Arnold Yescas channels brash Nicaraguan boxer to fight for Champions for Charity and MacKids
By Jeff Hicks
KITCHENER —
Ricardo Mayorga once held up a chicken leg as he chowed down during a Las Vegas weigh-in.
“He was a scrapper,” laughed Arnold Yescas — one of Mandy Bujold’s 20 community leaders ready to step on the fundraising scales for MacKids and step into the boxing ring for the the first time as a Champion for Charity — as he described his trash-talking, welterweight idol.
“He was something else.”
Yes, El Matador was a Nicaraguan showman of the sweet and savoury science. Eating pizza or chomping an apple while his opponents starved themselves to make weight.
Puffing on a power-move cigarette to as the two-division world champion strolled into the ring.
Maybe Yescas, the 31-year-old arts and culture manager for the Downtown Kitchener Business Improvement Area, will bring a more cerebral touch of Mayorga’s flambé flamboyance to the Tapestry Hall spotlight on April 24.
“Just his fierce mentality,” said Yescas, whose family Nicaraguan roots go back to Diriamba — about 45 minutes south of the Managuan streets what produced the brashness of Mayorga.
“I think that’s what I’m going to base my Champs for Charity style around — without the cigarettes.”
Instead, Yescas hopes to walk up to the Blue Team corner with his Miguel at his side.
Miguel, 11, just had his first Taekwondo fight. Now, his dad is ready for his first bout — to benefit MacKids and help Waterloo Region Health Network Foundation purchase an additional echocardiogram machine for its paediatric clinic through a 50/50 draw and silent auction.
Strange that Yescas has never fought before.
He grew up in Kitchener watching his brother Alan and brother-in-law Joe box for Syd Vanderpool, a former super middleweight champ.
And Yescas has a knack for going off on grand adventures fraught with danger.
He and wife Gabby honeymooned in Kenya and Tanzania, camping in the Serengeti.
No security. Just the savanna. And the roar of not-so-far-off lions.
“It was a bit scary but a very cool experience,” said Yescas, a former Kitchener restaurateur. “Best two weeks of my entire life, for sure.”
Now, 16 weeks of Champions for Charity training has begun.
No cigarettes. No slices of pizza. Just hard work for a great cause that Champs has raised over a million dollars of support through three previous editions.
The legacy, like a chicken leg missing a chunk, must be upheld.
“I have a few friends and co-workers that have participated over the years,” he said. “What a challenge. What an incredible cause.”
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