LOVELAND, Colo — Turning boxing into a greater purpose, that is the focus of a Loveland man who is using his professional boxing career to fight youth violence.
"So I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, I moved out to Colorado in 2018 with my family," Danny O'Connor said.
To appreciate Danny O’Connor’s journey, you first have to learn more about his childhood. O'Connor shared that during his sophomore year, he was at the top of his game in the classroom and on the wrestling mat, but then life threw him a curveball.
"I had no education on the scale or anything that went into the weight manipulation, and because it was a full-time and took over, my grades slipped, and when my grades slipped, my eligibility for wrestling then left," O'Connor said.
No longer able to wrestle O'Connor says that sent him on a downward spiral.
"I failed every class, I dropped out of school, I left home and became homeless, I was involved with substance abuse, and I started getting in trouble with the criminal justice system 22 times before I was even of adult age," O'Connor said.
Through the darkness of life, O'Connor found light through the sport of boxing.
"I found boxing, and there was a Police Athletic League, and it was free to the community, and I made the Olympic team two years after ever walking through those doors into that gym, and so now being showcased on Sports Illustrated HBO, on the newspaper, I was part of the USA team," O'Connor said.
But this was not the end of the story for O'Connor. He formed the DO Boxing Academy to help other kids find the silver lining in life.
"Some of these kids have been just told their whole life that they're not doing something right, or they're in trouble, or they're bad or for whatever reason, but some of them just need a chance at something that they can commit to, they can excel at," O'Connor said.
Danny says the students under his training learn skills like self-discipline, hard work, not letting emotions take over, and more.
"We just signed contracts with Thompson School District in Loveland, and we're going to be in multiple schools actually this week starting which is amazing, because now we have direct access to these kids in the school setting," O'Connor said.
If you are interested in connecting your school district or organizations with O'Connor you can find the information here.
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