One man’s inspirational journey from violence to faith
There Are No Losses, Only Lessons is the story behind Highlanders Boxing Club — told by the man who built it. Tony Collins Cifuentes traces the path from the streets that shaped him to the gym that became his answer, the convictions that carried him through every round, and the kids who keep him in the corner today.
It’s a book about what gets lost, what gets learned, and why those two things are sometimes the same.
Why he wrote it
Tony has spent the better part of 25 years sitting across from young people who think they’re already finished — kicked out of school, walked out on, written off. The memoir is the longer version of the conversation he keeps having with them: that what looks like a loss is almost always the lesson, if you stay in the room long enough to hear it.
It’s also a record. Of San Bernardino. Of the gym in Highland. Of a community that decided the next generation was worth the work.
A public launch — among the leaders who believe in the work
The book debuted at a public-officials reception hosted at the gym, with elected leaders, community partners, and HBC families in attendance. The room reflected the project: civic, multi-generational, rooted in the neighborhood.
What the book funds
Every copy of There Are No Losses, Only Lessons sold through HBC directly funds youth programming — gloves, equipment, summer camp scholarships, and the day-to-day work of keeping the gym open after school.
Where the story continues
The mission Tony started is alive in every kid who walks through the doors. The memoir is one chapter; the gym is the rest.
- Get the book → — $30, ships from HBC. Every copy supports our youth.
- Meet the founder → — Tony’s bio and the wider HBC team.
- Visit the gym → — the real story is the one being written every Monday through Friday.