DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A South Florida boxer refuses to give up on his dream of making it big in the ring — all while wearing a prosthetic leg. His community is backing him every step of the way.
Julian Gonzalez is always pushing himself. “Be quick, you know, be fast in my hands, in my speed, in my thinking,” he said.
The young pugilist has been chasing his dream of becoming a professional boxer, but it’s how he’s doing it that makes his story truly stand out. “You know there’s no Paralympic boxing, so,” he explained. Now, he’s proving he doesn’t need his own lane in the ring.
Recently, Gonzalez went head-to-head with an able-bodied boxer who was heavier and more experienced. “It was a good fight,” he said. “As soon as that bell rung, and it was just me and him, it was like all that completely washed away.”
That’s when all his hours of training paid off. “All that work, the two and a half years, the weeks leading up to it, it was phenomenal, phenomenal,” Gonzalez shared.
Back in October, Gonzalez won his first fight and scored his first belt. “The feeling of having my hand raised in that ring is like no other,” he said.
That victory showed him and his coaches at Phoenix Boxing Gym in Delray Beach that he’s ready to compete at a high level. “I am able to compete level to level with people who are two-legged, and I feel like, with how I move, I move better than most people with two legs. My footwork is pretty decent,” Gonzalez said confidently.
Now, he has the belt to show for it, and a community rooting for his success.
“I was chasing him around, trying to get his wraps off his hands, and he didn’t want to know. I think he sleeps with that belt,” said Michael Hockton, owner of Phoenix Boxing Gym.
Looking ahead, Gonzalez is preparing for a busy 2026 filled with fights and more wins. “It went well, it went well,” he said.
Gonzalez is currently raising $20,000 for a new prosthetic leg. So far, he has raised more than $2,000 through his nonprofit organization, We Box For Life.
For more information or to support Julian’s journey, click here.
https://wsvn.com/sports/south-florida-man-with-prosthetic-leg-pursues-boxing-glory-with-help-from-his-gym/
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