TOKYO — Richard Torrez Jr. belonged to the robotics and chess clubs at Mission Oak High School in Tulare, Calif. He graduated as class valedictorian in 2017. He solves Rubik’s cubes in a matter of minutes. He loves magic tricks, shuffling decks to reveal certain cards. And even his favorite musician—the composer Beethoven—speaks to a diverse array of intellectual pursuits.
Richard Torrez Jr. is also an Olympic boxer, which seems counterintuitive, given everything else. Given that he doesn’t need to fight, that his future involves maximizing the capabilities of a healthy and highly functioning brain, that his parents both work in education.