A sports and conditioning “mad scientist,” Cem Eren trains both Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard and light heavyweight boxing champion David Benavidez.
Michael Jordan trained with Tim Grover.
Steph Curry trains with Carl Bergstrom. And, for the past nine years, Damian Lillard has trained with Cem Eren , a Tigard-based strength and conditioning coach with a unique passion for boxing.
The two meet for training sessions multiple times per day every off-season. Some of their training sessions focus on strength, power and explosiveness. Others focus on boxing with the shorter, powerfully built trainer laser focused on Lillard, stalking him around the ring with mitts as the Blazers’ legend jabs and parries, fending him off. Eren has worked closely with Lillard as he rehabilitates from the Achilles injury that has sidelined him since April.
Eren recently spent 90 days in fight camp with another long-time client, WBA and WBC light heavyweight champion, “The Mexican Monster” David Benavidez. Eren has trained Benavidez intermittently since the fighter was a pudgy eight-year-old, notably preparing him for a 2017 bout that made him the youngest super middleweight boxing world champion in history.
The Benavidez camp began in Miami. Eren flew back to Oregon several times to check in on Lillard’s progress before the fight team moved it’s base first to Dubai and then to Saudi Arabia for the match.
Benavidez dubbed Eren as a “mad scientist in the strength and conditioning world.” A video posted by Eren showed him preparing Benavidez for the Yarde fight using many of the same techniques he uses when coaching Lillard.
The training program was a success. On Saturday, Benavidez savagely beat down Anthony Yarde in a bloody, seventh-round TKO win, defending his WBC light heavyweight championship belt in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yahoo! Sports called the bout a “statement performance” for Benavidez:
“The Mexican’s timing, power, volume and work rate all came together in scary unison, breaking down the strong but vulnerable Yarde to defend his WBC title at 175 pounds.”
Texting from his grandmother’s village in Turkey in an exclusive post-fight interview with Blazer’s Edge, Eren said he approached training both Benavidez and Lillard with the same mindset. “The main part is I use mental respect with both [athletes] where I test their abilities with mental challenges,” Eren said.
The trainer compared Lillard’s competitive drive to Benavidez’s “When [Lillard’s] hands are up, when he has the ball, he knows that he can’t lose, and he will dominate. Because he knows his exceptional training will back him up. So the mindset of that – he will not stop,” Eren said.
Boxing is a core piece of Lillard’s training regimen, “[When we’re] boxing he won’t turn his back on me or quit in a round no matter how hard I’m pushing. He will finish the round. He will finish the play no matter what,” Eren said.
Many current and former Trail Blazers including Donovan Clingan, Robin Williams III, Anfernee Simons, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Rodney Hood and Keljin Blevins have worked with Eren at his 6,000 square foot facility over the years, but Lillard is his most consistent, long-term NBA client.
After Saturday’s fight, Benavidez stood in the ring, his white trunks stained pink with a mist of his opponent’s blood, and announced he will move up a weight class to challenge Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez for the unified cruiserweight belt on May 2. Lillard continues to rehabilitate and to box. He is expected to return to NBA action next season. Blazers fans hope the Letter O is building to more statement performances in the days ahead.
