Bay Area boxing gym gives Los Angeles man a path to changing his life

By Loureen Ayyoub

Some gyms offer more than just fitness. They can also provide a way forward, and for professional fighter Victor Pasillas, Undisputed Boxing Gym has done exactly that.

Pasillas said the gym, based in Redwood City, changed his life so profoundly that he left his old life in East Los Angeles behind to start anew with his coach, Brian Schwartz.

“This is the gym that brought me from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.”

Moving from Southern California to the Bay Area shifted the entire trajectory of his life. Growing up surrounded by gang violence, Pasillas said the Bay Area taught him how to thrive despite hardship.

“It’s been very, very hard times, you know. Moments where we had to live in very uncomfortable circumstances, eating oatmeal at night,” he said. “And the Bay Area is what taught me to truly be a provider. And not worry about having one source of income, but six, seven incomes. It just taught me to be an entrepreneur. That’s something I can say the Bay Area has taught me.”

But the transformation didn’t come without a fight. Pasillas faced heavy trauma as a child, including the incarceration of his mother. It’s why boxing became so much more than a sport.

“Boxing has adopted me. It has made me its child. It has loved me, and I loved it back. It saved my life, point blank,” Pasillas said. “Sometimes, as a kid, things are given to you that you don’t want. You want a set of parents, you want something that’s yours. And as a kid, I never had that. So boxing — I knew it was mine. It was my sport. I belonged there.”

Undisputed Boxing Gym, founded by kickboxing veteran Brian Schwartz, has become a place of empowerment for athletes and beginners alike.

“Especially as fighters, sometimes we don’t talk about the emotional components and the psychological components that go into fighting,” Schwartz said. “When you talk about being tough, being strong, and having that killer instinct — there are things that go on in your head, those natural thoughts that people have, that just aren’t really acceptable for fighters to talk about. But to be able to talk about that kind of stuff and pass that on, along with all the moves, is such a great gift. I feel like he’s learned so much through that whole process because of that.”

Now preparing for his next match, Pasillas said he hopes to inspire unity and growth within the Bay Area boxing community.

“We got to put our fighters together so we can learn from each other,” he said. “I feel like the only way to get better and succeed in your world is by competing and being competitive.”

For Pasillas, that healthy competition has done more than sharpen his skills, it has helped him grow and rewrite his story on his own terms.