A world champion boxer from Yuba City? Fueled by being bullied, Brandun Lee aims high
Brandun Lee heard it regularly as a little boy. He could see the cowardice in the sneering expressions of the antagonists.
Lee was taunted and teased because he looked different than those the same age around him in Yuba City. The son of a Korean father and a Mexican mother, Lee could take only so much. He would lash back, rarely with words and often with his fists. He muted a few of his tormentors.
Those fists still fly, and Lee continues to express pride in who and what he is: his roots, his heritage and his upside in a sport that is all about fighting back. The 22-year-old boxer has an unbeaten record, with 22 of his 24 wins coming by knockout heading into Saturday night’s bout with Zachary Ochoa in the Dallas area. A win would likely vault Lee into the top 20 light welterweights in the world. Lee is a heavy favorite.
There is no ounce of glum in Lee’s tone or words in his quest to maintain perfection in the boxing ring as a fast-rising name with the penchant for the knockout, though some hurts last forever.
Lee said that others would “Stereotype (me) a lot and look at my eyes and think Chinese, and people thought because I was Asian that I couldn’t fight. We would come down to Southern California (for boxing matches) and they would say, ‘We want the little Chinito’, which meant they wanted the Chinese kid.”
By the age of 12, Lee and his family moved to Southern California, where he accelerated his boxing rise. With his father Bobby Lee coaching him from the start, Lee fashioned a remarkable 181-9 record as an amateur fighter. He turned professional at 17. Now the 5-foot-10 super lightweight is 24-0.
The Ring Magazine Prospect of the Year will fight Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. He is ranked No. 9 in the world among super lightweights by the IBF.
Lee sensed early he was cut out to unleash in a ring, not as a brawler out of fury but as a skilled, composed fighter.
“My first national win as a boxer was when I was 9 years old,” Lee said in a phone interview, “and right off the bat, I knew I had exceptional talent.”
Fighting for a cause
Nothing inspires a boxer more than a cause, a reason, and Lee has plenty. He said he fights for every Asian kid who has had enough of being picked on, or for every kid of any ethnicity who wants to be great in any field. His chosen field for now is boxing. Lee said it was the ideal outlet to vent feelings.
“I was just a young child and those kids were making fun of me,” Lee said. “Now they call it bullying. As I got older, I really realized what was going on, and it’s made me a stronger person, a better boxer. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Lee said his message in all of this is simple.
“You’ve got to be tough,” he said. “Don’t let things affect you, even if it hurts. It’s made me stronger, made me more mature. I had a platform that really inspires the Asian youth to do what they want. For a lot of Asian youth, there’s pressure that they have to be a doctor, a math professor, or a pharmacist. But you can be anything you want — a chef, something in fashion, an entrepreneur, an athlete — as long as your heart is in it.”
His heart is in the ring, but he has visions of life beyond it. Lee credits his father for his growth as a boxer and a man. Bobby Lee named his son after Brandon Lee, a martial arts specialist and actor who died during the production of a movie in 1993 at 28. That Brandon Lee was the son of Bruce Lee, the famed martial arts and movie star from the 1960s and ‘70s who also died young.
“To have that name, Brandun Lee, is an honor,” Lee said. “Bruce Lee was a legend, a great role model. Bruce Lee was that last huge Asian role model for so many Asian youth. I’m looking forward to having even just a little bit of his success.”
A boxer and a scholar
Lee is already a role model as a boxer and as a young man with dreams beyond world championship belts, one of his coaches said. Freddy Esparza said the fact that Lee squeezes in college units at Cal State San Bernardino speaks of his desire to maximize every day, of using his fists in one arena and his brain in another.
“A boxer and a college student,” Esparza said with an admiring laugh. “Amazing. He’s doing it to make his parents proud. He’s definitely doing big things. Sooner or later, more and more people will realize who Brandun Lee is, and I guarantee 100 percent that he’ll be a world champion some day. He’s ranked in the top 20 now. Two fights from now, he’ll be top 10 ranked, and then he’ll have a shot. And he has so much respect for his dad. He listens to him. He’s the fighter that he is because of his dad.”
Esparza added, “Brandun has goals after boxing. It’s a short career and he has his whole life after that. He’s self-motivated with an eye on the prize.”
Lee talks about his parents with reverence and of being a college student with the aim of becoming a businessman some day.
“I come from a good family,” Lee said. “They want the best for me and that’s why I go to college. In a way, I’ve been trained throughout the years to be ready for anything. I like to have a Plan B in life, a Plan B, C, D, God forbid anything happens to me in boxing. I can break a hand or an ankle and suddenly not be able to box any more. A lot of boxers only think 100-percent of boxing, even after it’s over, and that’s kind of sad.”
Lee is aware of the boxing life span. Knockouts go both ways, though it’s been years since he’s suffered one, and age dulls boxing skills. Still, he could do this several more years, easily.
“We all know this doesn’t last forever,” Lee said. “It’s hard on the body, physically and mentally, losing weight to make weight, getting hit in the head. I don’t plan on doing this forever.”
Esparza, his coach, said Lee still hasn’t touched his full potential.
“He has natural power in both hands, and all those knockouts speak for themselves,” he said. “His discipline is 100-percent focus. His defense is strong and he rarely gets hurt. Good instincts and just smart. Those things all make for a world champion.”
