Abel Mejia is 360 Promotions newest signing.
The 20 year old from El Modena, California, is 3-0 (2 KOs). He returns on April 20 at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California.
Mejia made a memorable professional debut when stopping Maximiliano Gutierrea Perez and getting a highlight-reel stoppage, which, combined with his ability to sell a lot of tickets in the Los Angeles area, turned some heads. The super featherweight naturally believes he is the next fighter to generate excitement in LA.
“At first, I got the opportunity to make my pro debut with Chuck [Charles Bosecker]. He offered to put us on the 360 card [last year]. Then, I got the first-round knockout – I sold around 200 tickets – and I completely showed out that night. They liked what they saw, and they offered me a contract."
His father, Drew Mejia, has been by his side all along. But he is the first to say he doesn’t deserve all of the credit.
“The credit in the beginning I can’t take – when he first started boxing and he started at the age of eight, I didn’t know, excuse my language, shit about boxing,” said Drew Mejia. “As he progressed in boxing, I progressed. I started to take the sport more serious. I started to pay attention to the sweet science.”
They learned the sport together. Drew Mejia continued to explain that although they might not be wealthy, they had a lot of friends and people willing to support them.
“His first fight, we sold 300 seats,” Drew said. “From there it, has gone to 250 and stayed there for now. For a kid, that only has three professional fights – I think that is pretty good. I am not rich in money, but I am rich in family and friends.”
Mejia recently left his coach Hector Lopez. His father is now his lead voice in training.
“Just recently he left his coach, his coach since he was eight, so now I am kind of filling that void,” Mejia said. “In the beginning, I was that dad [too hard on my son]. [Get mad at] him after bad sparring. Then I would see the added pressure [I was giving to] him. Now I am starting to tweak the way I approach him.”
Abel Mejia’s amateur record reads 42-8. He is also relishing being promoted by Tom Loeffler, after admiring some of the fighters Loeffler helped to guide.
“I grew up watching Triple G [Gennady Golovkin] and the Klitschko [brothers] and now to be a part of it is almost surreal to me,” he said.
When people hear of Orange County – El Modena is nearby – they think of white sand beaches, beautiful people sunbathing, and elegance. Where Mejia is from has a higher crime rate than the national average.
“It is very rugged; a lot of gangs,” reflected Abel. “I think there is a lot of light under the gangs. It is a really beautiful city besides everything that is negative from it.”
“I told Abel if we are going to do this, let’s do it 100 per cent,” said his father and trainer. “We are not in this to compete; we are in this to take it over. If we are going to do this, let’s go all-in and see how far it is going to take us.”
Abel has a much simpler goal. He wants to fight – and fight often.
“I want to stay very active,” he said. “I want to finish this year [with a record of] 7-0 or 8-0, and then hopefully next year I want to challenge for a regional title.”