I ran into a couple of guys who were boxers. They talked me into working out at their gym. I became obsessed with boxing and the idea of becoming a champion.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I took up boxing as a fitness thing. I got obsessed, and I would go every day when I wasn't working. It's just an insane sport when you get into it.
I was painfully initiated into boxing, because the guys I fought were a lot bigger than me.
I was always active, always running and working out. I was a wrestler and ran track and, out of interest, started boxing. It's always been a part of me.
Boxing is a sport, but it's also entertainment. I wanted to transcend the sport and be considered just not as a fighter, or a champion, but someone very special.
When I was 15 years old, I left school and became a professional boxer.
In order to understand the mindset of a boxer, I needed to become a boxer myself.
Boxing gave me the opportunities to grow into the person that I am today.
Boxing is the embodiment of who I am, but beyond that, this is a journey of the self, and my obsession to get the most from this short life.
I wanted to win the gold medal and then go home and further my education in college. I had no intentions whatsoever to become a professional fighter because I had heard horror stories about former boxers who made money but, in the end, ended up with nothing. I didn't want to be one of those guys.
I was lucky. I held on to some of my money. I didn't really know what I wanted to do after boxing. But I found what I wanted to do.
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