A Brooklyn boy and the home town favorite comes into the ring at Resorts Casino in Queens NY on December 8th, with the crowd chanting his name, Galarza! Galarza! That is “Notorious” Frank Galarza, Middleweight fighter with an 8-0-1 record. He has charm, looks, and talent in the boxing ring. He is very well rounded and has an extreme amount of heart combined with a diehard love for the sport of boxing.
Galarza was born and raised in Brooklyn where several champions in boxing have come from. Galarza definitely has that Brooklyn Swagger in him. Galarza did get a late start in boxing due to struggles. Unfortunately, Galarza had a hard childhood; we have seen this from many boxers. Galarza lost both his parents by the age of ten and was raised by his aunt and uncle. They were very much into baseball, so even though they knew boxing was in Frank’s blood due to his father being a pro fighter, they pushed him into baseball. Galarza said, “I tried very hard but my uncle could see my heart was not into baseball and he helped me find a boxing gym.”
Galarza found the PAL in Sunset Park to be his new home away from home and started boxing and soon fell hard for the sport. Being a young Puerto Rican teen in Brooklyn is not easy, and soon the concrete jungle streets called him. Galarza admitted he found something in the streets that he thought he was looking for and boxing took a back seat. Eventually the streets of Brooklyn served no purpose and Galarza soon found out that the concrete streets were a lot harder when you hit it, than the mat in the ring. So back to boxing he would go but this time he was focused and smarter.
In 2010, Galarza would win the Golden Gloves in the 165 lb Novice Division over Allen Brunner and then turned pro soon after. Galarza could not support himself on boxing alone so he gained employment at New York Health and Racquet in NYC as a personal trainer. Having this position would give him time to work out and train. His boss and coworkers are very supportive of his boxing and were present for his last three fights.
While talking with Galarza, who is extremely personable he mentioned how he wants to be like Hearns and Hagler; meaning he just wants to fight and train for each fight. Galarza said, “I will fight anyone and train hard. I never want anyone to pick my fights and a loss is not a loss, it is a learning experience.”
His trainer is Aureliano Sosa. Galarza has worked with him from the beginning and they work very well together. There is a loyalty and comfort between them that cannot be found easily. I had asked Galarza about his fight that resulted in a draw and he told me that was the fight that was most memorable for him. He immediately stated, “No one was more surprised than me!” The crowd and his whole team were shocked at the outcome. Galarza said, “I felt as though I definitely out boxed Alantez and I never felt behind.” So when results came in, the crowd, his team, and Galarza himself were understandably very disappointed.
Galarza has started a nonprofit organization that will help mentor Kids from ages of 13-20. It is called Fight Forward which will be based out of Brooklyn and boxing will be their main focus. You could hear the excitement in Galarza’s voice as he spoke about the program. “Everyone deserves a chance and I want to be the one to help these kids. I sell my t-shirts at my fights for Fight Forward so we can help these kids.” Galarza is also working on a clothing line for urban and blue collar workers with his brother Elvin. All of these projects just show how focused and what a real down to earth guy he is. Galarza is looking forward to be back in the ring more next year. He is scheduled to fight in January in Dominican Republic on ESPN Deportes and then bringing it back to Brooklyn on the under card at the Barclays on March 9th on the proposed Bernard Hopkins-Tavoris Cloud card.
