Librado “Lee” Espinoza

Librado “Lee” Espinoza is the founder and longtime coach behind the Coachella Valley Boxing Club. Born near La Piedad, Michoacán, Espinoza came to the United States as a child and worked in agriculture before building a career in landscaping and irrigation. His path into boxing began through fatherhood when his young son, Ruben, wanted to compete for a trophy.

After learning how to train young fighters, Espinoza assumed responsibility for an Indio youth boxing program. In 1985, he moved the program into an abandoned Coachella fire station, where children trained in difficult conditions with limited equipment and few basic facilities. Espinoza transported young fighters, bought meals, organized fundraisers and ensured that a family’s financial circumstances did not determine whether a child could belong.

The program eventually found a permanent home at Bagdouma Park, where its current clubhouse opened in 1996. The gym helped develop world champions, national champions, accomplished trainers and an Olympian while creating a coaching tradition that spread through generations of local families. Its lineage includes Julio Díaz, Randy Caballero, Sandra Yard, Gabriela and Sebastian Fundora, Citlalli Ortiz and many others whose careers were shaped inside the club.

Espinoza was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005 and the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame in 2021. Yet his greatest legacy extends beyond championship belts. By building a free, donation-supported place where children could develop discipline, confidence and community, Lee Espinoza created one of the Coachella Valley’s most enduring youth institutions—and earned his place among the region’s true legends.

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