Taking the first step is difficult. Finding the right courage to try something new is always challenging. And if it’s a sport as tough and demanding as boxing, it can seem even more daunting. Yet, once the desire to try overcomes the mere curiosity of admiring it from afar, it feels like magic happens.
A kind of aura, a magnetic force so strong that it pulls you in and never lets go. What was once the fear of starting slowly transforms into the exact opposite: boxing becomes like oxygen, something indispensable, and the fear of beginning turns into the fear of ever having to stop.
“A fighter never knows when it’s the last bell. He doesn’t want to face that.” (Sugar Ray Leonard)
Those small steps, hesitant at first and taken on tiptoe, become bigger and bigger. And you find yourself overcoming challenges, breaking limits, surpassing yourself day after day, doing things you never thought you were capable of! And this is how you begin to sacrifice, almost without noticing, everything else.
You fight, you struggle, and you move forward, charging like a high-speed train! A strong feeling grows inside you, so hard to explain to the outside world. An unbreakable bond with boxing, making you run side by side with it, without even glancing elsewhere. But you do it because you love it, because it makes you feel alive, because the 16 ropes of the ring now enclose your space.
No matter any other commitment, any physical pain, or anything else in your life, you don’t let go. You train, you fight, and you always return. Who or what can push you off that train? Maybe nothing and no one, ever. Even disappointments don’t have the power or ability to do so. Yet, there comes a moment when you realize on your own that it’s necessary. That you have to get off that train or at least change carriages.
Because yes, you have to face reality, your age, your health, life’s priorities, work, and many other aspects, perhaps neglected over the years. And yes, there is a time for hope, a time for dreaming, and a time to plant your feet back on the ground. And so, sooner or later, the time inevitably comes when you must untie your boots, put your gloves away, and place everything back where it belongs—in your heart. Or, why not, put it all to the service of others.
Pass on your passion, all your love for this sport, and through your teachings, inspire the next generation and keep boxing alive. After all, someone who has been a boxer will always remain one: whether inside, outside, or in the corner of a ring, that boxer’s heart will never stop beating.