More Than Just Fighting
“This is real life; this is literally what people go through in their lives and you have to give these people their flowers. It isn’t easy stepping in the ring. But if you have to do it; you do it.”
Boxing. When you hear the word boxing you probably think of Floyd Mayweather or Mike Tyson. Who knows? Maybe now you might think of Ksi or Jake Paul. A lot of people hear about boxing these days, but a lot of people just don’t get it.. Brands like Misfits Boxing show how anyone can be a boxer whenever they want to be a boxer. That is possibly one of the worst messages you can spread for boxing, because some people don’t get it. They don’t understand that some people don’t box just because they want to. They box because they have to.
I started boxing at El Maestro Boxing Gym on Southern Boulevard in The Bronx inMay, and it really made me learn how this sport is all some people have. When you enter into this gym you automatically get that old school vibe.There’s multiple people in the gym working trying their lives off because . They want to take it to the next level; they want to be the next Canelo or Miguel Cotto. Some people just don’t know the sad stories about boxers. I know some people who have been fighting since they were little because they had problems at home. That rage at home possibly made them a different animal outside of home. Some fighters get created by the streets and due to them being so committed to the streets, they lose many opportunities, so now they have to fight for money.
Some fighters just overall went through problems in their life that brought a beast out of them. Former World Champ Caleb Plant at first was just a part time MMA fighter, and he never really took boxing and MMA serious. Until he had his first child. Aaliyah Plant came into this world with a number of issues. During an interview, Plant stated: “She had brain damage and went through 150 to 175 seizures a day. She was on life support 5 different times, and she couldn’t walk, couldn't move or eat properly.” Aaliyah tragically passed away in Caleb’s Arms in January 2015, and this is what sparked “Sweet Hands” Plant to become a beast in the ring. “If an infant can go through all that and deal with all that,” he said, “Then I can finish the last round, I can run the last sprint, I can pick it up on the last mile, I can finish strong on the last round.”
Fighting as a whole should be embraced by us as a community, as we have some folks in our community who also fight. One of those students is the 12th Grader, Kercy Martelly. He doesn’t fight just because he wants to, he fights because fighting is what helps him stay in control as a person. He spoke to me and told me how: “My motivation is my past self, I would have lots of anger issues growing up and I would get into a lot of fights overall.” He continued: “So fighting when I was younger calmed me down a lot and if it wasn’t for fighting I would still be that kid with anger issues.”
Kercy and I kept on talking about fighting overall and I asked him about how he feels about the underground scene of boxing and street fighting. Martelly stated that “Some fighters fight for the money and some fighters fight because that is their only option or only escape in life.” He then said: “I feel like fighting is the only way I cope with sh*t. Instead of drinking, smoking, or taking drugs to cope with stress, I fight to cope with stress, even when I have medical problems I still push myself to fight because it helps me calm down my stress.”
Our conversation really opened my eyes to why boxing and fighting is important to others. Some need money, some have passion, and some people even do it just to keep their mental health strong. You never know what is going on in these fighter’s lives to make them drive into the path that they are in today, And that’s what’s so fascinating about these stories, because this is not made up. This is real life; this is literally what people go through in their lives and you have to give these people their flowers. It isn’t easy stepping in the ring. But if you have to do it; you do it.
Adding to this, there are other folks in our community that fight outside and are in the underground boxing scene. Alias Calderon from the 12th grade is one of them. He said: “It was introduced to me into a very hard time in my life, and I fell in love with it.” This senior was going through problems, but then boxing came into his life and took over. He later stated: “Like even now if I don’t do some sort of training or boxing I start tweaking out.” He continued: “I need to work out, I need to do those boxing drills, I need to spar. It’s not a want anymore. It’s what I need.”
He then proceeded to say how “Boxing also helps you mentally it’s not just physical.” In addition to what Calderon said, he then told me how “the people who choose boxing mainly went through a hard time. There’s not a lot of people who chose to do it, and a lot of people didn’t really have a choice or they found boxing during a really hard time.”
Boxing can stick to you like glue. It is a sport that then becomes a lifestyle for these fighters who work their asses off to become world champion. People sweat blood and tears into this career and it’s not something that goes away. These fighters found their first love at a very young age and they can’t let it go. They can’t live without it; they have to continue boxing. Our peers make a great example of this. Boxing is more than just fighting. It’s more than just fighting for these folks. It’s their life.