Abel Fonseca, II is a San Benito native, boxer, boxing coach, and a longtime Site Coordinator for the San Benito CISD Afterschool Program at Miller Jordan Middle School and Collegiate Academy. He can be reached at afonseca@sbcisd.net.
On June 20, 2026, the local boxing community witnessed a testament to grit, resilience, and the power of the human spirit.
After a nearly two-year break from the ring, professional boxer Manuel “Manny” Lerma Guerrero officially made his comeback. Taking on a high-stakes fight on short notice, with only five weeks to prepare, Guerrero stepped back into the squared circle.
Guerrero is incredibly tough and brings a deep reservoir of ring experience, having transitioned from a stellar amateur background into the professional ranks, however, he was sidelined for almost two years.
To push him to the limit, the camp secured Jonathan Barragan as Guerrero’s primary sparring partner for this fight. Barragan brought lightning-fast speed, elite conditioning to easily go the distance, sharp ring generalship, and deep experience.
He was the perfect fit at this exact time, capable of mirroring Guerrero’s skillset while bringing the necessary competitive heat. Guerrero also received help from Andrew Torres, who provided sparring rounds to make sure he is ready for war.
For a month, the sounds of leather snapping and heavy breathing filled the air as Guerrero trained each day intensely.
Under my watchful eye, we three refined movements, executed complex combinations, and sparred as many high-intensity rounds as possible to prepare for combat.
Born in the Garage, Forged in Adversity
The preparation for this fight was as raw as the sport itself.
While part of the camp took place at the Legacy Boxing Gym in Harlingen—owned by James Payton—the majority of the brutal daily training occurred exactly where real legends are made: in my garage.
This makeshift home camp wasn’t just a choice; it was born of profound adversity. Previously partnering with the legendary Coach Pete De La Rosa, we lost our physical gym after my hard-fought battle with cancer.
True to form, the setback didn’t stop us. I brought the mats, the bags, and the fighters straight to my home, proving that a real gym isn’t defined by four commercial walls, but by heart. As the saying goes, “It’s not the gym, but the monito (the trainer).”
A Legacy of RGV Champions
Guerrero is just the latest warrior in a long line of professional and elite combat athletes who have trusted their careers to me.
Over my coaching tenure, I have trained a powerhouse roster of pro boxers and MMA elite, including: Raphael Murphy & Ricardo Camacho Jr. (Pro Boxing Standouts); Jorge Cortez (MMA/Boxing Crossover Athlete with over 20 Pro MMA fights); Ray Banda (MMA fought for Combate Americas, Headlining was Tito Ortiz); Roberto “La Amenaza” García (World Class Fighter); Juan “JP” De La Rosa (The Contender Series Season 1); Bubba Salinas (Heavyweight contender boxing standout in the RGV); Eduardo Camacho & Adrian De Leon (Boxers in their early careers, both from San Benito).
Championship belts won include: Raphael Murphy won the ABF (American Boxing Federation), American West Heavyweight Title in professional boxing; Jorge Cortez won the Triple “A” Promotions Welterweight Championship Belt in Laredo (Professional MMA).
Beyond my corner duties, I am a master cut man and widely recognized as one of the elite, trusted trainers for professional boxing organizations.
I have routinely worked the corners alongside RGV boxing minds like James Payton, Rolando Vargas, and Pete De La Rosa, collaborating closely with the region’s top promoters, most notably Juarez and Rolos Promotions out of Brownsville.
From School Cafeterias to World Titles
To truly understand the spirit of Guerrero’s June 20 fight, look back to where our story began.
Twenty-one years ago, in 2005, I launched a historic afterschool boxing initiative at Fred Booth Elementary in San Benito.
For seven remarkable years, Monday through Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the school cafeteria was transformed into a combat proving ground.
It was a beautiful, grassroots community effort: after grueling practices, local parents would stay behind to help pack up the heavy training tables and mop the tile floors so the school was clean for breakfast the next morning.
From those soapy cafeteria floors, an army was built.
We took our young students to dominate tournaments across the Rio Grande Valley and Kingsville.
Two years in a row, we escorted our amateur fighters all the way to Kansas City, Kansas, for the Ringside World Championship Tournament.
There, a young Santana Sanchez out of Ed Downs Elementary famously fought his way to the World Semifinals, dropping an incredibly close, razor-thin decision to a top-tier fighter from Canada.
The success stretched into other disciplines, too. At Frank Roberts Elementary, an elite youth Jiu-Jitsu class was established under the leadership of Coach Ervin Martinez.
The program culminated in a massive, professional-style kids’ fight event in Harlingen where the young students walked out to the ring blasted by custom entrance music and put on a flawless clinic.
Every single student from Frank Roberts Elementary won their matchup that night, walking out of the building with a championship belt strapped around their waist.
The RGV Way
Fighters have been steered onto the grandest stages of combat sports—from the flashing lights of Las Vegas and New Mexico to Kansas City and every major stadium across the Lone Star State. Yet, my heart remains firmly planted in the Valley.
I am incredibly blessed to be able to work with everyone in the RGV. From the trainers to the promoters, we have great people down here.
When Guerrero stepped through the ropes on June 20, he wasn’t just carrying five weeks of frantic garage training into the ring, he carried the unbroken spirit of a coach who beat cancer and walked away from open-heart surgery, the legacy of a cafeteria gym that produced world-class contenders, and the pride of an entire community that knows exactly what it means to fight from the bottom up.