Top Rank signs 16 year-old Gabriel Flores Jr.

Top ranked has signed 16 year-old amateur star Gabriel Flores Jr. to a promotional contract, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Why did we sign a 16½-year-old — I think is because the younger we sign fighters the longer the guys in Top Rank feel they’ll have me around,” the 84-year-old Bob Arum joked at the final news conference for the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas undercard at the Wynn resort.

“I think he’s the youngest fighter Top Rank has ever signed. He’s a tremendous prospect, ranked No. 1 in his weight division in the amateur ranks. He has great natural skills and ability. Our matchmakers believe that will make him a star.”

“I know a lot of people have high expectations of me and I plan on exceeding all of them,” said Flores, who started boxing at age 7. “It wasn’t easy getting to this point. I lost my mother at the age of 12. It was gang-violence-related. It took my mother away from me. She got shot in the back. They said if she would have made it she would have been paralyzed. She didn’t make it, but right now, today, she’s looking down on me and she’s smiling right now.”

“I could have just gave up on my dreams but giving up on my dreams would have been giving up on my mother,” Flores said. “I’m just grateful to be in this position and want to make her proud.”

“My mom wasn’t the only one I lost in my family,” said Flores, one of six children. “I lost my uncle to gang violence. That’s why I look forward to fighting in my hometown so I can promote anti-gang-violence. I want the kids to know right from wrong and the consequences. I want to stop the violence in the city I was born in and the city I love.”

“I’d say I’m a pure boxer. I like to keep my distance and use my jab and my straight punches, but if it comes down to it, I can fight on the inside,” Flores said. “I can do anything it takes to win. My favorite boxer of all time is Roy Jones Jr. Sometimes I’ll do a little showboating like he does, and sometimes I do that little jump-in hook.”