As I mentioned in the previous story, I needed to find some good human-interest stories in order to give all of us some perspective on the whole Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao drama. This first story comes out of Duluth, MN and it follows the life of Shawn Fuller. Shawn was a one of the many troubled youth in America. Yet, unlike most others he wanted to escape his "shaky life" in Chicago, and his brother offered him a place to live in Duluth. Yet, when he arrived, he discovered that his brother's house had burned down. Shawn was left nothing with absolutely nothing. He was broke and homeless, searching for answers. Those answers came at Life house in Duluth. Through this organization he met a local boxing coach Zach Walters and Jungle Boy Boxing. Zach looks back on the progress that Shawn has made from their first meeting.
"When Shawn first came to Life house, I don't know if he would be doing all these things that he's doing in his life. He got some support and some services that were offered to him and he ran with it."
One of those services that was offered to Shawn was amateur boxing. Four months after starting training, Shawn had his first amateur bout last Thursday night on an all-amateur card. The fight was in a small venue in Duluth, but the size of the crowd didn't matter. All that mattered was that Shawn had managed to get his life on track after being broke and homeless.
In true fairy tale fashion, Shawn managed to win his first fight and got to take home a nice little trophy. Boxing had helped this young man turn his life around. Along with amateur boxing this young man is currently studying at Lake Superior College the semester and is pursuing a career as a construction manager. While it can be frustrating to be a boxing fan, it is good to know that sport of boxing can still help people turn their lives around.