Stories

If you're an avid boxing fan, you'll recognize the name Jose Celaya. The Salinas local spent nearly 10 years in the national spotlight as a professional boxer, fighting in areas like Madison Square Garden and winning major titles. But those aren't the least of his accolades. Jose was an alternate to the 2000 U.S. Olympic team and finished his professional career with a striking 31-7 record, including 16 knockouts.

But, as Jose says, "Boxing is a brutal sport … blood, sweat and tears." The repetitive blows to the face during his career eventually caught up with him, and he suffered some injuries in 2008 that led to his current diagnosis of dysarthria. He stopped boxing in 2012. "It's like coming back from war," he says. "I'll never be the same again."

Dysarthria, a speech disorder caused by muscle weakness, makes it difficult to talk. Jose describes it as "forcing [his] tongue to move" in order to form words and communicate. He says dysarthria has made it harder to form relationships with people around him, but speech therapy has helped. Recently inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame, he has been working on his induction speech with Jenn, his speech therapist at CCLLC.

"Jennifer is awesome. I understand her and I feel like I'm progressing," Jose says.

That progress looks like having more confidence around people, being able to consciously form words by using his tongue to speak clearly, and joining the Hartnell College Choir to help regain more speech through singing.

And to continue progressing with his speech, Jose channels the same determination and grit that led him to a professional boxing career. "I just never give up. I keep on pressing forward and take a leap of faith."