ESPN to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Feature on Operation Progress Scholar Meryland Gonzalez

Over the last few months, a film crew from ESPN has been following around Operation Progress Scholar Meryland Gonzalez and LAPD mentor Officer Juan Bustamante. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, they are crafting a very special story, about the two, their respective boxing careers and their bond over the intense sport. The special will air on Wednesday, October 10th at 5pm PST/8pm EST ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

Gonzalez started boxing when she was six years old. Now at 12-years-old, she is ranked #3 in the nation for her age group, took 2nd place in the National Junior Olympics and National Silver Glove, and won the championship at the 4th Annual Challenger Green Belt with WBC. "I want to be like Gennady Golovkin Triple G," Gonzalez says with a huge smile on her face. "From the first step [into the boxing gym], I knew I had to learn the basics because I wanted to become good at it."

Gonzalez resides in a 600 square foot apartment with her parents and two sisters in Gonzaque Village, a Housing Development in Watts. She has been an Operation Progress Scholar for the past five years. Her dream is to attend UCLA and become a judge so that she can bring justice and peace to the world. "Operation Progress helps me not only focus on my sports but on my grades too. I want people to recognize me as a girl that boxes but that also has really good grades. They help me with that." Her current GPA is 3.85.

Officer Juan Bustamante was born in Managua, Nicaragua. When his family moved to California, he started boxing at the age of 12. He is a Veteran of the US Navy, Assault Craft Unit 5 - Camp Pendleton, USMC base (deployed overseas 2003-05). He was a member of the All Navy/Marine Corp Boxing Team (2004-06) and the LAPD boxing team (2009-13). Bustamante competed in the Police Olympics (boxing), was a 2016 UCA Boxing Hall of Fame inductee and made his professional boxing debut in 2013. He has been an LAPD Officers for 10 years, spending the last six years patrolling the 77th division, one of the busiest divisions in the city. In 2017, Bustamante was named Operation Progress Mentor of the Year.

Operation Progress is a nonprofit located in the heart of Watts that empowers underserved youth to become educated, ethical and productive adults who reach their full potential and positively contribute to society. To do this, we are committed to supporting participating Scholars from elementary school through college with education, expanded learning programs and mentorship by LAPD Officers.

www.operationprogressla.org