At the age of 19, Chris is a sensational prospect at 130 pounds. He recently signed a promotional contract with Top Rank and has his first pro fight in June, 2018. Before his debut, he was an amateur standout at the national level.
He fought three times in his first six months as a pro.
In his last fight on December 8 in Carson, California, Chris won by fourth-round knockout against
Carlos Ramirez.
The scheduled four-rounder was on the undercard of the Cecilia Breakhus vs. Aleksandra Lopes main event, and Chris dominated the fight. He scored a knockdown with a series of punches finished by a right hand late in the 1st round, landed the harder punches in the following rounds, and wore down Ramirez. Chris rocked Ramirez with a right hand in the fourth round and the referee stopped the fight at 0:30.
Manager Richard Anthony said, “With Chris’s career, we are going to stay pure and true to the process, and we’ll see the byproducts as they come.
“We look forward to a very bright future with Chris and Top Rank.”
In an earlier interview, Chris said, “I train at the Legendz Boxing Club in Norwalk, California. I’ve sparred with Oscar Valdez, Jessie Magdaleno, Michael Conlan – I worked in training camps with all three of them. I’ve sparred with a lot of international fighters, as well, that come to Legendz.
“My style is very tactical. I like to box, but I’ll get in there and brawl if I have to. I’m very good at pressuring my opponent and taking away his power, and countering right back when he doesn’t expect it. I don’t get hit is much as a lot of fighters do. I have great defense, great footwork, I use a lot of angles.
“I started using the nickname, ‘The Boy.’ It just kind of came to me – I was training and I just started thinking about it. I’ve been training with my coach, Manny Robles, since I was nine years old and he would always say, ‘Atta boy, atta boy.’ So I thought about it, and I thought, how about ‘The Boy.’ That’s how I came up with it.”
AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Chris said, “I was born in Long Beach, California. I have two brothers. My dad works in an aluminum company that makes airplane parts, and my mom is not currently employed.
“I actually started training when I was six years old. I’ve been in the gym my whole life because my older brother was also a fighter. His name is Anthony Zavala – he used to box as an amateur. I was basically born in the gym, but my dad started taking it more seriously with me when I was six. He always had a dream to put us in boxing.
“Growing up in the gym, I just thought it was a normal thing. I just fell in love with it. I thought every kid went to the gym. Even when I was in school I was like, ‘Oh, you’re going to the gym after school, right?’ And they were like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I was nine years old when I started working with coach Manny Robles.
“I had 136 amateur fights, with nine losses. I fought in the Youth National Golden Gloves, the Adidas nationals, I fought in the PALs, I fought in the Junior Olympics. I actually went to an international tournament in Russia and in Mexico. The thing is with those tournaments, I won the multiple times – I’d go back every year and when it again. The national PALs I won eight times in a row. The Junior Golden Gloves I won three times. The Junior Olympics, I don’t even know how many times I won that – seven or eight times. I won a tournament called Blue and Gold – I won that eight times in a row, as well. I won state eight times in a row. [note: results not currently available]
“I finished high school in 2017. Right now, I’m focusing on boxing 100 percent but eventually, I want to go back to school.
“I’ve always been interested in law enforcement. I was also in the Long Beach Police Explorers Program. It’s a study of law enforcement. I did that for three years and won two plaques. Basically, you go to the Police Academy and you go through the same things that would be to become an actual police officer. You go through a graduation process – I had to go to camp for five days and follow certain rules that police officers were telling me to do. They were really rough on us there. They would push us – they would wake us up at 2:00 in the morning to go run. I got sprayed with pepper spray. In the end though, I became the Platoon Leader, the person that everyone had to follow.
“I’m naturally right-handed.”…
