often during her days of kickboxing
and training she would be
asked to step in the ring to spar
with boxers.
One day when de la Torre was
sparring a male competitor Montoya
came into the gym and saw her hold
her own while getting roughed up
good by the other fighter. Though
she was left black and blue from the
pummeling, de la Torre never backed
down. She quickly gained the respect
of the longtime coach.
That day was a turning point for
de la Torre, who soon found herself
“As a boxer, there’s something inside
of them that drives them to do this.
And Clara is a champion inside.”
Mario Montoya, coach and trainer
with a coach and trainer.
“Clara is tremendously focused and
trains really hard and listens well,”
Montoya says. “As many years as I
have been training, 30 years on and
off, I have never trained anyone with
her intensity and focus.”
That fateful meeting with Montoya
propelled her into the world of
traditional Western-style boxing.
“I had never thought that when
I grow up, I’ll be a professional
boxer,” says de la Torre, who is
represented by Infinity Boxing of Las
Vegas. “Someone else saw that in me.
I thought if there was a chance I could
make it in boxing I would try.”
As a boxer de la Torre, who works
as a full-time caretaker at an estate
in Santa Fe, has surpassed her own
expectations of her athletic abilities.
She always considered herself a
middle-of-the-pack athlete, so
to succeed in such a competitive
and physically demanding sport is
especially gratifying.
The path to professional
boxing was an
unconventional one for
de la Torre, originally
from Cle Elum, Wash.
After she graduated
from Seattle University in 1995 with
a sociology degree, her interest
in a summer job outdoors led her
to what became a seven-year job
fighting wildfires. Then she moved
to Santa Fe, with travels to Calcutta,
India, and the Czech Republic in
between.
In New Mexico she became involved
with martial arts—specifically,
Muay Thai martial arts—as a way to
stay in shape. Muay Thai martial arts
is akin to Western-style boxing as
it involves using the entire body as
6 | People