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Fifteen-year-old student Ziyad Swan, a Cleveland freshman, has a passion for boxing. The sport intrigued him about a year ago and he started practicing over the summer and often trains nearly every day.

He relates boxing to his dad’s old passion for wrestling back in high school, because the two sports are very physical and hands on. Before he started boxing his confidence was fairly low, but once he started boxing he noticed his confidence levels getting better.

“A challenge I have overcome is like my confidence, because I had really bad confidence before I started boxing, and I feel like I have more confidence now from boxing,” Swan said.

Doing boxing everyday seriously improves his life and he couldn’t imagine his life without it. He feels like a champion in school and that feeling gets him through the weeks. His parents support his knack for

boxing because it keeps him physically active, although his dad has some misgivings.

“My mom thinks it’s healthy for me and I should keep doing it because it is something I love to do, but my dad doesnt really like it because he’s scared I’m gonna get a concussion or get my head hurt or break my teeth, so he doesn’t really like it,” Swan said.

Swan trains in a local gym six times a week and four hours a day. He takes one day a week to rest his body, and that plan works perfectly, saying, “It’s good to give your body a break.” He says that he’s sore most days of the week because his trainer makes him run miles for training.

Exercising and boxing helps Swan’s mental health and he likes how he knows how to box and how other people don’t know how to.

Lastly, Swan tells us to “always chase what you want to do, because at the end of it day, you will feel so much passion for it and it will be something you really want to do in the future.”