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Vic Pasillas has already lived a full life, and his boxing career isn’t over – yet.
Pasillas will face Jorge Villegas in a six-round fight March 16 at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, California.
Pasillas (16-1, 9 KOs) has struggled to stay active of late. Since losing to Ra’eese Aleem in 2021, he has seen numerous opportunities fall through. His BoxRec profile is listed as inactive – meaning that some matchmakers might overlook him as a potential opponent. Though not necessarily old by modern boxing standards, Pasillas, 32, is now at a career crossroads.
“This will be the 12th training camp I have been in,” Pasillas said. “I had 11 training camps before with fights falling out in the last three years.
“It is either you stay motivated or you quit – and there isn’t any quit in me. I don’t do boxing for money/ I don’t do it for the fame. I do it because I love it. Boxing is for me. This is my outlet for life.”
Pasillas is originally from East Los Angeles. He moved to the Bay Area 10 years ago after he was brought in to spar Nonito Donaire, who was training at Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Francisco. When Pasillas took a liking to the training of Brian Schwartz and cutman Mike Bazzel, he decided to stay.
“This is my second home,” Pasillas said of the Bay Area. “When I go back to L.A., it is now a little weird. In L.A., I just know so many people, and I am a very known person. So everywhere I went was a big deal on hanging out and partying. In the Bay Area, I was able to focus on myself, grow up as a strong, reliable man for my wife and kids, and become very independent.
“Now I make six figures without boxing.”
Perhaps the most significant thing Pasillas left behind in L.A. was the partying. Although he says he wasn’t someone who went to nightclubs, he admits to participating in certain mind-altering activities. It was therapy – an unhealthy form of it, he believes – to deal with unresolved personal issues.
“Partying was one of the things we used down in SoCal to get through all the trauma we had been through as kids,” Pasillas said. “Partying – meaning, hanging out with the homies, the homeboys in the streets, with my friends. [I had] friends getting killed and dying from crazy things in the street. I was never a guy to go to a bar or something like that. It was house parties in the neighborhood.
“My mother left us as kids, and I never met my father. So my uncle who raised me is who I call a father. [Partying] was my way of coping with what I went through as a youngster.”
Today, Pasillas is making a good living and has a family he holds close. He bragged about his children’s grades (all As), yet he wants to fulfill his own potential – and has an upcoming test he’ll need to ace in order to get there.
Pasillas was one of the best amateurs of his era, amassing a 272-6 record and 25 national amateur titles. He was initially signed by Top Rank, but that relationship fizzled out.
“I remember being back with Top Rank, and Top Rank would always tell me, ‘Why don’t you just fight at [featherweight],” Pasillas said. “I was struggling to make [super bantamweight], because I was very undisciplined. So featherweight is a more comfortable weight for me. I walk around anywhere from 140-145 pounds. I used to walk around bigger. I used to walk around at 165-170 pounds.”
Villegas (14-2 record, 13 KOs) is a potentially dangerous opponent for Pasillas to face coming off a lengthy layoff. Yet Pasillas is eyeing gold, so convenience is no longer an option.
“It is a perfect fight to get me back into the mix and closer to a championship fight,” Pasillas said. “This is a good start for me to get back to the top 10 in the world.”