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A ‘Regular’ Day in The Life of ‘The Tijuana Tornado’
Photo and Article by German Villasenor (Sep 30 2006)

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While in the East LA office of Sergio Diaz Jr., the co-manager of Antonio Margarito, a couple of weeks ago, in came the other half of the WBO welterweight champion’s management team, Francisco ''Pancho'' Espinoza, and he said that ESPN DEPORTES had asked to do a piece in Tijuana on what is a ''regular'' day in the life of the champion in his hometown is like, and were hitting Mexico early on Tuesday September 19th. I was asked to come along, and my response was as quick as one of ‘The Tijuana Tornado’s hooks.

I was going to Mexico.

Fast forward to Monday the 18th, where I spent most of the afternoon playing phone tag with Diaz (the early plan was to leave late on Monday, stay in a San Diego hotel and shoot down to TJ early next day). Well, after finally tracking him down, Diaz tells me that we were leaving early on Tuesday morning.

How early?

4:30 am.

That means I have to get up at 3:30 in order to make it to our departure point.

4:25 am - after getting there and going over to Espinoza's place (5:00 am) we end up leaving in his truck. I take the back seat, armed with my video camera and trusty ol' Nikon and we take off.

We get off on the last exit off the 805 freeway to pick up the ESPN DEPORTES team (Jaime Mota the interviewer, Martin the cameraman, and Mr. Brandon, the producer of the piece) in a parking lot a block away from the freeway exit.   Now we’re off to Tijuana.

We cruised into TJ without any traffic to slow us down, and we finally get together with the WBO welterweight champ around 7:30 am. Luckily, Margarito waited for us, as he usually leaves to run an hour or so earlier.

We go in three cars, make our way into a very nice exercise / running complex, where Margarito is truly at home. Everyone says hi, shakes hands, and everybody seems to get along. Already, there are many people exercising and running around a very nicely kept track.

After doing about three miles of roadwork and a series of crunches on a mat under the sun while the ESPN DEPORTES crew shoots it all, we all pack up and agree to meet (it's 9:00 am) in two hours, after Margarito goes home to shower, eat breakfast and rest a bit.

The rest of us run over to Sanborn’s Restaurant which is next to the Jai Alai on the infamous Revolution Ave, where I used to party (and swore off alcohol more than a dozen times back in the day.) We all eat, meet Margarito around 11:30 am, and the ESPN crew sets up, interviews the champion and finishes up around 1:15 PM.

Margarito then gathers a couple of guys who help him work out and we drive over to the tiny Gimnasio Azteca. He changes, warms up, does some stretching exercises and gets in the ring as a small crowd gathers around.

The champ goes through the motions, timing his speedy sparring partner, Venezuelan Jose Hernandez in the first couple of rounds and then steps it up without going all out for the rest of the five round session, landing the heavier shots and backing up Hernandez.

Afterwards, Margarito removes his sweat top and takes off his shirt, showing how cut he is. He is currently around 160 pounds and never gets above that weight while ''off'' camp. Other than the weight, he looks like he is ready to fight tomorrow, making a case for not partying, smoking or drinking, as it is how he stays in that kind of shape.

Margarito looks impressive while working the mitts with Tommy, a friend of his who is his new mitt coach.  He displays plenty of speed and accuracy, something that I usually don’t see from him until somewhere mid-training camp.

He finishes up, works the heavy bag and moves over to the speed bag.

It's about 4:00 pm and I'm already working up an appetite, not to mention a sweat, as the tiny, cramped gym is pretty full, with about 12 people in there and pro camera lights. Also, being underground, I’m told things get much hotter in the summertime.

After the workout, Margarito leaves to his house, picks up his wife, and we all make our way to a very good restaurant in the commercial restaurant / bar district in TJ.

After wolfing down a very good rib eye steak and chatting it up, we (our group has swelled to 12 people) finish up, say our goodbyes and leave the restaurant at 6 pm.

Margarito goes back home, where he goes to sleep early, as next day it will be the same routine (sans us) and getting up earlier since he doesn't have to wait for anyone. Other than us showing up for the piece, this is a regular day for the champion in Tijuana, that is, he is not in full training mode, but this is just what he does in-between his official training camps (which he will start in LA soon).

As for me, after a couple of pit stops and picking up my car, I'm finally in bed at 11:55 pm.

I'm tired, since this is wasn’t my usual Tuesday.   But imagine, I'm tired from really doing nothing. I should be ashamed, seeing how dedication by a fighter such as Margarito keeps him in shape and ready to go, all in a ‘regular’ day.