Welcome Duke's Boxing!


By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

I would like to welcome Henry Calles of Duke’s Boxing to my website as a link blogroll where you can now directly link onto that website.


Henry has previously been featured twice on my website, so you might already know about him. To view those features, go to the menu category “Archives” and click on April 2009 for the story called “Fight Night” and on June 2009 for the story called “Duke’s Boxing Gym”.

Duke’s Boxing and Fitness is a very prominent gym in the Santa Barbara, California, area (located in the suburb of Isla Vista), and Henry is the owner and trainer. He is also a friend that I support and that I give my time to by attending many of his boxing training sessions, offering any expertise that I can to an excelling group of young kids (male and female) that are involved there. Henry is an excellent teacher, a former amateur boxer who gives all of the students the highest level of boxing training.

Henry comes from a fine boxing pedigree because his two uncles were outstanding amateur boxers themselves when they trained back in the eighties under the watchful eye of Art Carbajal who was the founder of the old Casa De La Raza boxing gym – now known as Primo Boxing. Back then, almost 30 years ago, I gave my time to come into that gym to assist in training, as well as to referee many of their shows that were staged in this community.

One might think that my favorite story of Henry comes from experiencing his watchful eye at his boxing gym with the kids. But my highlight was actually when Henry attended the 2006 World Boxing Hall of Fame banquet when I served as head floor director for the event. Henry came up to me like a polite kid and asked if it were possible to get a picture of his favorite fighter of all time – Roberto Duran.

Well, he did get a picture that night; but Henry told me that he will never forget that I personally took him up to the stage area and introduced him to Duran, along with a mutual friend, and took a picture of the two of them together. I will always remember Henry’s face at that moment; he was like a little kid himself – shaking hands and being photographed with the man whom I consider the greatest lightweight in the history of boxing, and, who many boxing experts agree, is one of the greatest boxers of all time in any weight class.

So I would now like to officially introduce dukesboxing.com to dmboxing.com. Featured below are a few photos that I recently shot of Henry (wearing the t-shirt) sparring with one of his students, Nick Poggi.