At a crowded boxing club up in the Bronx, there was this one particular boxing bag that swung all over the air while absorbing massive shots to the point it was getting too loud. They were coming from a boxer named Sam, he was a young teenager with a fierce warrior spirit, he always gave it his all when he trained and during his amateur matches. Sam was a calm focused and aggressive boxer in a great mental and physical shape, unstoppable and too quick to be caught. He had been the best boxer in his weight class at the gym. 

Sam lived with his family, he had an older brother and a younger sister. His Father was a hard working man and so was his brother who dropped out of high school to work and help provide for the family. His mom was unable to work due to a her kidney disease and her declining health condition. Sam had a weekend job at a grocery store to help with family bills, he also focused on his high school studies as much as he focused on his boxing journey.

Despite his academic performance and his dedication to the sport and his work ethic, he had numerous arguments with his family members especially his older brother. His family believed that he was wasting his time working out and boxing after school instead of getting an after school Job. Sam tried multiple times to convince them that boxing to him was as important as school, but his family would disregard that belief as a foolish decision. He kept trying to explain to them that he can make something out of it and will one day make it a career, but no one supported him other than his close friends.

One day at school, Sam received a call from his mother telling him that his dad had collapsed at work and was taken to the hospital. His father stayed in the hospital for about a week and after several tests they found out he had lung cancer, which was devastating news to the whole family, especially Sam. The family had to use all of their savings for chemotherapy and Sam started working  full time from 3pm to 11pm while barely attending school, because his father couldn’t return back to work. Sam and his brother struggled so much to pay for bills plus their Dad’s medical treatments and medicine.

Sam slowly had to give up on his boxing journey and stopped working out, his grades got worse and he became more isolated in school. His friends tried to motivate him back and invited him to chill but he distanced himself further from everyone. Sam believed that family comes first, and that his father wasn’t destined to fight this fight alone, because when it comes down to the meaning of family is that if one person falls, the rest must be willing to sacrifice everything to help him/her get back up.