MERCEDES — Beto Carr has been training hundreds of boys how to throw a right cross and left hand uppercut at his boxing gym for decades.
And all have come to him to lean how to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” to one day be just like the Great Muhammad Ali.
“I developed the gym 38 years ago and it’s still going strong,” said Beto. “It’s been able to help the youth in the community and I have been very fortunate to have a lot of kids advance in competition.”
Beto, 84, started out as a boxing coach teaching his sons all the way down to his great-grandson.
Beto was recently recognized by the city of Mercedes with a proclamation for his commitment to helping the city’s youth with his boxing gym and for his family’s success in boxing that spans four generations.
And the South Texas Boxing Tournament in San Antonio on Oct. 9 named Beto the South Texas boxing judge of the year.
“I didn’t expect this,” Beto said. “It’s very nice they have recognized me. I do this is for the community, and I’m very glad to be part of it.”
Beto opened his boxing gym in 1978 to help his sons learn to box, and he continues the same tradition today by training his grandson and great-grandson along side the city’s youth.
Beto was a boxer for the U.S. Army, his son Stanley Carr, 60, was a Golden Gloves champion and Texas State Champion. Beto Carr Jr. also was a Golden Gloves champion, his grandson Devin Carr is a Golden Gloves champion and his great-grandson Juan De Jesus Lopez won his first amateur fight in July.
Beto said he started boxing in the back yard when he was 10 years old with his brothers.
“When I got out of the service I noticed my sons wanted to go into boxing,” Beto said.
At that point he said to his boys, if they were serious about boxing, he would open up a gym so the whole family could participate.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” he said. “I have trained a lot of kids and we have traveled all over the country for competitions.”
Beto has had help from his son Stanley to help teach the young boxers to roll with the punches, get off the ropes and most of all what it takes to win in and outside of the ring.
“People need to know this and we need to honor people like this who go all out for the citizens and their families,” said Henry Hinojosa, Mercedes mayor. “Working with theses kids through boxing helps build stamina, it builds their positive attitude, discipline and a vision for the future.”
Hinojosa called Beto’s Boxing a win-win situation, not only for the Carr family but certainly the city of Mercedes and its citizens.
“It’s fantastic what he does,” Hinojosa said.
Beto’s grandchild Devin Carr said it’s an honor to be part of the Carr boxing legacy.
He said he has been boxing since he was 3 years old.
Devin was given his uncle Beto’s boxing gloves when he was just a baby.
And those same eight ounce black boxing gloves hang at the entrance of Beto’s Boxing Gym for all the young boxers to tap for luck when they come in and out of the gym.
Devin said he has seen first hand how his grandfather’s corner has helped the youths of Mercedes.
“It’s a great feeling keeping the kids off the street, and keeping them on the right path,” Devin said.
