Be the Best That You Can

Written by Giovanna DeLima

Spoken by Julian Cruz

Born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, in a Mexican household, Julian Cruz discovered his love of boxing and for his town. During his youth, he faced struggles, hanging out with the wrong crowd, and realizing how it would affect him. “I’m not gonna say I was the best person or the most mannered kid out there. I definitely had a bad past and run-ins with the cops from hanging out with the wrong crowd,” Julian explains. 

At the age of nineteen, he began training and boxing as an escape. Cruz had a full-time job during his youth that took up most of his time, but it was during those small moments that he had free time that he and his friends would wrestle. Just after he graduated high school, he decided to pursue boxing. He began competing on and off again, and it became inevitable that no matter what he did, he knew he’d always return to the sport.  

Julian met his girlfriend of nine years, Annabelle Rodriguez, from a house party and have since then been inseparable and are parents to their daughter. Julian and the family moved away from the town he grew up in to go to the suburbs, but they missed the city more and more as time went on. “It was a big change because I always grew up in the city and then moved to the suburbs where there was a lot more space and things like that. [It] was a different lifestyle for me.” They returned to Reading, where he was able to connect back to his roots and the community that he loved so much. 

Upon his return, he met Alex Betances through his trainer and helped to make Star City Boxing what it is today. While he would come and go as he pleased, he had quickly fallen in love with the community. He created bonds and friendships that would last a lifetime and would quickly realize that he was exactly where he was destined to be. “I came here to help coach out and I ended up going to different places but didn’t end up staying. I love these guys here, man. I really don’t see myself anywhere else. And to get to see how it’s like, you know, how this came together is great.” 

As a coach at Star City Boxing, Julian aims to be a positive role model and someone that his boxers can look up to. He makes it a priority to make a positive impact on his community and keep individuals up to speed. It is through the sport of boxing that he encourages boxers to have determination and discipline no matter where they are in the world. Coach Cruz has made it a priority to be a friend to each person that walks through when they need it most and to encourage them to be the best that they can in the world that they live in.