A Trip to Santa Fe Lights Out Boxing
I was once told a crunch can be anywhere as long as you’re talking about god. Much in the same line of thought, a Boxing gym is not defined by the space, but by the honest hard work put in.
Combat Sports are deeply embedded in the roots of New Mexico, with Boxing being held in the highest regard.
Last week photographer Sal Gomez & I went up to Santa Fe to visit Josh Herrera, 33, owner and head man at Santa Fe Lights Out Boxing.
Herrea knows that boxing saves lives and he has a deep passion for the sweet science. Herrera wants to help show how beneficial and positive fighting in a legal, competitive platform is.
Herrera was a student of Brian Martinez, who then turned into a protege of Pat Holmes. Herrera set out on his own and opened Santa Fe Lights Out Boxing, this past March. Growing is important as a young coach, like the advice famed 
trainer Louis Burke gave Herrera about opening his own gym, “to just do it and go for it”.
Herrera has no shortage of high level experience having been in the corners of Patrick Holmes Jr., Brandon Holmes, Antonio “Tone” Martinez, Aaron Martinez, & Cristian “El Puma” Cabral.
In June Holmes Boxing held an amateur event at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino. Santa Fe Lights Out Boxing had 8 fighters on the card. The gym is run out of Herrera’s garage with fighters in and out all day long.
The facility is 4 walls, 1’s a garage door. There’s a speed bag, head movement bag, aqua bag, 1 long bag and 1 ball in net. There’s enough space for 1 to jump rope, hit mitts, & shadow box.
Herrera’s team of fighters includes an array of characters from; his own pre-teen son, to former high school & college football players,& even your 9-5er’s looking to stay in shape, to mention a few.
“Fighting changes people for the better”, says Herrera. Who tries to bring his own 
athletic experiences, like cross fit, and incorporates it with each persons individual style.
Herrera describes his style as “punches in bunches, make them an miss make them pay, while sticking to rugged basics”. As for throwing his fighter into the ring Herrera believes “a fight makes them push there self, that’s what it’s about you have to learn in the ring”.
The building doesn’t define the gym, but the work that goes on in the gym builds dreams, lives, and makes family. New Mexico has a long successful Boxing history, and Santa Fe Lights Out Boxing is putting in hard work to make a mark.
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