The sound of the bell is the call to my meal. Oh, how love and hate that sound at the same. As a child I have fought and scratched for every meal I ever had. As an infant I was hungry. As a boy I was hungry. As a man, I am still hungry. I will always be hungry. I have been tortured and I have gone through the darkness. I have seen beauty beyond imagination through the clarity of the rhythmic hitting of the punching bag. I have fought and pushed until I have vomited every day of my life to exhaustion.
I was abandoned in the darkness by my own flesh and blood parents. I was left on my own with no one to love me. It was hard and my innocence began to fade into the abyss as a candle fades in the wind. I had nothing, but myself and so I screamed. I screamed and I cried like a coward. Standing at the gates of the orphanage, I yelled to the on going traffic. "Mother, father, why did you leave. Please come back. Please, I need you. I need you. I need somebody."
In the darkness I waited and I hungered for parents. Yes, I hungered to be loved and be cared for. It was selfish and weak, but by the heavens that is what I wanted. I was alone because of my physical strength. I would sometimes hurt the other orphans and play too rough. I was stronger then them and I knew in my heart I would always be alone. I would always be alone and I would always be hungry.
Then one day two people came to the orphanage. Their names were Johnathon and Bridgette Fox. They saw me and they did something I had never expected. They adopted me. They took me, a son not of their own flesh and they made me their son. They gave me light when I was the dark. They gave me hope when I had lost all. They gave me pride when I was left barren with shame. This was the happiest day of my life. For the first time my existence had purpose. So I proudly said, "My name is Steve Fox."
As a Fox I had the best that my family could offer me. My mother was poor and so was my father. They did not have much, but they sacrificed themselves for me. They gave their heart and souls to raising me. With so much poverty on their hands they accepted the extra burden and they were proud to have accepted me. In this I found happiness even when the other children would ridicule me about my lack of wealth, I was happy to be part of a family. Still the hunger was there and I did not know why. I saw my mother washing cars to make cash. I saw my father work three humiliating jobs to put food on our table and I asked myself, "Why do they suffer so much."
My feelings for my parents returned me to the emptiness I had come from. After all they had done for me, I was not worthy of their love. My anguish turned to rage as I got into fights outside the school grounds. I would bully and punish for all I was worth. No one would stand a chance against me, until one day. An old man with a cap came to the grounds and he stopped from bullying another kid. I was so enraged, that I swung at him. He nimbly ducked the blow and delivered an uppercut followed by a lower kidney shot. With two punches an old man floored me on the ground and he gave me my first dose of humiliation.
He later took me and showed me how to control my rage by giving me something to do with all my physical power. He showed me the "Sweet Science" of boxing. The skipping rope improved my footwork and evasive skills. The speed bag made my jabs speed rose three folds. It was so simple, but so difficult. I had to master four different punches, five if one counts the overhand. My trainer showed my how to move my body weight and transfer it into each punch. Soon I was punching at four hundred and ninety eight PSI per heavy punch.
Through extensive training I began to see myself in the reflection of my own sweat. I saw the people I hurt in my life and I knew my shame. I swore to the heavens that I would redeem myself in the eyes of the world. I punished myself further and further until skills reached absolute perfection. When the time was finally right, I entered the ring. I would fight so my parents would never have to work another day. I was hungry for victory and with each win I became hungrier. I would win for my family and that was my core belief. I had to reach deep within myself and find the man I truly was. When the time came, I stood in triumph over my fallen opponent as the IBF Middle Weight Champion of the World. This is the path of so many boxers, Rocky Marciano, Jim Braddock, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Wladimir Klitchesko, and Hevander Holleyfield. We fight to feed our families and to fill the emptiness that we are more than what others see. To show the world that we are champions. I patiently weight for someone hungrier than I to beat me. I owe everything I am to my trainer and my true parents, the ones that adopted me."I am Steve Fox and I am a champion."