Boxer leads revival of combat sports

By Nicholas Pinkerton

Just like a scene out of "The Contender," then-sophomore Chris Haley fought perhaps his biggest bout as an amateur boxer in front of nearly 2,500 spectators in the El Dorado Reno grand ballroom.

Now, one year later, Haley hopes to perform on the very same national stage.

"I want to take nationals for sure," said Haley. "That's all I'm thinking about -- taking nationals."

A San Jose native, Haley grew up watching boxing and the Ultimate Fighting Championship during its earliest stages. His father, the only family member with combat sport experience, was a former high school wrestler.

Haley wrestled at Archbishop Mitty High School, but had no boxing experience before coming to Santa Clara. A personal interest in the sport propelled him into his boxing career. "I had always wanted to do it for years," he said. "I just asked everybody, and I heard more stuff about it."

He eventually found and contacted fellow boxer Arturo Alvarez. Not long after, Haley began his first boxing workouts.

According to Coach Pierre Moynier, Haley participated in the National Collegiate Boxing Association regional competition his freshman year, despite sustaining injuries in a car accident the weekend before.

As a sophomore, Haley caught whooping cough before clawing his way into the NCBA regional event. He won his semifinal bout versus Joe Conrad of Air Force before falling one victory short of the national championship in the 165 pound weight class.

A rich history

Haley, teammates and coaches, are continually looking to expand on a program that was revitalized three years ago.

In 2004 the boxing team lost three graduating seniors. The emergence of a new freshman class gave the team a fresh pool of new boxers, including current senior Arturo Alvarez, who has twice competed at nationals.

"It's not often that you come across a boxer that competes all four years," said Moynier.

Santa Clara's boxing team was founded in the late 1950s. Two years into the program, Santa Clara brought in boxer Dave Nelson, a national champion in the 125 pound weight class.

He would go on to qualify for the 1960 U.S. Olympic boxing team, where a cut on his eye prevented him from competing.

Years after his Olympic run, he joined the coaching staff, training boxers like current Santa Clara coaches Pierre Moynier and Ross Malinowski.

In 1991, Santa Clara made changes to many of the existing NCAA sports. Included in the changes was boxing, which, along with other sports such as lacrosse and men's volleyball was converted into a club sport. Nelson and his then-student Moynier kept boxing at Santa Clara alive.

The Broncos will also continue to host an annual tournament, the Dodge Ackerman Memorial, at Malley Fitness and Recreation Center in late February to pay tribute to the late Bronco boxer Dodger Ackerman.

In his junior year, Ackerman was diagnosed with testicular cancer and later died from the disease, according to Moynier.

New 'Fight Shop'

The rich boxing tradition now adds a new chapter with the establishment of a mixed martial arts (MMA) merchandise store just two blocks from campus, called Fight Shop.

Fight Shop is located behind Blondie's on Locust Street and introduces an alternative scene to combat sports. Co-founder Mike Gonzales, of San Jose, took a passion of his and simply ran with it.

"I was a fan of mixed martial arts and I would shop online looking for products and I would find myself going to multiple Web sites," Gonzales said. "I came up with the idea of bringing all those different products and brands into one Web site, so I just went ahead and started it."

Fight Shop began as an online shopping site, Ultimate Fight Gear, in 2003, said Gonzales.

The site was built by Dave Boehme, a German native who wrestled in his home country.

In January 2007, Gonzales and Boehme formed a partnership and decided to reconstruct the Web site and change the name to Fight Shop.

Subsequently, the partners opened a franchise store on Bascom and San Carlos, put up kiosks in Oakridge and Valley Fair malls, and most recently opened the Fight Shop location in Santa Clara two months ago.

Fight Shop provides a variety of products from sweatshirts to basketball jerseys to DVDs. The store includes notable mixed martial arts brands such as Tapout, Warrior and Hitman.

According to Gonzales and Boehme, the increasing popularity of mixed martial arts opens up new opportunities for student activities.

"For (Santa Clara), that might be something that a couple years down the road, instead of just having boxing, they might have boxing and MMA," said Boehme.

When asked about the possibility of introducing a mixed martial arts team to Santa Clara, Haley showed interest. "I would totally, in a second, get on that," he replied.

Don't be surprised if a prospective student ever asks where the campus octagon cage is. But for now, many of the fighters are looking to improve their skills as boxers.

Haley, Alvarez and fighters Nick Richmond and Shane Alborz return to anchor a team set on a strong performance in regional competition.

"All these people have a shot to make it to nationals," said Haley of his returning teammates.

The team will travel to other tournaments in the region, competing against schools such as UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Nevada Reno, and Air Force.

The season begins in January and the NCBA regionals are in March.

For Haley, the goal is simple.

"I'll take nationals this year for sure," he said.

Contact Nicholas Pinkerton at (408) 551-1918 or npinkerton@scu.edu.