Houston Chronicle

With a look of affection, Raphe Sims interrupts his training regimen to briefly glance at the two lads sitting nearby intently studying his every move in the boxing ring. Not long ago, it seems, Sims was in a similar posture, his 3-year-old eyes following the fighters going through their paces in his dad's gymnasium. "I can remember my first time going into that gym and looking up at all the big bags, then pulling on a pair of boxing gloves," says Sims. "It seemed like those gloves came up to my shoulders." (Photo by Steve Campbell/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)