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Biggest fight was outside ring Photo by Jim Craven Lionel Leon, foreground, says boxing and the kindness of Medford's Joe and Frances Pedrojetti changed his life. With couple's help, boxer defeats past By DANI DODGE Summoned into the boxing ring with his "mom" and "dad," Lionel Leon jumps onto the platform first. Then he holds the velvet-sleeved ropes open wide so Joe and Frances Pedrojetti can pass through easily. Respect is inherent in the action. It is because of this ring, and because the Pedrojettis took him in two years ago, that he isn't in jail -- or dead, Leon believes. "This is the biggest blessing I've ever had in my life," says the 18-year-old, his earnest brown eyes widening. "I'm so thankful, I don't even know how to show it." Not only is his boxing career taking off -- he beat a national champion a few weeks ago -- but Saturday he will do something no one in his biological family has ever done: get his high school diploma. "It's hard to believe it," Leon said. The North Medford High School student plans to become a probation officer and a professional boxer. His current goal is to make it into the Olympic boxing trials. A few years back, Leon's prospects weren't so good. He grew up shuttling between Mexico and a rough neighborhood of San Diego. When Leon was 10, he watched his uncle die -- shot four times outside Leon's grandmother's house. When Leon was 14, he saw a close friend shot through the heart in a gang fight. His friends were into stealing cars. He was doing a little boxing and a lot of street fighting. He was only 14 when he went across the border to Tijuana, got into a brawl and ended up spending a night in a Mexican jail. He had little use for school and rarely attended. "I was getting all F's and one D," he said. One D? "P.E.," he said. Then two years ago, Leon came to Medford for a boxing match. He was beaten by a member of Joe Pedrojetti's "Pedrojetti's Bulldog Boxing" club. He was amazed at the skill of the fighters in the club. Leon and his trainer were invited up a second time. The trainer got a job and planned to stay, but Leon was miserable. "I was picky about my food, and with my coach there were no tacos," Leon said. Frances Pedrojetti had him over for dinner. "I could see he was homesick," she said. "After a few nights he was in tears. I said, `Would you like to stay with us?"' Frances Pedrojetti is Hispanic. Joe Pedrojetti, a former collegiate national champion boxer, is Italian. Leon liked the family. He liked the food. The bedroom was as big as his family's entire San Diego house. He stayed. "He fit right in with the family," Frances Pedrojetti said. The Pedrojettis have three biological children. Leon's biological parents, hoping for a better future for their middle son, encouraged him to stay in Medford. "My main goal with Lionel wasn't in the boxing ring," Frances Pedrojetti said, "but to get him to graduate from high school." Leon, then 16, was reading at a third-grade level. Every night, family members guided him through the rituals of homework. Every morning, they got him off to school until he learned the habit. When he slipped up and missed curfew, he was grounded. At first, he was miffed by discipline, but because he understood the Pedrojettis were doing it out of love, he respected the rules. Leon stayed out of trouble because he didn't want to embarrass his new family or tarnish the image of boxing in town. At school, teachers reached out to him. He felt they cared. "It never would have happened in San Diego," he said. "We had more than 4,000 kids at the high school." He's now earning a 3.0 grade-point average and reading at high school level. "He's remarkably resilient," said his school counselor, Hal Jones. "He's got that ability to look beyond the dire circumstances of his life and hold onto hope. "That has carried him through and will continue to carry him through." Leon said he has learned things he never thought possible by living in the Rogue Valley. He golfs. He's been hunting. He reads for pleasure and studies the Bible. "It was a big difference living here," he said. "There's not a lot to do, but what there is to do is fun and doesn't get you in trouble with the law." He said he woke up crying Tuesday. "It was because I'm so thankful," he said. "If it wasn't for them (the Pedrojettis) I wouldn't have a future, but now I have a great future." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA