Youth loses fight for life

Carlos Perez is buckled in to head gear by his dad, Carlos Perez Sr., for final challenge of the workout — several three-minute rounds in the ring, August 2013. (Paul Carter/The Register-Guard, 2013)

Carlos Daniel Perez, 14, won state and regional boxing competitions this winter, but he had his eyes on bigger dreams.

“He wanted to become a world champion,” said his coach, Heron Mendez. “He wanted to go to the Olympics.”

Severely injured in a van crash last Saturday, Carlos died Friday in a Portland hospital.

Carlos, a student at Briggs Middle School, had been raising money to compete in the national Silver Gloves competition for top boxers younger than 16, to be held in Independence, Mo., on Jan. 30.

He was on his way with five other people to a competition in Portland on the foggy morning of Jan. 18 when the van, driven by Mendez, 66, collided with the back of a truck pulling a tanker trailer. The van and truck were on the Aurora/Donald interchange on-ramp approaching the lanes of northbound Interstate 5 near milepost 278 around 9:50 a.m., according to Oregon State Police.

 

Carlos, his father Carlos Perez-Trujillo, 41, and his sister, Sarah Perez, 12, weren’t wearing seat belts, police say. The three were transported to Oregon Health & Science University with serious injuries, and Carlos remained in critical condition.

The young boxer died at the hospital early Friday morning, police say.

For Mendez, the news came as a shock.

“He was a great kid. Very humble, very soft-spoken,” Mendez said. “He was just a jewel ... I just can’t believe he’s gone.”

Carlos Perez-Trujillo has been treated and released from the hospital, and Sarah’s condition is improving, police said.

Mendez and the van’s other passengers, Jacob L. Williams, 36, and Louis Zenon-Meza, 28, both from Eugene, were transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland with non-life-threatening injuries.

 

The truck’s driver, Richard Reienmuth, 68, from Gering, Neb., was not injured.

Conditions were foggy at the time of the crash, but police say the main cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Carlos started boxing in Anchorage three years ago. After his family moved to Springfield 18 months ago, he trained at Mendez Boxing Gym in Springfield under Mendez and Williams. He won his last seven fights and had an overall record of 16-4.

“He’s really fast all around — footwork, hand speed, everything,” Williams told The Register-Guard earlier this month, as Carlos prepared for the national competition. “He’s just a super lightning-fast fighter.”

Mendez said the gym will resume normal training on Monday, “because we believe that’s what he would have wanted,” he said. “It’s going to be a little tough, because all of us have something broke.”

He said Carlos’ tenacity was an inspiration to fellow fighters, and to him as a coach.

“He was a hard worker; he never quit,” he said. “He gave everybody hope that they could be just as good if they tried hard enough.”

 By Kelsey Thalhofer 

 http://www.registerguard.com