{"id":2123,"date":"2014-03-22T12:30:29","date_gmt":"2014-03-22T17:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/166.62.41.2\/~holaamericanews\/2014\/03\/22\/alvino-pena-my-friend\/"},"modified":"2023-10-05T20:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T01:30:36","slug":"alvino-pena-my-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holaamericanews.com\/es\/alvino-pena-my-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Alvino Pe\u00f1a my friend"},"content":{"rendered":"
Advertisements<\/div>\"\"<\/a><\/div>

By Ernest Rodriguez<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I heard yesterday that my good friend Alvino Pe\u00f1a had died I was deeply saddened but after reflecting on his physical and mental condition the last few years I knew he was in a better place where indeed he would rest in peace.\u00a0 I remember well that I and Alvino worked at the old Farmall Works of the International Harvester.\u00a0 He persuaded me to train with him over at the Moline YMCA under the tutelage of Peanuts.\u00a0 Over the years I cannot remember Peanuts name.\u00a0 Anyway we trained for perhaps an hour with our old friend Ray Herrera, who was also an icon in the boxing world around the Quad Cities.<\/p>

Advertisements<\/div>\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\n

<\/p>\n

Ray only had one good eye but he could box circles around Alvino and I.\u00a0 I had no thoughts of following a career of boxing and gradually lost interest in training.\u00a0 Alvino on the other hand was a stalwart aficionado of the sport.\u00a0 I knew Alvino to be rough around the edges and combative when drinking but he had a kind and gentle side to his nature and was loyal to his friends.\u00a0 It was his calling to open up a training facility to tutor inner-city kids in Davenport.\u00a0 He helped many street kids to follow a straight line in the gym and to overcome adversity in their troubled lives.
\nOnce I was discussing Alvino with a mutual friend when he told me this episode in Alvino\u2019s life.\u00a0 This was years before Alvino opened \"\"up his gym.\u00a0 He asked Alvino what made him so mean and want to fight all the time.\u00a0\u00a0 Alvino told him that when he and\u00a0his brother Genaro were kids in Sweetwater, Texas they had to ride a school bus to get to school.\u00a0 He said that the driver of the bus would make him and Genaro get off the bus before they would reach the school and fight each other for his entertainment.\u00a0 This almost daily experience I am sure instilled Alvino with a fighting spirit which eventually led to his training street kids who came from a similar background.\u00a0 However Alvino made sure that they learned to be good persons as well as fighters in the ring.
\nAlvino was one of the founders of LULAC Council 10 and remained a member until his death.\u00a0 LULAC Council 10 salutes Alvino Pe\u00f1a.\u00a0 He was a giant in our community and his legacy is manifested in the productive lives of so many of his boxing prot\u00e9g\u00e9s.\u00a0 I am proud to have known Alvino Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

Top Picture: Alvino Pe\u00f1a (right) and his brother Henry back in his boxing years.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Bottom Picture: Alvino Pe\u00f1a and one of his young boxers. Photos courtesy of the Pe\u00f1a family<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisements<\/div>\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ernest Rodriguez When I heard yesterday that my good friend Alvino Pe\u00f1a had died I was deeply saddened but after reflecting on his physical and mental condition the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"es","enabled_languages":["en","es"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"es":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t