Canuto Cimental Robledo (January 19, 1913 – November 29, 1999) better known as Canto “TNT” Robledo, was a Mexican-American professional boxer, trainer, and manager. Canto was born in Tyrone, New Mexico, a small copper mining town. When copper prices dropped, the town shut down, and the Robledo family moved to Pasadena when Canto was nine. He attended Grover Cleveland Elementary and Washington Jr High School, was an honor student and a superb athlete, winning various awards in soccer, track, and tennis. In 9th grade Canto dropped out of school due to financial difficulties and picked oranges. Not wanting to continue this work, he trained in boxing with his father. In 1928 at Brookside Park after a scuffle with a bully, 15-year-old Canto was discovered by local Pasadena boxing promoter Morrie Cohan.
Robledo was nicknamed “TNT” in reference to the explosiveness of his punches. His style not only earned him a dynamite nickname, but also made him a dynamite attraction. Robledo fought 44 fights in six years, winning 33, losing 8 and battling to a draw 3 times. At 17 he became professional and at 18 he won the Pacific Coast bantamweight champion. During the roaring 20s he did so well in boxing, he was making $3,500 per fight (around $60,000 in today’s dollars). In 1932 at age 17 he married his longtime love, Concha Jimenez. They were a couple for over 60 years.
At this time, he noticed blurred vision, seeing spots from so many blows to his eyes. When he was 19, the sparkles in his right were exceptionally bad. In 1932 he was given the opportunity to fight in Paris, France, but to prepare, he did a warmup fight in Seattle. Even though Canto won, he eventually lost sight in eyes.
At the time his wife was expecting, but he was so depressed that he felt that he could not love a child that he could not see. He went into a deep depression for several years, refusing to leave his room and even stayed inside the closet. No one and his family could coax him out. He began to drink, go to bars, and fight with customers and think about suicide.
On Colorado and Raymond Street, he saw his chance by stepping out in front of a large truck, but next thing he knew as he laid there on the side of the road, bloody and bleeding from his mouth. A 10-year-old boy approached him whispering in his ear, “It’s all going to be okay.” The child picked him up and brought him home and Canto shook his hand as he always did to make physical contact with people. His wife asked how he got home, and she walked everywhere looking for a 10-year-old child, but he was nowhere to be found. They called this child a holy guardian, a true angel. This was a turning point in Canto’s life.
Canto trained kids from the community in the first gym he built in a single car garage in their home on Winona street, that home and street was removed when the 210 Freeway was built. The second gym was on El Sereno and Washington, and the third was on Manzanita street off of Mountain, with a gym in their two-car garage, enabling them to expand to more and more kids. Some neighbors complained but the son of the mayor was being trained by Canto, so he got a permanent license for his back yard gym. Canto’s wife was a blessing, becoming his eyesight, taking notes, keeping the books, and assuring that everyone paid their dues.
At this point, in 1950, Channel 7K ABC took note of Canto Robledo. He worked the corners of the pen, as others would explain blow-by-blow what was happening, Canto would give the boxers instructions. That’s when Hollywood took note. The late great Jim Murray, a sportswriter for LA Times, also took note. In 1950, the Pasadena Sports Ambassadors honored Canto. According to Wikipedia, he received 14 awards, including the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1988.
In 2018, Joseph Robledo, Canto’s son, authored the book, Blood on the Canvas, about his father and it was awarded book-of-the year 2018, by the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame and INDI Book Award Finalists in 2019. See https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Canvas-Legacy-Boxing-Robledo/dp/0996963251 Joseph was featured with his father in films with Muhammad Ali, Joe Fraser, and others. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFDxAsvZlBU and https://www.youtube.com/@cantorobledo3393/videos?app=desktop&view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0
Robledo was perhaps best known as the only blind manager and trainer in the sport. He built his first gym in 1941 and trained fighters for nearly 50 years. He owned Crown City Boxing Stables in Pasadena. He trained nearly 500 fighters, among them 200 professionals. He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.As the first and only blind boxing manager and trainer in America, Canto helped change the lives of over 500 young men seeking direction, success, self-esteem, and championships in a career spanning 60 years and earning Hall of Fame honors.
The old proverb, “You reap what you sow,” applied to Canto: he gave love and assistance to others, treating others with respect and valuing them, and, in turn, he was consistently shown kindness and respect. His legacy includes his six decades of giving back to the community he loved so much in Pasadena.
Sources: Blood on the Canvas by Joseph C. Robledo 2018, Wikipedia, Los Angeles Times. Nov. 30, 1999, Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1985 and an interview with his son, Joseph Robledo