When the fog clears and the strobe lights fade, Javier Meza steps into the ring with all the weight and expectations that come with being a national boxing champion. El Gallito, as he’s known by his followers, knows he’s ready for what comes next, a confidence that comes from constant training, dieting, and a tenacious desire to succeed. The rest is simply execution.
When the fight’s over and the confetti falls to the mat, the referee lifts Javier’s fist into the air again, signifying yet another victory for El Gallito. As he embraces the moment, he looks for the person in the cheering crowd, the one who’s been there since Javier first laced up his gloves – mom.
Mary Meza, an issues management specialist for the Pantex Infrastructure team, believed in El Gallito long before he’d earned the nickname and long before the famed Golden Boy Promotions offered him a professional contract. To her, he was her little boy.
Her time at Pantex has proven that the success of her son is no accident, and watching her work leaves little doubt as to where Javier gets his passion and drive. In her role, Mary helps to identify causes of certain events and helps to create action plans to reduce recurrence of those events. Supporting the mission is something Mary enjoys in her work, but her day doesn’t stop once she leaves the site. Once home, a similar mission continues – guiding her family to success.
Mary and her husband have two other children at home – a daughter and another son. Like their older brother, excellence is the standard. While Mary’s youngest hopes to follow in his older brother’s footsteps, her daughter is applying her talents to the medical field with aspirations of becoming a pediatric nurse.
In the meantime, Mary does what it takes to help Javier realize his childhood dream.
“I’ve always enjoyed the sport myself,” she said. “Back in 2010 my husband and I started training for exercise. The owner approached us saying he was about to start a kid’s class and wanted to know if we were interested. He started with just mitts and stuff with Javier who was eight at the time. I took him to a few more classes and the owner approached us again saying he wanted to train our son.”
What would come next was a whirlwind that neither Mary nor her husband would expect, including a rapidly learning and improving teenage boy with an insatiable desire to be a champion.
Since beginning his foray into the boxing world, El Gallito has been crowned a seven-time regional champion, a Texas state champion, and a national champion. He also made his Olympic trial debut in December of 2023, as well as earning his crowning achievement thus far, a professional contract with Golden Boy Promotions.
“People see all of the victories, but they don’t see behind the scenes; they don’t realize how much he puts into it,” Mary said. “I still remember taking turns with my husband getting up at five in the morning to follow behind him in the car with the headlights on him so he could run and still be seen by other cars.”
Despite all of the early mornings and late nights, Mary wouldn’t have it any other way. To her, the sacrifice pales in comparison to the feeling that comes from seeing her son do what he loves.
“You know, it’s pure joy and pride.”
But who would know that better than El Gallito himself?
“My mom is important to me because she has been there since day one,” Javier said. “She sacrifices so much for my siblings and me and she put her dreams aside for me to accomplish mine. God willing, I’m going to pay her back. I hope that she knows that I am truly thankful to have such an amazing mom. Her work doesn’t go unseen and I love her so much.”
As the Meza family prepares for an upcoming fight in Las Vegas, the work continues. On the mat, opponents fall one-by-one, and here at Pantex, Mary persists in doing her part to fulfill the mission. And when the day comes that the name “El Gallito” flashes in big golden letters on an arena in one of the world’s largest cities, Mary Meza won’t see him as anything different, just her little boy accomplishing his dream – Javier.