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Winning the Central California Junior Olympics in Bakersfield on April 26, 14-year-old Pedro Villalobos has come a long way from being an overweight kid who joined Bulldog Boxing Gym in Hollister six years ago to escape bullying. Fresh from his victory, he is now back in training for his next challenge, the Junior Olympic Nationals on June 20-27.
Bulldog Boxing owner Zeke Lopez said he has been impressed by how quickly Villalobos transformed from a shy, frightened boy into a strong, competitive athlete.
“Pedro used to have two left feet,” he said. “He went from throwing one punch at a time to throwing combinations. He’s good at a lot of things. He’s tough. He loves to fight inside. He loves to brawl. And he is still just an all-around good kid who gets good grades.”
While Villalobos said he was initially interested in joining the gym to lose weight, he became fascinated by watching older boxers spar, particularly Efren Gamino, who became one of his coaches.
Pedro Villalobos trains at Bulldog Boxing Gym Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Pedro Villalobos at 11, with Efren Gamino. Photo courtesy of Bulldog Gym. 
Pedro Villalobos in training. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Pedro Villalobos with a Student of the Quarter certificate from Hollister Prep Middle School. Photo courtesy of Bulldog Boxing Gym. 
Pedro Villalobos works the speed bag. Photo by Robert Eliason.
“When I saw them all,” Villalobos said, “it just looked really cool. And I wanted to start fighting from that day. I wasn’t good—like, at first, I’d barely even throw or move my feet. So I just kept fighting more.”
Gamino has been working with Villalobos since 2019, when the young boxer was only eight, and has seen his steady progress over the years.
“I wrapped him up for his first fight,” Gamino said. “His hands were shaking. I was worried for him. He was so nervous during the fight that he couldn’t even hear the bell. Around his third or fourth fight, I started seeing the skills that he shows in sparring coming into the fight.”
By the time he was 11, Lopez said, Villalobos was able to start training other fighters. At 13, he won the 2024 Central California Silver Gloves Boxing Tournament and advanced to the national finals.
“I fought the No. 1-ranked guy,” Villalobos said. “I lost to him before, at State, by a split decision. I lost to him again at the nationals, but it was a good fight. A really good fight.”
Villalobos said he likes the sport’s competitiveness, trying to be better than anyone else in the ring. But win or lose, he will always watch his fight videos to gauge his performance and look for flaws.
“I learn from them always,” he said. “I look at them over and over again to see what I did wrong, what I could have done better to win, and what I’m going to do next time when I fight the same opponent.”
Villalobos said that while he was very nervous about this trip to the Junior Olympics, the two fights went better than he expected.
“Honestly,” he said, “I didn’t really feel too confident. But I went in thinking I couldn’t make my gym look bad. I went up against a guy from Visalia in the first fight, and I dominated all three rounds. Then I fought someone from Sanger and dropped him in the second round.”
Gamino credits Villalobos’ wins to his speed and his power, but also his willingness to listen to his coaches in the ring.
“In that last fight, he said, “He was paying attention to me as if I was controlling him. He was responding to me like that, almost instantly. I told him to start engaging more and not get off of that guy.”
Villalobos is now in training for the nationals in June, working out at the gym three hours a day, five days a week. It can be a grueling schedule for a 14-year-old, but he said he is determined to win the championship this time.
“I always get tired,” he said, “but I’d rather get tired in training than in the fight. I want to go pro at some point. There’s a lot of support from the gym, and I think it would be easy for me to do and would help my family.”
For more information about Bulldog Boxing, or to support Pedro Villalobos in his quest for the national title, call Zeke Lopez at (831) 756-0182.
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