JOSE LEO MORENO: A HEAVY-HEARTED FIGHTER

By: Ramon Hough
6/15/05

This Friday, June 17 th at the RiverCentre Ballroom in St. Paul, undefeated Jose Leo Moreno will be trying to take his biggest step towards accomplishing his goal of becoming a world champion. But just over a year ago, Moreno’s boxing career was put on hold because his nine-year-old daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer.
It was a Saturday afternoon in April of 2004, Moreno was at the mall shopping with his wife, Shelly, and four kids: Kaelyn, Aleena, Isabel and Lucas. 
“We noticed (the then eight-year-old) Aleena was wobbly. My wife got concerned and wanted to take her to the emergency room,” Moreno said.
At first, Moreno thought it could wait until Monday. But Moreno and his wife remembered that Aleena had been seeing double earlier in the week. They thought she might only need glasses, but decided to bring her to the hospital to be safe.
“We figured we would be out of there in no time. But the doctors came in, ran some tests and came back to tell us they’d found a tumor in her brain.”
Aleena was later diagnosed with brain cancer. In all, the doctors found three tumors in Aleena’s brain and one in her spine. She was given only a 20% chance of recovery. 
“At first, it was devastating. We didn’t know where it would go,” said Moreno. “I wanted to be there for my family, so we put boxing on the back-burner at that point. I put the family first and had to deal with it.”

BOXING BEGINNINGS
Moreno started boxing when he was a 15-year-old student at Johnson High School in St. Paul’s East Side. He fought as an amateur for about three years, but stopped because he pinched a nerve in his back in a car accident and was focusing on other things.
After a few years, Moreno was back in the gym. He didn’t intend to take any more amateur fights. But not long after, he took a fight and that fight led to another.
By the end of his amateur career, Moreno had fought about 60 bouts. He won two Upper Midwest Golden Gloves titles and competed in the final match in the National Golden Gloves tournament in Denver. 
After losing in the Finals, Moreno felt he’d done enough as an amateur and thought it was time to turn pro.
“I think age was the biggest factor (27 at the time). I was getting older and if I was going to find out where I was as a professional, I might as well do it now.”

HIS BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY
Since turning pro, Moreno has built an impressive record of 11-0, with 9 knockouts. None of his opponents have been able to match his superior conditioning, unshakable will and relentless punch output. But at the same time, none of those opponents ever came to the ring with the combination of talent and experience that Moreno’s next opponent, Mohammed “the Dark Destroyer” Kayongo, will bring to the ring. 
Kayongo, who is originally from Uganda has won 12 of his 14 professional bouts, nine by way of knockout. Kayongo has also fought twice on cable-giant Showtime’s Shobox series.
“I think (Kayongo) is a talented fighter. He has good speed and power,” said Moreno. “He (also) has good quickness in his jab and he has a good right hand.”
While Moreno thinks he and Kayongo are evenly matched, people close to him don’t agree. Dan O’Connor, who is Moreno’s manager, thinks Moreno is at a higher level than Kayongo.
“We respect him as a fighter, but we don’t think he’s actually a Jose Leo Moreno caliber of fighter.”
O’Connor—who also trains Minnesota prospects Scott Ball and Rafael Butler—thinks Moreno’s non-stop punching attack will wear Kayongo out like it has all previous opponents. 
“(Moreno) is at the top of his game right now. The most he’s ever gone is five rounds, but he could go 20 rounds.” O’Connor said. “His opponents all wait for him to slow down. If Kayongo waits, he won’t be able to deal with the constant pressure. That’s the way (Moreno) defeats his opponents. He just wears them down.”
Emmett Yanez has been Moreno’s trainer since his amateur days. The 85-year-old Yanez is also confident that Moreno is ready for Kayongo..
“(Moreno) seldom takes a step back. I’m very confident that he’ll do the job,” Yanez said. “I know that he’s ready to move up. I’m sure he’ll give a real good performance.”
While his management team feels confident going into the bout, Moreno is concerned about maintaining his normally furious punch out-put over 10 rounds. 
“We’re working on pacing ourselves a little more. (But) the game plan is to do what we’ve always done: to put pressure on him, throw lots of shots and hopefully wear him out,” said Moreno. 
“My whole mentality is I want to hit the guy to make sure he doesn’t hit me. You’ve heard the old saying that the best defense is a better offense…that’s the philosophy that I’ve adopted. I worry about the one round and if I’m tired in the next round, then I’ll deal with it then.”

NEW HOPE
Like many parents would, Moreno couldn’t help wondering why this had happened to his young daughter. Despite his Christian faith, he had trouble understanding why God could allow his daughter to be sick. 
“Aleena’s just wonderful. Her personality is smiling constantly,” said Moreno. “When (I) walk in the house, she always has a smile or she gives (me) a hug. There are certain aspects and so many things that (we’re) just so proud of her.”
Two months after her diagnosis, Aleena had surgery to remove a two-inch tumor from her brain. The surgery was a success and with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Aleena’s prognosis has been upgraded to a 60% chance of recovery.
“She’s coming out of this tremendously. She’s made great strides and her cancer was put in remission,” he said.
Aleena’s health may have improved. But Moreno, who works full-time as a metal conditioner, was getting overwhelmed by the rising medical bills and his family needed help. With the help of friends and acquaintances, the Moreno family held a benefit to help pay the medical bills in October of 2004, which included a silent auction and spaghetti dinner. According to Moreno, the benefit his family helped immensely. 
“A lot of people were very gracious putting forth money to help us. It was remarkable in what they were able to accomplish and it was done in such a short amount of time.”
Aleena is still dealing with treatments and their painful side effects, but Moreno can see her smile coming back. 
“I think she’s just starting to get her personality back. Before the surgery, she was a happy-go-lucky kid,” he said. “After the surgery, she withdrew a little bit. She’s starting to open up a little bit more.”
While Moreno did go through times of sadness and uncertainty, he says that his family and faith in God have only gotten stronger. 
“Its amazing how one incident just changes your family. Now (my kids) are more caring of each other versus constantly yelling and bickering. They’re more appreciative of each other and the time they spend together. I don’t see (the illness) being negative in any way. I think its been helpful. Not that you’d wish it to happen to anyone, but I think it came out for the best in the end,” said Moreno. “Everything can help you and His blessings have shown us that over time, its all going to work out. He’s the main reason we’ve been able to deal with this whole situation.”

THE NEXT STEP
Jose Leo Moreno’s boxing career was put on hold when his daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. Her condition has improved dramatically, but Moreno knows that his daughter’s condition could deteriorate at any time. 
“All it does is tell me that I need to go that much quicker to find out where I’m at. Its pretty much, ‘lets find out where we are now because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.’ Live every day for the day and that’s what we’re doing right now. There is a lot hinging on this fight for myself and my career,” said Moreno.
According to O’Connor, the winner of the Moreno/Kayongo fight has been promised a spot on a future Shobox fight card. Moreno’s management team knows this fight could really help or hurt his career, but they feel confident their fighter is ready to make the move up. 
“He’s ready for a big fight. This is going to be a big step for him. He’s always a crowd-pleaser. There is never a dull moment with him,” said Yanez. “I’d be very surprised if (Moreno) gets beat in this fight. He can go as far as he wants,” O’Connor said. “With the pressure (applies), the chin that he has, he can be about what he wants to be.” 

—–If you’d like to help the Moreno family with Aleena’s medical costs. You can visit any U.S. Bank location and ask about the Aleena Smile fund.——