Eyes on the prize
Legendary boxer and trainer Canto Robledo honored with relief and Joe Louis Humanitarian Award
By André Coleman 07/15/2010
In the decades following the turn of the last century, damaged eyesight was a natural part of the boxing game. Many young men eventually lost their sight following brutal contests that didn’t end until one of the fighters was knocked out.
Former Pasadena fighter Canto “TNT” Robledo was no exception. A promising puncher, Robledo lost his sight following botched operations after suffering two detached retinas in a 1933 title bout. Canto won the fight but lost his sight. However, it wasn’t the end of his career, as had been the case for many others. Rather, it was really just the beginning.
Despite being totally blind, Robledo began coaching amateur and pro fighters in his backyard gym on Manzanita Street, becoming the sport’s only blind certified trainer in 1953 — a profession he followed for nearly four decades.
On Saturday, the city will unveil “Canto Robledo and Kids,” a wall relief that will be dedicated to the Hall of Fame boxer at 4 p.m. in the Villa-Parke Community Center. Robledo, who died in 1991, will also posthumously receive the Joe Louis Humanitarian Award at the event.
“What’s amazing is that he continued on in the sport helping people, especially the youth who wanted to do the same thing that took his sight away,” said Canto’s son, Joe, himself a trainer at the community center. “He just took all that energy and put it back into training. He did the greatest work of his life after he lost his sight.”
The memorial ends a six-year effort to honor Canto by his family and the Pasadena Mexican American History Association (PMAHA), which approached Joe in 2004 with ideas of memorializing his father. Soon, a group met with city leaders and proposed placing a statue of Canto in an area park before eventually settling on a bronze wall relief in the community center.
“Now we are moving from the Canto Robledo Memorial Project to the Canto Robledo Living Memorial, which will provide scholarships to kids in Pasadena,” said PMAHA Secretary Rachel Herida. “This isn’t the end. This is basically the beginning.”
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