TIJUANA The warehouse with the sign that reads "Jackie Nava Gym" is nestled among modest houses and narrow streets in an eastern neighborhood that not that long ago lived brutal times.
A block away, four bodies were discovered, part of a total of 19 found citywide on that shocking day, Sept. 29, 2008.
It was the start of one of the most sordid chapters of the city' s history, when two factions of an organized criminal group fought each other for control of the trafficking and sale of drugs on the border region and when the government decided to challenge them.
Before it was over, at the end of 2010, a total of 2,327 had been killed.
As a result, some residents fled the city but others rejected the violence in a different. They banded together in social, artistic, cultural and sports organizations to express and nurture a different reality.
The most recent example of this is the boxing gym that Jackie Nava has opened in the crowded, low-income neighborhood of Sepanal.
The 31-year-old is the recently crowned super bantamweight WBC champion. "The Aztec Princess," as she's come to be known, vaunted to fame last year, when four of her fights were televised on prime-time raising the profile of women's boxing to new heights. "We wanted to contribute something to the community," she said. "I know we face risks here; we may be robbed or our cars damaged, but we if we want to beat the bad guys we have to do our part. We have do something."
The Tijuana boxer: in exchange for providing classes to youngsters ages 17 and under for free, the state government helps pay the rent on the gym.
She and her husband, trainer Mario Mendoza, have converted what once was a warehouse used as an auto body shop into the boxing gym. She said they have invested $12,000 of their own funds to design and equip the facility, complete with a ring.
They opened on Dec. 18, and are currently training 65 adolescents, 26 of them girls, as well two professional fighters.
Up to that point, 14 public and private clubs were registered with the city's Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts and Lucha Libre Commission.
Nava's gym became number 15 in Tijuana, considered the boxing capital of Latin America. A place where the best go on to reach the top of their profession in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Japan or Europe.
"We don't encourage young people here to leave school," she said. "Many want to be famous in boxing, but few make it, that's why studying is so important to their future, to be able to make good decisions.
But sure, we want to develop new boxing talents."
Miguel Reyes, who trains Nava and who also gives morning classes at the gym, explained that teen-agers must have a minimum of a C average in their grades and continue in school to be accepted at the club.
Opening the gym is a dream come true for Nava.
On Jan. 28, Nava won her third world title by defeating Panamanian fighter Chantall Martínez before 5,000 fans at the Municipal Auditorium.
The Tijuana fighter has become famous after starring in four fights last year, two of them against Mexico City boxer Ana María Torres, in bouts that were televised on prime time for the first time by the giant TV networks Televisa or TV Azteca. These matches caught the attention of fans, which up to that point had largely dismissed women boxers.
"Yes, there was a 'before' and 'after,' " Nava said. "I accomplished goals I had dreamed of."
These included advancing to another level professionally, training in the legendary Otomí center in the State of Mexico, drawing the interest of a major boxing promotion company (Zanfer) and opening up her own gym.
On a recent morning there, trainer Reyes instructed a handful of adolescents.
Most were middle school students who were there because they wanted to learn boxing techniques not to become professional fighters.
They followed his directions carefully, clearly excited to be in a ring.
Fourteen-year-old Mireya Sánchez was one of them, despite her parents' objection that this sport was too rough for a girl who wears glasses. No matter, she was happy to be there, doing exercises with her friends in her own neighborhood.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
