Boxing coach killed in shooting Monday worked with Fort Worth Police Athletic League
The man killed in his home in north Fort Worth on Monday was a boxing coach at a local gym who had worked with the Fort Worth Police Athletic League.
Joe Guzman was killed about 4:45 p.m., when he was shot by a juvenile relative, according to police. Guzman was identified to Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV by family members.
Police said Tuesday that the boy, who was at Guzman’s house in the 3300 block of Ray Simon Drive when officers arrived, has been taken into custody of the juvenile detention center.
Police did not release the boy’s age or describe his precise relationship with Guzman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Guzman, 60, was a longtime boxing coach. In addition to his work with the Police Athletic League, friends and family said on social media that Guzman was a coach with Texas Golden Gloves in Fort Worth, a nonprofit organization that works with youths.
Police did not immediately respond to a Star-Telegram email asking for details about Guzman’s work with the Police Athletic League.
Andy Rabago, Guzman’s assistant coach at Texas Golden Gloves, said Guzman had been boxing since he was kid and that the only thing he put before his work with Texas Golden Gloves was his family.
“If his job came between him and his work with these kids, he would change something with his job so he could still be here, coaching,” Rabago said. “He loved his family and his two grandsons who he raised.”
Rabago said that when the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium first opened, Guzman was invited to parties and to go out drinking with friends. Instead, he took Rabago’s son and two other fighters to see the first game in the stadium.
And you’d always know if Guzman was at a party or event, friends at the gym said. It seemed to happen without fail that the moment you walked in the door, you’d hear Guzman’s “Tarzan scream” calling out to you. He was always excited to see his friends, and always knew the right things to say to make the people around him laugh.
Rabago said Guzman’s death leaves a void in the Texas Golden Gloves community. His work led fighters he trained to set records in competitions and, for many of them, to eventually become coaches at the gym when they grew up.
Kendrick Releford, a boxing coach and former student of Guzman’s, wrote on Facebook that Guzman’s death “truly leaves a great dent in our boxing and Fort Worth Golden Glove community.”
Joseph Maldonado wrote in a Facebook post that Guzman trained him to be an assistant coach after coaching his son from a young age. “In the 20 plus years that Coach Joe coached, he did it as a volunteer,” Maldonado wrote. “It was his passion. It was a blessing to know Coach Joe and I am grateful that he was a part of my son’s life. He was a big part in shaping my son’s character, with confidence, discipline, resilience and respect.”
Guzman made the same impact on the lives of many young people, teaching them through boxing “to fight for what you want in life, preparing them mentally and physically for any obstacles that they are faced with,” his nephew Junior Chavez wrote in a statement to KXAS-TV.
Joe Basan, vice president of the Texas Golden Gloves Youth Center, told WFAA that Guzman coached there for more than 25 years.
“It’s tragic,” Basan said. “I can’t believe that it happened to him. We’re used to seeing him every day ... Golden Gloves without him isn’t gonna be the same.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 9:10 PM.