The Patriarch of Minnesota Boxing, Emmett Yanez, at 90 years old

by
Mark Connor
© Copyright 2010, Mark Connor


On March 3, my boxing coach who taught me to fight at age ten and guided me to national tournaments, Emmett J. Yanez, turned 90 years old. He also trained numerous other Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Champions as well as national champions over the years, and he continues to coach amateur boxers today. His most recent champion is Robert Brant, who won the National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Championship for the second time this year and is attempting to win the USA Boxing Light Heavyweight Championship at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO this week. During the celebration, which took place at Mancini's Char House in St. Paul, I was privileged to read out a declaration from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman declaring March 3, 2010 Emmett J. Yanez Day in St. Paul, Minnesota. A special thanks to my father, Robert Connor, for advising me to contact the Mayor's office for the declaration.

The text of the declaration in its entirety follows.

Whereas, Emmett J. Yanez is currently a resident of Saint Paul, Minnesota and has lived in the city for nearly 80 years, in addition to having worked for the City of Saint Paul in the Department of Public Works;

Whereas, Emmett J. yanez today turns 90 years old;

Wereas, Emmett J. Yanez is a World War II veteran of the United States Army, regiment 504 of the 82nd Airborne Division that fought to liberate Europe;

Whereas, upon returning to Saint Paul after the war Emmett J. Yanez boxed professionally and eventually became a traiiner of Saint Paul Amateur boxers for more than 50 years;

Whereas, Emmett J. Yanez has developed numerous Saint Paul Golden Gloves and Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Champions, City, state, and Regional amateur boxing champions of the juunior Olympic and Open Class age groups, and at least two open class national champions, and he has also trained successful professional boxers in Saint Paul;

Whereas, Emmett j. Yanez continues assisting Saint Paul youth and youth in general as a trainer of amateur boxers in a Saint Paul suburb,

Now, Therefore, I, Christopher B. Coleman, mayor of the City of Saint Paul, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, march 03, 2010, to be:

Emmett J. Yanez Day

in the City of Saint Paul

In Witness Whereof I have herunto set my hand
and caused the seal of the City of Saint Paul to be
affixed this Third Day of March in the Year Two
Thousand Ten.

Christopher B. Coleman, Mayor

Emmett Yanez Honored with 2009 Harry Davis Award

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.