Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 3-24-20

10-Year-Old Boxer Making A Name For Himself
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Dad tried to direct his atten- tion to other sports, but al- though he excelled, he was not interested.
George Streets, Jr., is now 10 years old, and already considered a boxing ‘great’ for his age. But the young man has parents who keep him grounded.
While some are saying what a great boxer he is, and others want to use him as their brand, his father says, ‘not so fast, he’s much too young.’ Although diagnosed as ADHD, the elder George says his son is doing quite well in school.
Known as ‘Lil Savage,’ George, Jr. has made TV
appearances and others are reaching out to him.
‘Lil Savage’ was 3 years old when he told his parents he wanted to be a boxer. At that age, no, they did not take him serious. But, they no- ticed that he continued to watch boxing vidoes on YouTube and punch their sectional sofa with his fast punches.
Frustration set in when his dad started to looking for gyms to get him enrolled. The reason: he was too young and could be a liability if anything happened.
“After a few weeks of con- sistency, calling around, I lo- cated a gym on the corner of Fowler and Nebraska owned by retired professional boxer, Michael Gold Rush. When we entered the gym none of
This is Lil Savage at 3 years old.
the coaches wanted to work with him because he was so young. Right when they were about to turn us away, a coach by the name of Frankie Punch saw my son hitting one of the heavy bags that were hanging up in their facility and he immediately saw his potential and decided to become his coach,” George, Sr., explained.
Father and son headed to the gym each day after school. From 4 to 8 p. m., he’d work with his new coach, Frankie Punch. Since ‘Lil Savage’ was the youngest boxer there, he had to spar with the 8 and 9-year-olds.
On 2 separate occasions, ‘Lil Savage’ wasn’t able to get in gym practice because of injuries and surgeries his fa- ther had encountered. How- ever, that didn’t stop him from practicing on his own at home.
“I never wanted my son to feel like he was being forced
10-year-old boxer, George Streets, Jr. – ‘Lil Savage.’
to do boxing lessons. so I de- cided to take him out of box- ing and let him play soccer, basketball, golf, gymnastics, and flag football,” the elder Streets said. “He excelled in all of these sports, but still had a passion for boxing. I explained to my son the dan- gers of the sport of boxing and told him to focus more on the self-defense side in- stead of actually competing. With that being said, I de- cided to put him back in box- ing and he’s been training hard ever since.”
Once he turned five, ‘Lil Savage’ reunited with Coach Punch and he devel- oped his skills and took him to the next level.
‘Lil Savage’ recently landed sponsorship with one of the biggest boxing compa- nies, and he’s a brand influ- encer. He also had a chance to train with boxing legend Antonio Tarver, a wealth of knowledge, who knocked
out Roy Jones.
“Everyone has been pres-
suring me to let him compete since he first turned 8 years old, but I felt it was important for him to go through fighter development — mentally, physically, and spiritually.”
A few years ago, ‘Lil Sav- age’ was diagnosed with ADHD. However, boxing has helped with his attention span and he’s able to use up that excess energy associated with ADHD.
He is registered with USA boxing as a fighter. At 10 years old, he weighs 71 lbs., but he’s tall for his age. He’s considered a southpaw fighter, which means he’s left-handed.
“We do have some things coming up, but right now we’re focusing on his cardio and endurance and working with his tutor one-on-one to make sure his grades are where they need to be,” his father explained.
When he’s not training, his favorite pastime is playing with beyblades and jumping on his trampoline. He loves to go places like Sky Zone and 2 Infinity, where they have obstacle courses for him to climb. He also likes to play Roblox and watch fortnite dances.
His father says he’s a very picky eater, but he loves any- thing that has peanut butter, his favorite snack. His fa- vorite foods are pancakes and oatmeal.
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