PALM BAY, Fla. - Chris Rodriguez wastes no time getting into his element at Round 13 Boxing in Palm Bay. Sporting a "Team Lobo" shirt, his training style resembles just that: like a wolf.
- Rodriguez was bullied in elementary school
- Enrolled at Round 13 Boxing at age 8
- Won state championship against two-time national champion
"Be smart throwing punches, but making sure they land so I look good, and I show I’m going to be dominating in that fight," he said.
At just 13, he's already establishing himself as one of the more competitive fighters in the area. With nearly 20 fights to his name, he recently challenged two-time national champion Devine Erazo for the Florida State PAL Championship.
"I looked at myself and imagined what brung me to that moment, and what’s going to help me with this fight," he said, thinking back to the moments before.
His journey to that point begins in elementary school. At just seven years old, he found himself as a target on a daily basis.
“He keep [sp] a lot of stuff for himself," his stepfather Wilberto Real said. "A lot of time [sp], it was hard for me trying to ask him what’s wrong? What happened? And that’s when he started telling me little by little what was going on at school.”
Rodriguez was defenseless.
"I remember this time in lunch, I was just eating my lunch, and I just remember a kid grabbing me by the waist, and flipping me upside down," he recalled. "Kind of maneuvering my neck, slamming me on the ground on lunch. And that was one of the most painful experiences I had."
He was bullied because of his size, leading him to struggle in school. There, he was reminded on a daily basis he wasn’t big enough to fight back.
"Like physically injured like every day," he said. "And nobody was doing about it in the schools. So my dad was like, 'I’ve had enough of this, you’re going into boxing.'"
With that, Real enrolled his stepson at Round 13, but he didn't take to the sport immediately.
“They don’t believe in what he can do," he said. "Even himself. He wanted to quit the first day. The first day he wanted to quit. And I keep pushing him and pushing him.”
And like a wolf chasing its prey, Chris found purpose. But he’s not hunting to harm those who hurt him, he’s standing up for others who think they can’t.
“No one has the right to touch someone without their permission, especially in an aggressive way," he said. "I don’t like it when other people get bullied. I can’t stand that. It just disgusts me in how people do that."
Rodriguez won that state title fight against Erazo, and says now, he's successfully proven to his peers that he's capable of standing up for himself.
"I can do what people think I can’t," he said. "You can do anything. You really can do anything. And I think i did a really great job in showing that."
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December 08, 2019 at 03:18AM
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Rodriguez Fights Against Bullying in Palm Bay - News 13
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