Acting anything but, Gonzalez talked about how the sport has helped him.
“My coach, well I have two coaches, really helped me a lot to graduate, and to put me on the right path and keep me motivated educationally,” he said of coach Roger Ferguson, who started the program, and his assistant Daniel Bustos.
“I loved it,” Gonzalez said of the experience. “The people, the environment, the coaching, we have amazing coaches. The teammates, physically, you have your own little family. It’s an amazing environment for perfecting your craft.”
A Santa Fe High teacher, Ferguson said he’s tried creating school boxing teams in the past, but it wasn’t until returning to Santa Fe in 2017 that he finally got the go-ahead from principal Carl Murano. Ferguson said he believes the Demons are not only the sole public high school in the state with a boxing team, but also one of the very few in the country.