As the gloves come on, senior Joel Abarca is ready to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Abarca is one of a handful of people at DGS to be a boxer. His face lights up as he talks about his dream to become a professional boxer.

“I want to prove to people that there are other ways to become successful other than school,” Abarca said.

For Abarca, he is determined to reach his goal. He trains almost daily to stay in fighting shape.

“I wake up every morning at four in the morning and go for a run. Afterward, I go and do weights. Then I go to school and after that, I go straight to the gym,” Abarca said.

Abaraca is dedicated to boxing. His love and passion for the sport started not from watching boxers fight in massive publicized arenas, but from small title boxing classes with his aunt.

“When I was 7, I decided to join my aunt at a title boxing club in Chicago. In my freshman year, I started to enjoy watching boxing and enjoyed doing the sport. That’s where I’m at right now, trying to compete,” Abarca said.

Abarca won his first-ever fight in May of this year and plans to have a second one in October.

“I feel like I have a load of work to do, training, sparing, pretty much everything, but I have to be prepared for anything,” Abaraca said.

Senior Cris Catarino, a boxing friend of Abarca, is optimistic about his friend’s next boxing fight.

“As long as he keeps training and keeps being disciplined, he will do well. I am confident,” Catarino said.