Waukegan resident David Fajardo Jr. is turning into a standout soccer player for Carmel.
But soccer is a secondary sport for Fajardo Jr., who is one of the top amateur boxers in the state. He received the Waukegan Proud award back in 2019 after winning a Silver Gloves tournament.
“I come from a family full of soccer players,” Fajardo Jr. said. “My whole family played soccer. But then I tried wrestling to try something new. Wrestling led me to boxing.”
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Fajardo Jr. said several people in his family were thrilled when he started playing soccer four years ago. Carmel first-year coach Colin Spude is happy about that too.
Fajardo Jr., a senior captain, scored the winner in the Corsairs’ 2-1 victory against Grant on Tuesday. His third goal of the season secured the first win for Carmel (1-5-1).
“David is someone who definitely is an extremely hard worker,” Spude said. “He mainly plays striker, but we’re seeing if we can transition him to a center midfielder role. He gets double-teamed a lot because other teams try to shut him down.
“We’re lucky to have him.”
Fajardo Jr., who is hopeful that his early success in boxing leads to a future as a professional, won the Chicago Golden Gloves junior open title at 147 pounds in April. He has also won Junior Olympic titles.
Fajardo Jr. said balancing boxing and soccer isn’t easy. He wakes up at 5 a.m. each day to run and finds pockets of time between soccer practices and games to train for boxing.
“I box every day after soccer practice,” he said. “At night, I box three hours, so that’s the toughest part. But that’s where my family comes in and helps with having food on the table always. They help me a lot.
“I have an extremely hard schedule. But you have to want it — that hunger.”
Fajardo Jr. trains under Reyes Hurtado. His father, David Fajardo Sr., also is one of his trainers.
“He’s very disciplined, very talented and learns fast,” Fajardo Sr. said. “He always pushes himself way too much.”
But Fajardo Jr. believes he has to push himself to succeed.
“Boxing is a lonely sport,” he said. “There’s no team to rely on. You have to put in the hard work yourself. If you don’t work hard enough on yourself, the other guy is at 5 a.m. The hard work will pay off.”
Former Carmel teammate Roman Lynch, a freshman defender at Purdue University Northwest, said Fajardo’s background benefits him on the field.
“I believe that David’s experience being a boxer and having resilience, grit and mental toughness give him an edge in soccer,” Lynch said. “You see a sense of passion and aggressiveness when he plays because it stems from the strong character he has.
“David is such a promising player and has an amazing work ethic. He truly has a winner’s mentality.”
Fajardo Jr., who said he’s not an overly physical player but thinks most of Carmel’s opponents are aware he’s a boxer, is taking soccer seriously.
“I always loved fighting, but I’m enjoying playing soccer right now,” he said. “I’m a leader and able to give the team that extra push. I’m a team player who the team can rely on. It’s easy for me to have a leadership role because of my mindset.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.