Jose Antonio “Tony” Ojeda is an easy man to find.

By day, he's hard at work at La Chiquita Super Carniceria, a grocery story on West Main St. in Santa Maria.

Most nights, he's over at the Santa Maria Boxing Club's (SMBC) gym at the Minami Center on West Enos.

He is easy to find but hard to hit.

Ojeda is the Central Coast's most well known professional boxer.

He began his career working with a trainer in Nipomo. He moved to the SMBC because it gave him a better opportunity for success on the professional level.

“His first trainer up in Nipomo had his heart in the right place,” said Willie Flores, the President of the SMBC and Ojeda's trainer and manager. “He just didn't have the experience to get Tony to the next level in his career.”

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“I'm in the gym five nights a week,” Ojeda said. “It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work and conditioning to be a fighter. We go through vigorous exercises every night.”

“We put him through a lot of work every night. He goes through conditioning drills. We work on his footwork. We work on his boxing skills but, as far as punching, he doesn't do that here,” said Flores. “As we get closer to a fight, we go down to Oxnard. There are a half dozen gyms there - like Fernando Vargas' La Colonia Gym - where Tony can get in some quality sparring against top-flight fighters.”

A few nights a year you'll find Ojeda at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.

He's not there to gamble. He goes there to work. Ojeda is always one of the featured fighters on the card presented regularly by SHOBox - Showtime's live nationally-televised boxing series.

The 30-year old Santa Marian fights as a junior welterweight - the 142 pound weight class.

“I tell Tony that at 30-years old he is in the prime of his life,” said Flores. “I'm 71-years old and there's still a lot of life left in me. I was a boxer, too, as a young man. When I was 50, I was a runner and I was regularly defeating men half my age. If I can do that, Tony can do it, too.”

Ojeda is a fan favorite.

The always sold-out crowd saves its loudest cheers for the local fighter.

He's also a favorite of Gary Shaw and his production company - the team that stages the SHOBox series.

On average, there are eight fights on the SHOBox card.

Since boxing returned to the casino's Samala Showroom in January of 2004, Ojeda has been on every one of the cards.

He's won a few, lost one and had two draws. He also won the California State Junior Welterweight title along the way. For his career, Ojeda's record is 16-6-2 with nine knockouts including a third round knockout of Steve Marquez his last time out in December of last year.

“He's never had an easy fight. All of his matches have been real battles, real wars,” said Flores. “But he has such wonderful natural skills. That's the key. As a fighter, either you have natural skills or you don't - and if you don't, then you won't go very far.”

The next challenge for Ojeda is Nick “Hands of Gold” Cassell. The men will meet in an eight-round bout during SHOBox's next trip to Santa Ynez on Friday, May 2.

The national broadcast features just two fights - the co-main events. Only the live audience gets to see the six preliminary bouts.

“I'm hoping the fight will be televised, “said Ojeda. “I was on one of the TV fights about three years ago.”

That fight didn't go as planned for Ojeda.

He lost his first shot at the California junior welterweight title in April of 2005 when Flores threw in the towel in the ninth round of a scheduled 10-rounder against La Colonia's Rolando Reyes.

"It was a tough fight," said Flores. "I don't think Tony could have taken any more punishment. I didn't think he could recuperate before the final round so I threw in the towel."

Ojeda is confident things will be different and that he'll be able to continue his winning streak against Cassell.

“I've seen him box four times,” Ojeda said. “Early in the fight, I'll be studying him. It's a lot different watching a guy fight than actually being in the ring with him. So it takes some time to figure him out. I don't see me knocking him out - but I don't think he'll knock me out, either.

“I think that this one will go the distance but I'm stronger than he is and I should be able to win - and I'm fighting at the Chumash Casino. That's like my home court and I always do very well there.”

q Sports Editor Elliott Stern can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail to elliottstern@santamariatimes.com.

April 14, 2008