When Kylie Jenner accepted his longshot request to accompany him to prom, eventually featuring the event on the maiden episode of the E! Television show “Life with Kylie,” Sacramento, California’s Albert Ochoa soon became a social media celebrity himself. After making the rounds on local and national television and being featured in print and online publications, Ochoa eventually found a way to parlay his newfound fame into a new passion project: boxing. After gaining some ring experience in “influencer boxing” exhibitions and training with notable professionals, Ochoa feels ready to move into the big league of sanctioned professional boxing and will make his pro debut this coming Saturday in San Francisco del Rincón, Guanajuato, Mexico.
Celebrity boxing has been around a long time, but the world of social media lent itself to organized boxing exhibitions and leagues in a way not possible when television was the main conduit of in-home entertainment. Recognizing a trend, Ochoa decided to try his hand at the sport and quickly grew to have a great devotion to the craft.
“I saw that these YouTubers and influencers were fighting and Jake Paul did it too, so I said, ‘Let’s try it.’ Then I fell in love with the sport too,” Ochoa recalled after a recent media workout at the Undisputed Boxing Gym in Redwood City, California. “Now we are here and the hard work is paying off.”
After a failed first attempt, Ochoa returned to the ring over a year later better prepared and began a string of five straight exhibition victories. Over the two years of competing and in the time since his last bout, Ochoa has worked with a line-up of noteworthy names in the sport.
“I just connected with the right people and fell in the love with the sport,” explains Ochoa. “Despite what people say about me, I did things differently, but I’ve also worked with some great people: Tony “The Tiger” Lopez, Vicente Escobedo, Joel Casamayor, Bob Santos. I think I have picked something from every trainer I’ve had. I think I’ve got better as we have gone along. I’ve got better every day I am in the gym. One fight at a time, one win at a time and I think I am ready for this next step-up. This pro debut will get me considered as a legit, pro fighter now, despite what people say.”
After deciding he would turn professional, Ochoa turned to one of his hometown’s recent fighting stars in Stan Martyniouk for guidance. A former top level amateur and an accomplished professional, Martyniouk will be guiding his first pro as a head trainer when Ochoa meets six-fight veteran Zachary Johnson this coming Saturday night.
“I’ve been training amateur fighters and helping a lot of other up-and-comers get ready,” explains Martyniouk. “It was something that I wanted to do after boxing. With the knowledge that I have from coming up in the ranks, I want to help out the younger generation and get them ready and get them better.
He messaged me on Instagram and said he was looking for a new trainer. He had trained with a few trainers in Vegas, but it didn’t really work out, so he asked me if I could help him get ready. I said absolutely, so he came out here in December to try me out. We trained for one day and he liked what he saw and he liked what he did, so he scheduled his training camp with me in January.”
Ochoa has not only had expert advice coming from his corner, but his significant other more than knows her way around the ring. After a chance meeting at the airport and some online smooth talk, Ochoa struck up a relationship with multiple time world title challenger Maricela Cornejo early last year.
“We met at an airport,” recalls Ochoa. “She was fighting for Jake Paul in Orlando last year on February 2nd. I was going to that fight, regardless, as just a fan and I saw her at the airport and I’ve been attached to her ever since. She understood my journey and I understood hers. We both got started in the game late and made an impact and got attention right away.”
A professional for over twelve years, Cornejo is an invaluable resource as Ochoa charts his path as a professional with limited prior ring experience. Not only is Cornejo familiar with the in-ring aspect of the business, but she understands the path of developing a fighter from the beginning stages.
“I went pro with only four amateur fights, within six months of learning what a jab was,” recalls Cornejo. “So I made some connections with a lot of promoters and just like Top Rank and Golden Boy, they grow their fighters with a plethora of amateur or Olympic backgrounds and they still have to build them up. So I said, ‘Don’t let what anyone else says about these supposedly easy fights bother you, because everybody has them. You don’t have that experience and those that have Olympic experience do it as well. Don’t worry about what anyone says and just stick to the plan.’ I just have been in the sport for a number of years and I think it helps to have another set of eyes looking and trying to help out whenever I can.”
Based on his winless record, East Rochester, New York’s Zachary Johnson appears to be the right type of matchmaking for a fighter with a limited amount of ring time in his log book, but Ochoa is taking every fight seriously.
“I know a little bit about him. He’s a pro and he called me out a year ago. He’s a professional fighter. He’s on BoxRec and he’s had more fights than me. So I consider it a big test for me, but I am ready.”
Should things go according to plan this coming Saturday, the next bout will be a little closer to home at a venue in Southern California. However, one of Ochoa’s career goals is to bring a marquee attraction type event to his hometown of Sacramento, and he already has the fight in mind.
“I called out Urijah Faber out after my last fight and I think that would be big for Sacramento,” says Ochoa. “ I think that is going to happen. He can’t fight another boxer with a bigger name in Sacramento and sell it out. I am that guy. It is going to be big when it happens. That’s why turning pro now to get to those next steps of what I want to accomplish, such as fighting a former UFC fighter as one of those goals. I think it is something that could be really big for Sacramento. I feel a lot of people would be really excited for it.”
This Saturday, Albert Ochoa steps into his new reality as a professional boxer. He will have to walk before he can run, but the young Sacramento native is excited to take the next step in his fistic odyssey.
“It has been a great three years into this journey,” says Ochoa. “I’ve worked my butt off. Stan has pushed me and I’ve worked on a lot of speed and power. This is the strongest I’ve been and I feel my grown man strength coming in and it will show this Saturday.”
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]
