Back on his feet: Albuquerque boxer returns to the ring after nine-year hiatus

Aug. 3—At age 29, Albuquerque boxer Matthew Baca remarkably resembles the 18-year-old Matthew who made his professional ring debut in 2013 — trim, fit, ready to rumble.

That hasn't always been the case.

Nine years and one month after he last fought — and 60 pounds lighter than the 200-plus pounds he weighed during his hiatus — Baca (4-2-1, two knockouts) is scheduled for a ring comeback on Saturday. He's matched against Texan Ashton Royal (1-6, one KO) in a six-round welterweight bout on a pro card at Expo New Mexico.

"I look at (Saturday's bout) as a new chapter in my career," Baca said after a Thursday workout at the Jack Candelaria Community Center. "Like beginning all over again.

"So right now, even though I'm 4-2-1, I feel like I'm oh-and-oh."

But what happened, and where has he been?

In 2012, Baca appeared on a fast track to boxing success.

After Albuquerque boxing world champion Holly Holm opted to focus solely on MMA, Lenny Fresquez, Holm's longtime promoter, looked for another boxer to eventually headline his cards. Impressed with what he'd seen of the teenage Baca, Fresquez signed him to a contract.

Things didn't go as planned.

On March 29, 2013 at the Wool Warehouse on 1st Street, Baca lost by unanimous decision in just his third pro fight to fellow Albuquerquean Yorden Hernandez. Matching Baca against the older, stronger Hernandez, Fresquez said at the time, had been a mistake.

Baca went 2-0-1 in his next three bouts, then accepted a bout at Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut against unbeaten Ryan Martin — 6-0 at the time, still active and 25-2 today. Baca lost by unanimous decision, losing all four rounds on each official scorecard.

Meanwhile, out-of-the-ring events were dramatically changing his life.

"I found out that I was gonna be a father," he said. "When I found out, I kind of, like, panicked a little bit. I just said, 'You know what, I need to get a career, a steady career.'"

In the same time frame, David Baca, his son's trainer, became ill with cancer and was no longer able to work with him in the gym.

"Without my dad," Baca said, "I didn't feel the same passion for (boxing) at the time."

David Baca died in 2020. The younger Baca is dedicating Saturday's bout to his father.

Focused as a single dad caring for son Malachi, now 8, Baca took a job working maintenance at Los Altos Golf Course for the City of Albuquerque. Over time, he put on those 60 pounds and, passively, lost his connection to boxing.

And yet ... and yet ... embers of his love for the sport — fostered by his relationship with his father — still glowed. Concentrating first on losing weight, he began working out at Jack Candelaria.

The process was difficult. He wasn't a teenager anymore.

"When I first started, I was hurting a lot, body aches," he said. "It was a lot of work, a lot of work."

Thoughts of a comeback, while there, were not paramount at first.

"I just wanted to do it at my own pace," he said.

When Baca felt the time was right, he approached trainer Manuel Anaya, whom he'd known since Baca was Malachi's age.

"Manuel always told me, 'If you ever want to come back, I'll always help you.'"

Baca has prepared for Saturday surrounded by Anaya-trained fighters Matt Griego-Ortega, Lorenzo Benavidez and Quentin DeLeon, all scheduled to perform on the card — Griego-Ortega in the main event. Baca got quality sparring from veteran Albuquerque welterweight Josh "Pit Bull" Torres.

The commitment, Baca said, is total. He left his job with the city, choosing to focus solely on boxing.

Whatever happens Saturday, he said, there'll be no nine-year hiatus this time.

"I'm barely getting started," he said. "I think my ceiling is as far as God's gonna allow me to take it.

"Whatever way it goes, I just want to have that feeling in my heart to know that I gave it everything I had."