By Thomas Gerbasi

The noise was all around Karlos Balderas as he prepared for his pro boxing debut Sunday night in Los Angeles. There was the usual excitement for any Olympian making his first walk to the ring as a professional, but as the 20-year-old warmed up for his bout against Thomas Smith, he had a couple legends giving him some pre-fight advice.

“Remember all the times you were in the gym, what you went through, who was there for you,” Erik Morales told him. “If leaving it all on the line is necessary, do that.”

“Your work is done,” added Israel Vazquez. “Now remember what you fight for.”

Then the two Mexican legends led Balderas from the locker room. It was time to fight. And if Dallas’ Smith was feeling bad enough about facing the member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, seeing him next to Morales and Vazquez could only make matters worse. That’s not to say the Santa Maria native didn’t have some butterflies.

“I was so nervous, but it was an honor,” Balderas said of having two of the sport’s most respected warriors with him on such an important night. “I felt so happy and grateful. They were saying the honor was theirs because they wanted to walk with me, but I felt like the honor was mine because I was walking with two Mexican legends who I looked up to and had great fights.”

Now it’s time for Balderas to follow in those footsteps, and his career got off to a good start as he halted Smith in a single round, his opponent opting not to leave his corner for the second frame.

“I felt like there was a need for me to put on a show because I had so many people that came to see me,” he said. “Everybody was looking at me since the Olympics to see if I would do bigger things as a professional, and I had my family from Oklahoma and Texas, so I felt like a win wasn’t enough, but a statement.”

He made it, doing what he is expected to do at this early stage of his career. And as he goes on, there will be more expectations as one of the top young prospects of Richard Schaefer’s Ringstar Sports roster. The only issue here is making sure he is moved properly and doesn’t let any youthful impatience get the best of him. But Balderas knows the game, and he’s not in a rush.

“Along with my body developing more and facing better competition, we’ll realize when we’re ready for a title shot,” he said when asked how he will remain patient in those pivotal early days in the game. “But as of right now, I don’t know how to answer that question because I was so excited, I felt like I could take on the world after this win. (Laughs) But I’m only 20 years old and I need to learn how to relax a little. I look at (Vasyl) Lomachenko and these guys, and they’re good fighters, but they’re in a hurry because he’s 29 and he’s on the clock. But I think I have more than enough time to develop and get the experience that I need.”

It must be nice to be 20 years old and think that a 29-year-old is “on the clock.” But what he says makes sense. There is no need to push the envelope too early. He’s young enough to grow, get the right fights at the right time and then strike when his team feels he’s ready. And while Balderas showed in making it to the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Games that he had the potential to strike gold in 2020 if he stuck around the amateur ranks, he would rather join his teammates Shakur Stevenson, Nico Hernandez and Claressa Shields in chasing a pro title.

“Coach Billy (Walsh) was telling me that if I stayed another four years, I could be an Olympic champion,” Balderas said. “We were all very young and probably the youngest boxing team out there. Everybody was 19, 20. So I felt like it probably would have been a good idea for me, but I didn’t want to go through it again because I know how corrupt the system is. I also noticed that they were talking about making the Olympics five rounds again, so I said if I’m fighting five rounds, I might as well go professional, and make more money and make more noise. Because in reality, even if win an Olympic medal four years from now, I wouldn’t make as much noise if I’m a world champion four years from now.”