Senior Aaron Rivera is a boxer from the south side of Chicago who just returned from basic training after enlisting in The Illinois National Guard as a medic. Rivera started boxing at the age of eight because of his uncle.

He is now looking towards taking next big step into his future boxing career. He spent most of the his weekdays in Sam Colonna Boxing Gym before His first fight freshman year of high school describing it as “The most nervous day of my life” but came out with the victory.

He holds a 17-1 boxing record, hoping to strive to be better every single match and avoiding rigged fights.

He started boxing as just a hobby, but it turned into dedication. Growing up Rivera’s motivation came from watching world boxing champions like Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

“My family used to always watch the big Pay-per-view boxing fights and i immediately fell in love with the sport and really wanted to be apart of it.”

Rivera is currently focused on finishing his last year of high school and still training every day of week in hopes of making it into the U.S. Army Boxing Team.