As young fighters trying to make their way in a brutal, demanding discipline, Carlos Palomino and Armando Muniz often were given the same advice:
If you're serious about boxing, forget about college. And if you're serious about college, forget about boxing.
Neither paid it any mind.
"It was a dream of mine as a kid to be a boxer," Muniz says, "but I also knew that I was going to go to school."
Palomino stayed in school, he says, "because I figured that even if I got lucky and won a world title, athletic careers are pretty short and I'd still have a whole life ahead of me."
So, even while they continued trading punches, the Southern California-bred fighters never stopped hitting the books.
And when they twice met for the World Boxing Council welterweight championship in the 1970s, they made history: never before had college graduates fought for a world title.
Nor have they since, boxing historians believe.
If you're serious about boxing, forget about college. And if you're serious about college, forget about boxing.
Neither paid it any mind.
"It was a dream of mine as a kid to be a boxer," Muniz says, "but I also knew that I was going to go to school."
Palomino stayed in school, he says, "because I figured that even if I got lucky and won a world title, athletic careers are pretty short and I'd still have a whole life ahead of me."
So, even while they continued trading punches, the Southern California-bred fighters never stopped hitting the books.
And when they twice met for the World Boxing Council welterweight championship in the 1970s, they made history: never before had college graduates fought for a world title.
Nor have they since, boxing historians believe.
Here is a pretty cool little article on Carlos Palomino and Armando Muniz...
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