Nowadays, kids from poor family see sport as a ticket out of the life of poverty. Some kids do basketball; some do football. Boxing is another choice for poor kids. Manny Pacquiao, one the most famous boxer, came from a poor family. Manny Pacquiao's family was once so poor that they often had to go without rice. Pacquiao completed his elementary education, but dropped out of high school due to extreme poverty. He started professional boxing when he was only 16 and became one of the best boxers in the world.  Glouster is one of the poorest areas in Ohio. It used to have coal mining, however all the mines were closed at 20 years ago. People started to go to bigger city, seeking for jobs. Ryan Robinson was born in a poor family in Glouster in 1992. Boxing is a family thing to him because his father used to be a professional boxer. Ryan and his brother start boxing when they were very young by the influence of their father. Ryan has played 5 amateur matches now. The most unforgettable match is his first one. “I see all the time in my head when I think about it. We are both 17.” Ryan said. “We stay in the middle of the ring, punch after punch after punch after punch. I gave him an overhead right punch, and then he was all lying down. I came down with another right hook, knocking out his mouthpiece. Seeing his mouthpiece out, I quitted because I know this boy, he is my friend. I couldn’t take that advantage. After match, my coach Sam said he was proud of me because I didn’t punch when the boy didn’t has his mouthpiece.” The boy gave a nickname called Iron jaw because he tried to knock Ryan out many times but he couldn’t do it.

  “Before I get into boxing, I didn’t like to talk to people, I was anti-social, I hate people. I want to beat everybody.” said by Ryan, “It teaches me good people skills, like self-control, respect each other, how to talk to people, help them out, how to communicate better.” When Ryan was young, he has anger issue because he was fat and over weight. Boxing teaches him self-control. " It helps me get a lot of anger out. When you start hitting the bag, your anger starts relieving from you. It helps you not think about bad staff and relieve it" Ryan said. Boxing also teaches him how to focus. After get into boxing, he can focus better when he is reading a book than what he normally does.

  Ryan used to work in the coal mine that is the only one left in Glouster. He was paid by 13 dollars per hour and that’s the most well paid job he could find in Glouster. His two fingers were cut to the bone by the machine in an accident. And his right ear was about to cut off in another accident. In this January, Ryan lost his job because the coal mine was sold out without telling any employees. He was really upset and disappointed. He spent more time in the gym, punching bags. It brought him back and help him go over the hard days. Finally, Ryan found a job in McDonald's in July.

  “Boxing is like a weekend girlfriend, it’s fun, you love it, but you don’t see it much often and that sucks. If the gym open everyday, it will be awesome and boxing will be my wife, I love the gym.” Ryan said.