Boxer Jorge El Pilon Lara near death after being gunned down in Guadalajara

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

Ironic statement by Lara in a September 2015 interview ..“I am talented with the desire to be a world champion,” says Lara, 24, who turned pro five years ago. “But if I hadn’t started boxing, I don’t know if I was going to die in the streets or someone would kill me.”

Boxer Jorge “El Pilón", Lara is fighting for his life in a  Guadalajara hospital, after being attacked and receiving at least four bullets to the body.

The attack occurred on Joaquín Amaro Street at the intersection with Hacienda La Calera in the Oblate neighborhood of Guadalajara.

"El Pilón", was attacked by at least two individuals who followed him for several blocks until they caught up with him.

Paramedics said that he suffered a respiratory arrest on the way to the aid station, however was resuscitated, but his life is hanging by a thread.

Lara, 27, with a professional record of 29 wins, one loss and two draws, lost his unbeaten record on April 28 in El Paso, Texas, when he was decked in one round by Claudio Marrero.


After that fight, the Mexican fighter himself reported through the social networks about the death of his only brother, and this week he announced that it had been three months of his loss.

More from the Premier Boxing Champions 2015 interview

Starting at the age of 15, Lara was jailed several times for street fighting in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where, he says, “I grew up poor in a ghetto.”

“I would fight with my hands. No guns, knives or weapons. Just my hands,” Lara says. “I lived with my older brother and my mother. She worked long hours at a furniture store to provide for us. My grandmother would cook our meals, but I was always in the streets.”

After his final trip to jail, Lara—who does not acknowledge the existence or know the name of his father—found a local gym.

“I was almost 18 years old,” says Lara, a southpaw. “I was boxing well against professional fighters as a rookie. I had about seven amateur fights before I turned pro.”

Lara debuted as a pro in July 2010 with an 18-second stoppage of Adrian Soto Morales, the first of four consecutive knockouts to start his career.

Lara credits his family—including his four young children, who live with their mother in Guadalajara—for inspiring him to greatness.

“My children, my mom and my brother, they’re my motivation,” says Lara. “They’re why I’m here training hard to give them a better life.”