Teenage Boxer Finds Balance In Fighting And Fasting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A local elite teenage boxer is trying to fight her way to the highest level of the sport while fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Neither the sport nor fasting are easy for Amaiya Zafar -- that's part of the point. It's also part of a life she's always known.
"My dad is a Marine," Zafar said. "So if I was in trouble, there was no timeout chair. I would stand in front of him (at attention)."
That discipline, she says, is what brought her to her second home: the gym.
During Ramadan, Zafar trains at night, before breaking fast, then again at 1 a.m., before going to bed.
She says her coaches, during the holy month, are easier on her than normal.
"One thing I try and work on is not walking around like, 'I'm so hungry, I'm so thirsty,'" Zafar said. "I chose to do this to myself so I'm not going to walk around complaining."
So why do it?
The easy answer is that it makes her better. But it's more than that.
In a sport so focused on comparing physical abilities, Ramadan reminds Zafar that in boxing—and in life—mental strength matters most.
"In the ring, you can be in beast shape, but if you don't have a strong mind, it's not going to get you anywhere," Zafar said. "And it's the same thing with fasting. If you don't have a strong mind, you can't do it."