Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon, a former two-division world champion at 105 and 108 pounds and a pioneer in bringing boxing's lower weight classes to the mainstream, will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame later this week. Overcoming a difficult childhood in Puerto Rico, Calderon took up boxing at a late age and used his speed and tenacity in school to carve out a condensed but dominant career.
Calderon recently spoke to BoxingScene about growing up outside San Juan, deciding he wanted to be better than his role models and what it's like being in the boxing business.
Boxing Scene: You're originally from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, right?
Ivan Calderon: I was born in Toa Baja, in Candelaria. [Puerto Rico]But now I always say I'm from Guaynabo because that's where I started boxing and that's where I started living when I met my father when I was 14. Then I got married and now I live in Caguas, but my whole boxing career, everything I've done, comes from Guaynabo.
BS: But you landed in New York first, right?
Calderon: I was born in Toa Baja, but I went to the Bronx when I was 4. I moved to the Bronx and then came back to Puerto Rico when I was 11 or 12.
BS: Those are big changes for the boys.
Calderon: I can't say it was a good experience because I had a lot of problems, family problems, I was in a foster home, all those things at a young age. [influenced] A lot has happened in my career, so I tell my story to people who never thought I could do all the things I do now, and they ask me, “How did you become a world champion?” And I say, “A lot of that has happened has helped me a lot and made me a better person.”
BS: Are they not only better fighters but also better people?
Calderon: Yeah, yeah, I became a better person. I'm putting my story in a book, so I can talk a little bit about it. I learned how to talk to women, how not to hit them. Because my mother was abused when she lived with her stepfather. I witnessed that at a young age, but I couldn't defend her. Then I ended up in foster care, and I was taken away from my mother and me and my two sisters, everything I brought with me, and I went back to school, and I got demoted a grade because I wasn't doing well, and all that. At least I finished the senior year, and I got my high school diploma at 26.
BS: Many people who go through such difficult times go in the opposite direction. Why do you think you learned a lesson from that experience?
Calderon: After I saw that, my heart changed. I said, “I want to be a better person. I want to be something different. I want to show my family that someone in their family can be something different, and that can change everything.”
Nobody in my family does sports. I started boxing when I was 17, but I didn't like it when I started. My stepmother told me to walk to the gym because my brother wanted to go, but the next day I was going to the gym. I kept going. I lost my first two fights. When I won my third fight as an amateur, girls started asking me to take pictures and other people started asking me. I thought, “Wow, this is what it means to be famous.” And I wanted to be famous. That's how I got into boxing and into sports.
BS: 17 is a late start in boxing, right?
Calderon: Everyone says that. But a fighter can learn it in three or four years. Some people take a long time, six or 10 years, but you can learn it in three or four years. It all depends on how fast you are. You are a fighter who can learn something quickly. It all depends on your attitude as a student.
BS: So you weren't a boxing fan growing up. Did you have any idols in boxing or in the sports world?
Calderon: The first time I ever saw boxing on TV was when Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas. That was my first fight. It was the first time I ever watched boxing on TV. Amazing.
BS: Did coming into the sport with no expectations and being a little older and a little more mature help you?
Calderon: Maybe I could say that I thought so, [happened] Very fast. I used to get into fights at school. Not boxing, but I used to get into fights at school. The first day I started boxing, my trainer, Juan Laporte, the brother of a former world champion, saw me throwing jabs and moving and came up to me and asked, “Have you ever boxed?” I said, “No, never.” And he said, “You move well. You know how to move.” So he taught me, step by step. I watched the movement the whole time. [other fighters]And I just kept doing that. … I remember the third day I went to the gym, they were taking me to a fight, and I lost my first fight, and then they took me right back to fight again, and by that time I had a little bit more experience, and I won my third fight.
BS: But after that slow start you remained an amateur for a while, right? How many amateur fights did you have?
Calderon: 130. I was going to sign a pro contract, but I waited. “I was going to sign a pro contract, but no one would pay me. I needed a name. I needed international championships. So I needed the Olympics, the Pan American, the Central American Championships. I knew if I had a name, I could make a business out of it. So I waited until I was 26.”
BS: After such a slow start, was it the right decision to wait?
Calderon: Everyone thinks that. I was late to the fight. But in my case, I fought for 10 years, from when I was 26, just before I turned 27, until I retired at 37. I've been a professional for almost 11 years, but what did I do in those 11 years? There are boxers who haven't been world champions or even come close to a world title fight after 13 years. I did everything. I won two weight classes, defended the title 18 times. I did everything in those 10 years. It was all down to the promoter, the manager and me. I was always prepared every time I was called to fight. I was disciplined.
BS: Were you always in shape and ready to go?
Calderon: It always has been that way. And another good thing that helped me was that I became a father at 23. When I was an amateur, I was already a father. I knew I had to buy Pampers, buy a house. So I knew the importance of winning fights, making money, becoming somebody in the future and providing for my family, so that my kids don't have to go through what I went through with my mom. We didn't have money to go to school, we didn't have anything like that. I wanted my kids to have a better life than their dad had.
BS: There are so many young fighters who get all the fame and money at a young age and don't know what to do with it. Was it an advantage to be a little older when you got those things and knew what you were fighting for?
Calderon: Right! So those warriors didn't know what it was like to be fathers. [the value of their money] Because they already had it all. They had someone to whom they were entrusted and they were never allowed to strive for it. They didn't know how to strive for anything because they already had it all.
BS: Freddie Roche invited you to spar with Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley. How was that session?
Calderon: It was great. I remember when I was in the gym, they came to my gym and they asked me, “Hey, can you help me? Can you help Oscar De La Hoya move and fight some rounds? He's a southpaw?” I said, “Yeah, sure.” And then I got in the ring and when Freddie saw me moving, he saw me land some good uppercuts on Oscar and I was moving around and Oscar couldn't catch me and he said, “Wow.” So he always said when he saw me spar with him, “Oh man, that means Manny Pacquiao has a chance to beat Oscar De La Hoya.” So they took the fight. That's what he says in interviews.
BS: Speed has always been your trademark. Was it your most important attribute as a fighter?
Calderon: I think my boxing, my speed, my movement is great. I may not have been a power puncher, but my movement and the speed of my hands has helped me a lot in my career.
BS: It seems like smaller fighters “age” faster, most people in the industry say they start to slow down first. Do you agree? Was there a moment when you realized you're not quite the same fighter you were in your 20s, for example?
Calderon: Yeah. I hate to accept it, but yeah. When I was about 35, I started to lose my speed and my eyesight, and I was already taking more punches. So I knew my time was coming. And when I decided to retire, when I started taking punches and my body wasn't responding the same, I thought, “I guess it's time to retire.”
BS: Your rivalries with Hugo Cazares, Rodel Mayor and Giovani Segura were the biggest moments of your career from the outside. These fights were when more mainstream boxing fans became aware of you and your work in the smaller weight classes. But as you mentioned, was that also when you started to slow down? Is it painful to look back on these fights, just because the timing wasn't right?
Calderon: No, not really. When I fought Hugo Cazares [for the first time, in 2007]The conditions were perfect. It had just risen to 108. [from 105 pounds]The thing is, when I was fighting those guys, I wasn't really 108 pounds. I moved up to get another chance at a title fight, to make a little bit more money, to get a chance to fight some name guys to get paid more. But I was weighing in and walking around six or seven pounds heavier on fight day, and my opponent was 15 or 20 pounds heavier. That was the difference in the fight. So, what I have to make people understand is I can't fight them right because I know they're heavier than me. So I had to beat them and not get hit.
BS: I remember the timing was tough because things changed around you just as a lot of fans were starting to get to know you and take notice.
Calderon: Yes, because there was a better name, a bigger name. Remember, he was 105 and even then there weren't that many names. “Chocolatito.” [Roman Gonzalez] He wanted to fight me, even though he wasn't a world champion or a name yet. I said, “No, you're just trying to use me to get yourself a better position. No, that's not my job.” There was no one then. If he called me now, I'd ask, “What do you want to do? What time?” Because now he has a name. But back then it didn't make business sense to me.
BS: You retired in 2012. What did you do in the meantime?
Calderon: I've always been a trainer in gyms. … Now I'm training with professional boxers. I always train, but this time I go to fights with them and I train with them in my corner. I'm also a commentator for ESPN KnockOut in Spanish. I do a lot of different things, I talk to kids in schools and I do a lot of different things.
BS: Any promising prospects?
Calderon: Most of them are not at the professional level. There is a girl called Kiria Tapia. She won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships. [in 2011]Currently 3 wins and 0 losses [as a pro]She gave me hope that I could become the first female world champion. [ranks]We have a few boys who are improving but still need some work.
And then there are the amateurs. I want to take them like my kids. He's a strong fighter at 108 pounds and I want to give him all my experience. He's already 19. He couldn't make it to the Olympics this year, so maybe I can sign him next year. But I'm training him. I want him to be old enough to understand the contract. He doesn't need a mother or a father. He's already an older guy, so he can sign the contract. But I want him to get that experience. I don't want him to sign at 17 or 18. They're still young. I want him to enjoy the amateurs, get some experience, go around the world freely in boxing and learn everything. after that Become a professional.
Jason Langendorff is the former boxing editor of ESPN.com and a contributor to Ringside Seat and Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. X and LinkedIn and contact me at dorf2112@hotmail.com.
