To most female college students, boxing is just a sport where two grown man beat each other. A sport filled with too much blood, sweat and action. To me, boxing is everything.
My entire life has revolved around boxing. My dad is a boxing promoter so while most kids my age watched Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, I grew up watching HBO and Showtime. Rocky was not just a movie to, it was part of my lifestyle. Our toothtune toothbrushes sang the famous theme song, our dogs were named after Rocky characters and not a day goes by where someone does not quote a famous lines from one of the movies. (By the way the original will always be the best so don’t try to fight me on it.)
Bring your child to work day was iconic. Somewhere in the midst of all the fights, trips to the boxing gym, late night pay per view shows, and the unlimited amount of Muhammad Ali quotes I heard on a daily basis, I began to fall in love with boxing.
I now understood the obsession that consumed my father’s life. I found myself giving up weekends with friends to travel with my dad to fights and spending more time on Canelo Alvarez’s Instagram as supposed to Kim Kardashian’s.
There’s something about boxing that is so special. Its unpredictable. Unlike a basketball game that has set quarters that are played until the time runs out, boxing can be scheduled for 12 rounds and end in 2. You never know what’s going to happen. It’s the only sport in the world where the score is not revealed until the game is over. The mystery and uncertainty boxing provides keeps fans attached to the sport. Boxing to me is the greatest sport in the world. It has given me strength and courage like nothing ever has. It has motivated me through hard times and taught me the true meaning of a champion. As Rocky Balboa said in “Rocky”, “it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.”