ASHTABULA — A 10-year-old from Ashtabula went from getting bullied to being the state boxing champion in his division. He’s currently competing in the Junior Olympics and has already won two matches.
“Azariy is 10 years old, currently in fourth grade St. Johns in Ashtabula, Ohio,” said his father Chris Moreno. “It’s different, most of the kids out there play basketball, football, and you know, he boxes.”
Azariy Moreno is a fighter in more ways than just one.
“They mostly called me names, and they would like trip me and stuff like that,” Azariy said.
“He was getting picked on at school a little bit, you know, but they can’t monitor everything 24/7; they did what they could, but he had to stand up for himself,” his father said.
Azariy’s dad decided he needed to help his son focus his energy and get out his frustrations in a healthy way after being bullied.
“When I would get bullied, it’s something I just felt real bad,” Azariy said. “I just wanted to punch them and stuff, but I was just scared to.”
That’s where boxing came in. Azariy is now ranked number one nationally in the peewee division. After school, you can find Azariy zoning out the bullies at the gym, in the ring, training, and of course, squeezing in homework in between spars.
“I feel stronger, more brave,” Azariy said.
This week Azariy is fighting his most important matches of the year at the 2023 Junior Olympics, but he had to pause training ahead of the competition.
“When I was sick, my whole body was sore,” Azariy said. “It was just like crazy.”
He lost almost 10 pounds while battling COVID-19.
"We were scared,” his father said. “He wasn’t eating. He could hardly sleep at night. His nose was congested, he had aches in his body, and one night he got up, and he was delusional.”
But even when Azariy was at his lowest, he kept fighting.
“Literally, the week he was sick was (when) registration went up for the Junior Olympics,” his father said. “He got up and said, 'Sign me up. Let's go to the gym.'”
Azariy is the youngest in his division at the Junior Olympics and said he has no problem being the underdog.
“He won’t be 11 until June 19,” his father said. “So a lot of the other kids they are 12 going on 13, 11, 12. They’ve been in his division for a while, and this is his first year, so a lot of them are bigger.”
Despite the COVID-19 setback, Azariy's punches grew stronger.
“It’s getting better than how it was when I was sick,” Azariy said.
And the bullies grew quieter.
“Once they saw me posting videos on Instagram, then they were like, 'I feel bad for whoever bullies you,'” Azariy said.
His negative feelings and thoughts turned positive. Azariy turned his anxiety turned into athleticism.
“My goal is to win the tournament and become a two-time national champion,” Azariy said.
Regardless of the outcome in his final match Friday at the Junior Olympics, above all, boxing taught Azariy when bullies go low, you go high.
“When I was being bullied, I wasn’t scared to say nothing back; it just, for some reason, I was scared to swing back,” Azariy said. "And now, when people try to bully me, that stuff doesn’t even work.”
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