Legendary Fort Worth boxing trainer led Donald Curry and Paulie Ayala to world titles
By Jeff Zimmerman
Beloved, legendary boxing trainer Paul Reyes, out of Fort Worth, Texas, passed away peacefully at 85 last Saturday, just a few days after Christmas, after recent health challenges.
Reyes, a proud Army veteran and a man of faith is best known for training two homegrown fighters to world titles, Donald Curry and Paulie Ayala, in an era when Fort Worth was a boxing hotbed and known as a “fight town” in the 80’s and 90’s.
Along with Curry and Ayala, Fort Worth produced several world champs during this time, including Stevie Cruz, Troy Dorsey, Gene Hatcher, and Bruce Curry, brother of Donald.
Reyes began training Curry at seven years old and by the time he was a young teen, Reyes knew Curry was special. Curry, who became known as the “Lone Star Cobra,” missed the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to the U.S. boycott, is considered one of the best amateur fighters of all time with a record of 400-4.
Curry, facing his own health issues today Fort Worth boxing legend Donald Curry suffering from TES, son seeks help | wfaa.com, won multiple world titles at welterweight and light middleweight in the 80’s and was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019. Reyes won trainer of the year in 1986 during Curry’s heyday.
Like Curry, Reyes also met Ayala when he was just a child and helped build him into a 2x world champion at bantamweight and super bantamweight. This included two classic wins against the late legend, hall of famer Johnny Tapia. His first fight with Tapia in 1999 earned Ayala “Fighter of the Year” by The Ring magazine as well as “Fight of The Year.” Ayala won the rematch in 2000 in another entertaining fight.
Another crowning moment for Reyes came in 2022 when he was inducted into the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame along with Curry and Ayala plus fellow Fort Worth legends Cruz, Dorsey, and Hatcher.
Ayala maintained a lifelong friendship with his trainer well beyond the ring.
“Paul was like family to me,” said Ayala. “He has been in my life since I was four years old, and he became a part of my family’s life too—he’s been there for my kids since the day they were born.
“I’ll deeply miss his calls, his visits to my gym, those matinee movie outings, and the way we could talk boxing for hours, always reminiscing about our glory days as a team, when we were at the top of our game together.”
In later years, Reyes worked with former amateur star and world title contender Roberto Marroquin out of Dallas, who lost to Guillermo Rigondeaux for his super bantamweight title in 2012. Reyes continued to work with dozens of other fighters with his son, Vincent, at his Reyes Boxing Gym.
Reyes no doubt touched the lives of so many in the Dallas-Fort Worth boxing community, which was evident by the outpouring of love by current and former fighters across social media upon learning of his passing.
Ayala summed it up best on how he and so many felt about Reyes and what he meant to them.
“Paul’s presence in my life was a blessing, and his memory will always hold a special place in my heart.”
A viewing will be held on Friday, January 10, 2024, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Victory Church, 5116 River Oaks Blvd, River Oaks, Texas. Funeral services will follow on Saturday, January 11, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., also at Victory Church. Paul will be laid to rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Fort Worth.
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