John “Bang Bang” Delperdang: From the Streets To A Blessed Road to Redemption

By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña

For boxing prospect John “Bang Bang” Delperdang, his fight started before he ever stepped into a boxing ring. As a child in Ontario, California, John and his family faced the hard struggles of poverty. His family lived in garage and his father was “in and out of jail.” “It was tough, but I was young and really don’t remember much” stated John in a recent interview. At the age of four John’s mother gave up all her sole parental rights and John became a ward of San Bernardino County. John’s mother a victim of domestic violence could no longer give him the life he needed. John was moved from facility to facility before his Uncle Julio and his Grandfather took him in.

At the age of eleven John joined a tagging crew and began running the streets. “I was a knucklehead growing up, I always made bad decisions at the wrong time.” stated John. “I had nothing to look forward to.” At thirteen, John was with a friend who robbed a person for some food. John was assaulted by officers, arrested, and ended up in West Valley Juvenile Hall for three months. Upon his release his uncle introduced John to boxing. “We would sit back and watch HBO Legendary Nights, the Hagler – Hearns, and Leonard fights” said John. John loved to watch boxing, so his Uncle Julio took him to the Chino Boxing Gym where John met Coach Carlos Becerril. John began training and fought his first two amateur fights at the Chino Gym before eventually turning back to the streets. John was in and out of Juvenile Hall and group homes until the age of seventeen. With encouragement from his uncle, John then graduated from his last group home and went back to what he loved Boxing. John trained for two years in Los Angeles at the Broadway Boxing Gym and ended up with 22 amateur fights under his belt. “I was doing good but I got a girlfriend and not taking boxing seriously so my uncle kicked me out” stated John.

John was back in the streets, this time using drugs and drinking. John bounced from house to house staying where he could, eventually John was involved in an altercation with law enforcement. John was arrested and charged with felony evading, DUI, and assault with a deadly weapon. “I ended up in prison, I hit Delano than Salinas Valley.” John said. “I was incarcerated from June 8th 2013 and was released July 8th 2014.” John continued to get arrested several times after his release. “I just didn’t care” he stated. On October 30th 2014 John was arrested for felony commercial burglary. He knew he was headed back to prison, but just a week later John was released. Prop 47 had passed and changed his felony to a misdemeanor. On November 9th John was at the grave site of a friend who had passed away a year earlier. “I was all smoked out, I was sad, I was ready to give up.” John said “Then two days later my life changed.”

John met Bernie Valenzuela owner of the Crossroads Boxing Gym in Ontario, California. Bernie told John “You’re at a crossroads in your life and God is giving you another opportunity.” That day Bernie introduced John to the word and to the Lord. “God put me in position to meet Bernie, Bernie showed me what family is and the lord knew my story before it played out” stated John “I’ve accepted Jesus Christ into my life.” That day John began training to box again. John trained for eight months and tuned professional a nearly a year after being released from prison, July 31st 2015. John took on and walked away with a knockout victory over Francisco Solis. John is currently 8-1, 7 KO’s.

John lives with the Valenzuela family and continues to dedicate his life to the Lord. John stays in the gym daily and trains everyday. Bernie who manages John believes John’s biggest opponent is himself and if he remains disciplined he can “Make some noise in the boxing world”. Bernie also stated “No one trains harder than John in the gym, no one fights as hard as him, and no one cares as much as him, he’s a special talent and I want to see him do well.” In closing Bernie told me “I’m a big believer in setting goals and when I met John we set some goals, but the first one we set alongside of staying drug free was getting off probation and parole which he was on for over 10 years and on August 22nd 2015 he was released off parole. That was a big victory in his life.
John “Bang Bang” Dalperdang is scheduled to return to the ring this weekend in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]