9 January 2 - 8, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents The Knockout Dallas boxer Angelica Collazo inspires fans to thrive through the punches. BY THERESSA VELAZQUEZ F our years ago, Angelica Collazo was an alcoholic, punching holes in walls, indulging in self-harm and taking acid to feel happy. She had unresolved trauma and bottled-up emotions that stemmed from being molested as a child. Collazo had learned to disassociate. When she hit adulthood, she didn’t know how to process her feelings. One day, as tears streamed down her face, Collazo won- dered, “Why am I so mean to myself when I’m just reacting to how others treat me?” She resolved: “I’m going to learn how to fight. The next person who tries me is catching hands.” On Dec. 7, the 25-year-old from Pleasant Grove fiercely entered the ring, wearing pink boxing shorts and gloves and weighing 120 pounds. That day marked her professional de- but. “I was thinking, ‘I’m doing the hitting, I don’t want to get hit,’” she says. Standing 5-feet tall, Collazo remained in the pocket, stay- ing as close as possible to her 5-foot-4 opponent to prevent her from delivering powerful punches. Collazo stopped Glenny Escobar with a double jab and a cross. Then a second stop with a jab and two rights to the head. Collazo ultimately won by technical knockout in a minute and 30 seconds. “She didn’t want to go in [the ring] anymore,” Collazo says. “She only hit me once … I wanted to knock her down to the ground.” Before this professional debut, Collazo had never fought, even in an amateur fight. “I went straight pro,” she says. “Some people fight be- cause they love the sport, or they fight for money. I want to get paid to do things I like doing,” she says referring to her working out regiment. At the beginning of her self-care journey, Collazo felt lonely. “I was doing nothing with my life,” she says. She sought help from a therapist and psychiatrist to ad- dress her anxiety and depression, while also setting bound- aries with people and establishing goals for her future. She wanted to travel the world one day and get paid for taking photos at the same time. Shortly thereafter, Collazo got a divorce. “I think God put me through all these challenges so I could be the person I am today,” she says. “I’m kinder, nicer and more patient with people … it’s all about perspective. Even though a lot of traumatic things happened [to me], I don’t let those things define me.” Collazo had also previously experimented with cocaine but says it didn’t have any effect because of her ADHD. She had read research indicating that kids who eat artificial foods are more hyperactive than those who eat organic foods, so she decided to start eating clean. Then she cut out all drugs and alcohol, replacing them with non-psychedelic mushrooms, sea moss and herbal teas. She reasoned that her brain had been fried from all the drugs she had taken since age 12, but slowly, as she embraced a healthier lifestyle, she felt herself returning to normal and her memory improving. Collazo started attending Montoya Boxing Gym, the academy of former Dallas Cowboys assistant Anthony Montoya. “I didn’t run. I didn’t jump rope. I didn’t do anything — no detriment, just pow pow pow,” she says, referring to how she focused solely on hitting the heavy bag during her entire workout to release her anger. Collazo became curious about fighting at one point and sparred once but didn’t like getting hit. She had started do- ing a lot of work photographing, organizing community events and being on camera for social media marketing, so she didn’t want any bruises or cuts on her face. However, she continued hitting the bag, eating clean, doing calisthenics and meditating. In May, Collazo was T-boned by a GMC Yukon on her way to work. The airbags in her Nissan Sentra were de- ployed, all the windows shattered and the vehicle was to- taled. The wreck left Collazo with multiple scratches on her face that resulted in scars. She needed four staples in her head above her left ear. Fortunately, Collazo had no broken bones. The rehabilita- tion center she was scheduled to attend informed her that her car wreck was the worst they had seen that week, yet she was the patient who looked the least hurt. They advised her to stop calisthenics and boxing to rest her body from the impact. That’s when her pro-boxing friend, Abel Mendoza from El Paso, asked her if she wanted to travel around the country with him as his personal photographer. She agreed and left Dallas. Eventually, Collazo’s body healed, and she began working out with the same regimen as Mendoza, who has 41 wins and zero losses. He had planted a seed in her mind to take boxing seriously and offered to help her find her first booking. “I spent too much of my life in fear, not doing anything,” Collazo says. The worst had already happened: She had in- jured her face in that car accident. So, she decided to give boxing a chance. Upon returning home, Collazo hopped into the ring and was beaten up frequently during training. In September she took her first boxing group class at TMack Elite Training, considered one of the best gyms in Texas for boxing fitness and high-intensity interval training for elite athletes. A Nice Ring to It S he realized she wasn’t in top boxing shape yet, but Collazo began to search for sponsors with no money in her pocket. She had quit her job to dedicate herself full-time to boxing. “A lot of people helped me,” she says, giving a shoutout to Box Up Nation, Eden Esthetics, Something Sweet, Sicarra Yoga, Balance Breeze, Route to Fame, Everyday Works and Mando’s Spot. “All my sponsors either gave me funds, prod- ucts or services.” Collazo started to go to Fuerte and Fierce for strength conditioning. Then she went to Unity Foundation Train- ing for body recovery. Retired pro boxer Miguel Angel Perez helped train her with free one-on-one lessons in footwork and offensive and defensive techniques. The second time she entered TMack Elite training, in October, top coach Tony Mack saw something different in her. In less than a month, Collazo had drastically changed her shape and had locked down her technique. When the amateur boxing group class was over, Coach Mack — who is a Texas super-middleweight champion, a six-time Dallas Golden Gloves champion and a USA na- tional champion — asked Collazo to train with him along- side his other professional boxers. When she told him she didn’t have any money, he replied, “I didn’t ask for a pay- ment. Come train with my pros. I got you.” All Collazo had to do was attend every training session without missing a day; otherwise, she would no longer be welcome. By the time she was fully preparing for her fight in Co- lombia, Collazo was working out six times a week for five to six hours a day, conditioning her body to withstand four rounds in the boxing ring. The athlete openly shares on her Instagram her struggles with mental health and staying fit. She says she wants to share her story to encourage others who are also suffering and to give them a glimmer of hope. “Like boxing, life is going to hit you back, but you just have to get up and keep trying,” she says. “I’m a sensitive person. People think as a boxer, I should be more tough and not cry, but I think it takes a lot of guts to express your emo- tions and not bottle things up.” Collazo’s next goal is to find someone to sign her. Other- wise, she’ll remain an independent boxer. “I used to be a villain; evil and angry all the time,” Col- lazo says, expressing how she was suicidal at one point in her life. On her third attempt, the thought of her mother finding her dead hurt her too much, so she didn’t go through with it. “I’m so happy I didn’t die,” she says. “Life is so beauti- ful when you actively work towards being a better person.” Collazo turned 26 on Dec. 27. She has learned to accept the difficult moments in her past and present, and try to re- main positive and grow from them. “There is ugliness and beauty in everything, and that’s what makes life worth living,” Collazo says. ▼ Culture Scicarra Devers Dallas boxer Angelica Collazo decided that life wasn’t going to knock her down.
