2021’s most interesting | “I was shaped and molded by my family, by my community in my town.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 21st year of the millennium was expected to be a time of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of normal, 2021 gave us more of the same as 2020 with vaccinations, face mask requirements and more COVID-19 deaths. There were people who stood out during the year because of their work, accomplishments or their impact. Vida en el Valle selected the 10 most interesting people of 2021. Here is No. 3:
From amateur fights to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics games to verge of going pro, the 22-year-old heavyweight boxer Richard Torrez Jr. has kept busy. In November, he signed a contract with Top Rank and will have his professional debut on Feb. 5, 2022 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno. Torrez had a 154-10 amateur record.
“I was shaped and molded by my family, by my community in my town,” said the 6-foot-2 Torrez in an August interview.
Tulare’s Olympic silver medalist received a hero’s welcome that included a red-carpet treatment, motorcade, and ceremony in August. His medal was one of the 41 silver medals that the U.S. took home along with 39 gold and 33 bronze medals.
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A mural in his honor is underway and will be located on city’s chamber of commerce’s building wall next to the murals of Olympians Bob Mathias and Sim Iness.
His father Richard Torrez Sr. has been the backbone of his career.
“I’m overjoyed. It’s wonderful, you know, to see hard work recognized. It’s always great,” said Torrez Sr. of his son being recognized. “So, to know that people acknowledge that he has put in so much work, that he has sacrificed so much to be there, you know, I am overjoyed with that.”
Among Kiki’s favorite things are the color green, the shrimp burritos from Vejar’s in Tulare, the Yosemite Mountains, Beethoven (He actually walked out to ‘Moonlight Sonata’ by Beethoven at his final and semifinal match at the Tokyo games) and the movies ‘The Life of Pi,’ ‘Remember the Titans’ or Disney’s ‘Hercules.’
