Salvatore Rufolo is not your average sixth grader. The 11-year-old from Rivière-des-Prairies is a champion Junior Division boxer. Kids in that category take part in bouts made up of three one-minute rounds with a minute of rest in between.
While he’s already got many medals to his name, some of them mean more to him than others.
“I got the Canadian champion,” he said. And when he’s reminded of that title he said it makes him feel he’s good.
But like a lot of kids his age, sometimes the size of the award is more impressive than an actual title.
One of his favourite prizes is a trophy.
“It was a big trophy with a boxer,” Rufolo said, admitting he couldn’t remember where he’d won it.
Rufolo started boxing just three years ago.
He said he tried other sports but they didn’t quite live up to his expectations.
“I tried many different sports like karate and taekwondo but they were like…boring,” he said.
His father, who used to be a boxer himself, first introduced him to the sport.
“He brought me to the gym and since then I always like boxing,” Rufolo said.
Rufolo’s dad was his coach up until recently.
But there’s a time when kids surpass even their parents.
When asked whether he’d gotten a new coach because he was better than his dad, Rufolo didn’t deny it.
“Well I mean yeah…It’s different generations and techniques,” he said.
Rufolo now has his eyes set on the 2024 Olympics.
He said he draws inspiration from his late-brother Dominic, who died in his sleep three years ago from heart arrhythmia. Dominic was five-years-old.
“He teaches me how to move on,” he said. “I always have that inner feeling. I mean that I can always do better in every single fight.”
Although Rufolo believes he has a future in boxing, what he really wants to do when he grows up is become a pediatrician.
“I like working with kids,” he said. “I like helping kids. If there are kids in danger, I’d like to save their lives.”
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