I started boxing about 8 months ago, but it took forever to convince my mom to let me. She had a list of concerns, but my constant pestering finally paid off.

I started in the summer and fell in love. Admittedly, the first few sessions were a bit rough. It took some time before I really knew what I was doing. 

For the first few months I just worked on my footwork and getting my form right. During these classes, I would always see people sparring in the ring — that was my goal. I really wanted to start doing that. 

After a month of regular classes, I asked how I could get to Level 2 and start sparring. I was told I need a bit more practice and a mouthpiece, so I wouldn’t break my teeth. I got a mouthpiece, but I didn’t tell my mom about the “breaking my teeth” part. I guess she will see that when she reads this column.

I was a little nervous to jump into the ring because I was going to go up against people who have been boxing for a lot longer than me. But I was more excited than nervous, so I put on my gloves and mouthpiece and met my sparring partner.

My opponent and I  touched gloves and we began. Immediately, he threw a combo at me, and all I could do was cover up. This was a big wakeup call. I needed to get a lot better if I wanted to compete. Just thinking you can fight doesn’t mean you can.

I started to spar at least two to three days a week. I sparred with my coach and he would push me to improve. Usually, he would beat the crap out of me until I was panting and frustrated. He was teaching me to think quickly and react — but it was a tough lesson.

My coach loved telling me that he was going to make me fall, and boy, did he. He would throw fakes to my head and then hit my liver like there was no tomorrow. I didn’t realize he was trying to condition me to take those kinds of punches. Most nights, I went home with a sore body and totally exhausted — again, something I didn’t really share with my mom.

Over the next few months of sparring and training, I saw definite growth. My footwork was getting better, and I started to win my sparring matches.

Two months ago, my coach approached me and suggested I fight in the Golden Gloves Promotion. I was all in. This meant I had to start training even harder. I was sparring more rounds, I started running on nights when I wasn’t in the gym and I changed my diet to eliminate some of crap I had been eating.

I’m not going to lie — boxing has been tough. I have played soccer, basketball and football — they don’t compare. Boxing is the best workout I’ve ever done. It keeps me in shape, but even better, boxing has given me confidence and new goals. I want to win at least five fights in Golden Gloves and then switch to a different promotion and do the same thing.

The best thing that boxing has given me is the friends and mentors that I have met. In all the movies and shows, it depicts fighters as these mean, grumpy people, but most of the people I’ve met in my gym are the kindest people I’ve ever met. They have helped me with my footwork and given me top-notch advice about how to punch correctly, better my foot work and helping me learn more head movement to help not get hit.

It feels more like a family where we all help each other to become the best version of ourselves. That is something special that I will always love.