I am currently attending the University of California at San Diego, which -- contrary to the name -- is actually located in La Jolla, California. Since I'm a lowly freshman and don't have access to a car, I've been looking for places to train within a few miles of the University. After doing a few web searches, I stumbled upon The Boxing Club, which is headed by Mel Menor.
The Boxing Club's web page (http://www.theboxingclub.net/instructors_Mel.php) states that Menor has held two world titles: WKA Lightweight World Champion and K-U Japan World Jr. Welterweight. He also won the K-1 Super Bout in 2001 and 2002 and boasts an overall professional record of 28 wins, 0 losses. It all sounds very impressive.
However, being a great fighter does not necessarily mean someone is a great teacher. So I was wondering: does anyone know anything about Menor, aside from his professional fighting exploits? Either as a person or as a teacher---is anyone familiar with the guy? I'd appreciate any sort of additional information.
Thanks,
Darin
I've been looking for a good gym too. I talked with Mel for a little while and he seems like a nice
guy and obviously knows what he's doing. I
suggest you check out one of the classes to see if you're interested, since it's not that far from UCSD.
I train all the time with mel i attend his classes and do privates with him. He's an awesome trainer! I can't believe how much i improved working with him.
I'm sure Mel is a great fighter and teacher but his record is perhaps.........outdated? He was KO'd by Masato on the undercard of Rickson-Funaki. =) JJgirl
Mel is a good fighter and a very down to earth person. He started out in Las Vegas with my current instructor who has nothing but good things to say about him. I haven't seen him since he closed his school on Miramar Rd way back (Mel's House of Thunder).
PS - UCSD is in fact located in San Diego (hence the name). La Jolla is just a community of San Diego (ie. Mira Mesa, Pacific Beach, Point Loma) and is not a city in itself (ie. Escondido, Del Mar, Poway) Which college do you attend? I graduated from Warren in 2000.
Murahama also beat him by decision
I thrained with mel while attending school in san diego good guy....gave me a HUGE price cut because i was a fighter (not a wannabe or cardio kickboxer)...i suggest you go there and check him out !
Mark
I trained with mel back when he was at city boxing and I thought his teaching style was really good. From what I remember, he'd break the curriculum down week by week. One week would be knee oriented, then leg kick, then body toughening, or whatever, it always rotated. What I think is interesting about mel is that he would break techniques down into street vs. ring application, more often leaning towards the ring. He'd show us a move, then explain what would hurt someone the most, and then what would look the best to a judge. His teaching style reflects his fighting style, which is more technical than anything. So that worked well for me, since I'm not the most heavy-handed kb'er ever. I don't know if he still teaches the same way, but just go check him out yo.
Oh, and you're still in san diego.
oh, and I'm not making excuses for the guy, but masato looked a lot heavier than mel in the colluseum.
Only a fool would pass up the chance to train under Mel. John Wayne Parr said he is the only American who gave him a good workout on a technical level.
Yeah mel told me masato was alot heavier than him. I asked him about K1 MAX and he said that most of the guys there are heavier than him. He said he'd have a better chance if he weighed more.
He might suprise you guys this year! ;)
ttt
Does anyone know how much it cost to train with mel I live in la jolla as well and am looking to train muay thai
city boxing is a good gym as well. in the downtown area. mike regnier is a good guy and great teacher.
Is city boxing as good as training with Menor what's the backround on the guy at City
ttt
In my opinion, Melchor Menor is not only one of the best trainers and fighters in San Diego, but also a great person.
Okay, okay, so La Jolla is part of San Diego. Sorry, I'm originally from the Bay Area, where cities are cities, not communities... ;)
I definitely didn't expect to see this thread pop up again. I ended up joining The Boxing Club, and so far, I could not possibly be happier with classes there. Everything people have said above rings true: Mel is a great fighter, coach and human being. I definitely recommend training with him.
As for CityBoxing: The facility is VERY nice, albeit a bit far from campus (remember, I don't drive, and it's a long bus ride to Downtown SD from UCSD). I called a few times to ask various questions about training and was always treated very nicely and with respect. And it goes without saying that the trainers' credentials are quite impressive. Unfortunately, CityBoxing is very, very far out of my price range, something along the lines of twice as expensive as The Boxing Club. I know that quality instruction often does not run cheap, so I won't hold that against them---but for a part-time college student such as I, the fee was simply not feasible.
Darin (John Muir College, class of 2007)