Fighting his way to the top

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” — Muhammed Ali

It’s gray and raining outside in downtown Kalispell just before Father’s Day and one of the best lightweight amateur boxers in America is in the gym with his father and his son, preparing for the fight that could change his life.

Twenty-one-year-old Duran Caferro Jr. stands a slender 6-1, with long arms and legs and a face that looks too kind for someone who fights for a living.

The young man is busy firing punches at his sparring partner, hissing like a snake with every hit. Every punch pops and echoes through the Montana Straight Blast Gym on First Avenue East.

Standing in his son’s corner, as always, Duran Caferro Sr. looks on, giving short, quick instructions.

“Jab, jab, jab,” the elder Caferro orders. “Be creative. Find the angle”

Wearing shiny red shorts that read “USA” across the legs, the top-ranked amateur lightweight in the country throws four machine-gun punches — one-one-one-one — then slices a hook into his opponent’s kidneys, catching him off guard. This sparring partner, Kalispell resident Phillip Moore, is the best in the state according to the Caferros. But Caferro Jr. is quick, and his punches feel like bricks.

Moore grimaces wide and steps back, not yet punch-drunk but getting there.

The third Duran, 2 1/2 years old, hangs from the ropes like a monkey next to his grandfather and watches with big curious eyes.

“Go, go Daddy! Go, go!” the little Duran yells into the ring.

Then the buzzer sounds and the two men’s gloves drop to their sides and they retreat to their corners.

The elder Caferro sprays water into his son’s mouth and says a few words that only they can hear.

Little Duran starts chewing on a jump rope he hasn’t let go of all day.

“Can’t chew on it. No chewing, jumping,” Junior says in between breaths while gently patting his son with big red gloves.

Rain patters down on the dome skylight above the boxing ring. A calm Bob Marley song plays in the distance.

Then the buzzer resounds, and Caferro Jr. swivels around, leaves his father and son behind him, and resumes battle.

This goes on for almost an hour and then again the next day.

The U.S.A. National Championship is 24 days away.

“He really is living the dream, and it only came to fruition through all his hard work and dedication,” Caferro Sr. says.

His son, who started his career in an old, leaky gym underneath the Eagles Bar in Helena, has risen to the top of the amateur boxing world. With a career record of 154-40, Caferro Jr. is five-time Ringside World Champion, 2008 PAL (Police Athletic League) champion and 2009 USA Champion at 132 pounds. This year he was a semifinalist for the 80th annual AAU Sullivan Award, which goes to an outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.

But it doesn’t end there, not when a proud father is describing his only son.

“As much as he’s a champion in the ring, he’s even more so a champion outside the ring. He’s a great father, a single parent. He should be father of the year. And he has political activity,” Caferro Sr., also a single parent, says of his son.

Caferro Jr. became a spokesperson for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) after first-hand experiences dealing with seizures little Duran had as an infant.

Junior also worked on his aunt Mary’s successful campaign for state legislature, going door to door in some instances.

“I work hard in the gym and I have success and notoriety from it and I just see it as a responsibility,” Junior says of his activism. “Like Muhammad Ali said, ‘You got to pay rent on your time here on Earth.’ And that’s the way to do it, by trying to make a difference.”

Today in Colorado Springs, Junior will look to defend his national title and continue on the road to his ultimate dream — the Olympics.

“Right now he has his sights set on winning the U.S.A. Tournament back to back, and then next year qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team,” Caferro Sr. says. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

The week before Father’s Day the family traveled to Caferro Sr.’s hometown of Whitefish, where the eldest Caferro, 88-year-old Cecil, still lives.

Duran Caferro Sr., 47, graduated from Whitefish High School before eventually moving to Helena.

When they aren’t traveling to tournaments around the country, or even the world these days, the Caferros can be found at the H-Town Eagles boxing club. It’s a cement gym which leaks beer whenever the bartenders upstairs empty all the sinks at once. There’s a play area for little Duran to use while his father and grandfather work away at all hours. Throughout the nostalgic gym, names of fighters are scrawled everywhere, mostly on punching bags. They are those who beat Caferro Jr., and they motivate him every day.

“When I’d go and lose that would make me hungrier,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll beat them pretty good and I’ll cross them off, but other times I’ll leave them, that’s what keeps me motivated. I think about the people that beat me.”

Losing has taught Caferro Jr. well. Losing is how he ended up winning.

“I’ve had more losses than most people have had fights,” he says.

“You actually learn more from your losses than you do from your wins,” Caferro Sr. says. “He’s got a lot of losses but that’s where he learned.”

Junior, who is half Northern Cheyenne and was named Native American Role Model of the Year for Montana last year, started boxing when he was only 8. His athletic abilities weren’t anywhere close to being evident as a kid, but his work ethic and determination more than made up for it.

“A lot of times the guys I’d fight had faster hands or better footwork,” Junior says, “but I’d just outwork them, in the gym and then in the ring.”

His father was his best sparring partner for many years but after awhile, Junior needed new competition. So, even though he was a single father on a shoestring budget, Caferro Sr. started driving his son to tournaments out of state year after year.

“Four years in a row we drove all the way to Kansas City for the national Silver Glove Tournament,” Caferro Sr. says. “First fight of the tournament he would lose, four years in a row, and then we’d drive all the way back after spending all that time and money. People said ‘Why do you do that?’ And I would tell them it’s an investment. It’s an investment in the future.”

The losing, the travel, the investment — it’s all paid off.

“I knew it could happen, but only with a lot of hard work,” Caferro Sr. says. “He has that focus, he has that drive, he has that dedication and will to win.”

Moore was once in Caferro’s shoes, moving up the amateur ranks with dreams of Olympic gold. Now that he’s 37 and settled in Kalispell, he’s happy to help a young man follow those same dreams.

“They’re just an amazing couple of people,” Moore says of the Caferros. “ [Caffero Jr. is] one of the most humble top-notch athletes that I’ve ever seen. Just the way he carries himself in and outside the ring, and the person he is, the humble respectful individual he is has definitely been instilled in him by his father.”

It would be hard to find a father-son duo as close as the Durans.

“Every hour I spend in the gym he’s been there with me,” Junior says. “The stuff he does, driving me down to Kansas City just to lose, finding people to beat me, in the end that’s what’s paid off, that’s what made me No. 1.

“There’s coaches out there that know more about boxing than my dad, definitely, and I’ve worked with those coaches. But the coach that knows this boxer the best is right here. He’s the best coach for me.”

Standing in his son’s corner has been a dream come true for Caferro Sr. as well.

“It’s been very rewarding to watch him grow up and mature from a kid into a young man,” he says.

“There’s going to be challenging times and difficult times,” Caferro Sr. says, “but no matter how difficult things get, you never give up on your dreams and you never give up on yourself.”

After the final round of sparring on a weeknight in the ring in Kalispell, Moore pries out his mouth guard and says, “Looking good, Junior,” before taking a much-needed seat.

Caffero Jr. smiles and walks over to his father, who has a pleased smile as well. But there’s a sudden distraction — in the background, little Duran is running wild in circles with that same old chewed-up jump rope.

The two older Caferros shake their heads in unison.

“That used to be him,” Caferro Sr. says of his son.

Reporter Dillon Tabish can be reached at 758-4463 or by e-mail at dtabish@dailyinterlake.com