Gabe Flores Jr: Twenty-Two & Out?

Gabe Flores Jr: Twenty-Two & Out?

By Craig Scott

At the end of July, Stockton’s Gabe Flores Jnr suffered another defeat in his third punishing contest on the spin. At just 22, where does the former amateur prospect go from here? And what are those closest to him doing as he braves this premature career crisis? 

I spoke to Gabe Flores Jnr back when he was knocking opponents out, building his unbeaten record, and nurturing his potentially enormous profile back when he was just 17-years old. The thing about Flores is that his 17 years aren’t comparable to mine, or to most of yours. And now, staring into a life without the only thing that’s truly anchored him, you have to wonder where his young head is at following his latest gruelling setback.

Now, after losing to Chicago’s Giovanni Cabrera and being knocked down three times in the process, you wonder whether Top Rank will persist with a young man that was – at one stage recently – one of their brightest talents. He’s lost two of his last three fights, and every one of those three bouts have been hard nights’ work. Really, really hard.  

This loss on 23rd July signalled his move to lightweight, something he’d promised would be the making of him, telling fans to expect a statement when he squared off opposite Cabrera. It certainly sent a message to those watching on; it wasn’t the emphatic, celebratory statement Team Flores Jnr would have anticipated; it was more of a Swigert/Apollo 13 realisation. What is the problem? And can they fix it, after adding so many miles to his young clock? 

Many have pointed the finger at Flores’ father, also named Gabe, who has trained his son since Jnr could lift his hands as a toddler. His advice in the corner, and his insistence on allowing a few horror show performances to continue rather than throwing in the towel to save the youngster for another day, have garnered criticism. Could Gabe Snr really be watching the fight(s) unfold and expecting his son to pull something huge out of the bag? Even if the chance of that happening is less than 10%, is it really worth taking the risk? His fighter, his son. 

As Flores Jnr was pummelled over 10 rounds by Luis Alberto Lopez last September (2021), did his father see something we’d all missed? Often trainers see glimpses of gold in the gym from fighters who struggle to replicate those moments in competition. That ‘You haven’t seen what I’ve seen’ approach is perilous. Trainers are constantly waiting for things to click, while boxers are continuously thrown into battle, told to bite down on their gumshield, and asked to produce something they could have initially fluked, behind closed doors, where all best secrets are kept.

Making decisions on the safety of fighters shouldn’t be based on what you’ve seen in the gym once upon a time, or on how tough you know the fighter to be – that’s just too dangerous. It’s a question I’ve often pondered: How close is too close when thinking about the bond between fighter and trainer? Blind trust both ways – an even greyer area when that bond is forged with family blood. This Flores Jnr and Snr relationship could be the prime example. 

Five years ago when speaking to Gabe Flores Jnr, I knew he was tough; I knew he’d fight through anything until he couldn’t fight anymore. This is a kid that lost his mother, shot, and killed when he was still very young. He had to come through that, growing up in Stockton, a hardy city famed for its toughness, characterised by the Diaz siblings, known from their dicey UFC tenure. You can’t have quit in the 209. Maybe that will never change – in which case, things are only going to go one way should Flores Jnr and his team chase fights at the top level.  

Fighters are very, very rarely finished at 22-years old. In fact, most haven’t really started as professionals. And Flores Jnr may well decide to continue fighting, clawing his way back up the rankings and attempting to land on the books of a powerful promotion if Top Rank do decide to part ways. Those closest to him appear to be determined that he’ll come good and prove his promise, but they aren’t taking the punches. They aren’t being dropped multiple times, swaying back and forth against the ropes, and occasionally rallying to no avail.

Losing to Luis Alberto Lopez, scraping by Abraham Montoya, and then losing heavily to Giovanni Cabrera, isn’t the run of form that seems to suggest Gabe Flores Jnr can come back stronger at the top level. They aren’t champions, or former Olympians tearing through their division; they’re good, solid tests, designed to help fighters like Flores Jnr step towards world titles. He’s tripped once, and fallen over twice, while attempting to do so. It might be time to sit the next few out. Maybe not, maybe things can change.  

Top Rank’s own Bruce Trampler commented on a Twitter thread discussing Flores’ current situation and stated that “Hard sparring hurt, too,” and that for the 22-year old, “Health [is] an issue.” There seemed to be no hiding from boxing fans’ concern, but on the Instagram of the boxer himself, he’d chosen to reshare tens of posts supporting him and his comeback which friends and followers told him was “loading.” His father’s social media? Just a resharing of a comedy video completely unrelated to the fight, or to boxing at all.  

I’ve spoken to fighters in their thirties that slur when they speak and admit the sport has “changed them”; I’ve interviewed former champions in their forties that admit they’ve lost their vehicles on multiple occasions, worried after completely forgetting where they’ve parked them; I’ve written articles with boxers not much older than me, who just two weeks after we spoke, had forgotten the conversation had even taken place. Flores Jnr, of course, isn’t in a similar position. Yet. But choices really matter now. 

Boxing isn’t a pencil sketch – you don’t get the chance to stop, erase, and re-do it. It is permanent. It isn’t for me to say what should or shouldn’t happen; it is for somebody, though. And if help, advice, and guidance are ignored and boxers insist on continuing, then the only choice we have, is whether we continue watching it… 

Photo Credit: Top Rank