By
Mark Connor
© Copyright Mark Connor, 2009
Robert Brant of the White Bear Lake Boxing Club carried the flag for the U.S. team at the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) World Chapmpionships in Milan, Italy, which took place September 1 through September 12. After receiving a bye in the tournament's opening round, Brant lost a decision to Cuba's José Larduet Gomez. Brant is guided locally by the same trainer who taught me to box as a boy and guided me to national tournaments, 89-year-old Emmett Yanez, who was awarded this year's Harry Davis Memorial Award at the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves. Pictured above is Brant (L), Yanez, boxer Jonathan Escoto (R) and me. ( © Copyright 2009, Mark Connor) The following article appeared in the 2009 Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Yearbook in recognition of Emmett's receipt of the award.
I was thrilled to learn that Emmett Yanez is receiving this year’s Harry Davis award. At age 89, he is still healthy and working daily with boxers, which he has done for at least forty years. His longevity greatly impresses me, and I’m satisfied to know he continues doing what makes him happy. Nearly thirty years ago, when I was ten years old, Emmett taught me the skills that led to an Upper Midwest Golden Gloves title and competition in three national tournaments. But what I most value about him is a quality he shared with me from the moment we met, and would have shared regardless of whether I succeeded in boxing. That quality is integrity.
Emmett Yanez always demanded dedication from the boys and men he trained, and also the small number of girls and women he began training in the mid-1990s. He communicates as well as possible with a boxer’s parents, and when I was growing up he demanded that I skip the gym and concentrate on school if my grades ever suffered. Also, unlike some coaches, he never cut corners. He always insisted on covering every aspect of training, including daily running, before even thinking of sparring. While some boxers from other gyms chewed tobacco after the weigh-ins or in the crowd after a fight, he would not allow such detrimental behavior in front of him. If he ever drank alcohol I didn’t know it, because when on a trip to a tournament he only concentrated on the boxers’ safety, success and enjoyment, and he was forever conscious of the example he was setting. He never spoke disrespectfully about women and would not tolerate it among us. He let us know it was great we were boxing, especially if we were winning, but that our success was not separate from our other responsibilities. That’s the way Emmett Yanez was, and he still is.
I sincerely hope Emmett Yanez is around for many years to come. There’s no reason to believe he won’t live and still be healthy far past 100, but of course he’s only working on 90 right now. Always dedicated to his family and his wife, Emmett Yanez is able to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it because he’s always done what he has to do—such as fighting in the U.S. Army to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany during World War II, being consciously present in the lives of his children, and caring for his first wife when she suffered and died from Alzheimer’s Disease—when he’s had to do it. Now he lives happily with his wonderful bride, Sylvia, in St. Paul, plays golf through the summer, and still trains boxers all year. That’s because he is a man of integrity, personally expressed in a manner that will live beyond his years in the lives he’s touched in the past, as well as the ones he’ll touch in the future.
Great piece, Mark.
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