Boxer Charles Hatley's Star Is Rising

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DALLAS (CBS11 SPORTS) - When Charles Hatley won the WBC Silver Super Welterweight championship in November 2015, it was a dream come true.

Boxing since he was 7-years-old, he says he always told everyone he would be a champion and a celebrity, but he never really believed it.

As he took us on a tour of his old stomping grounds in Dallas, he says his belief in what he could achieve, he owes to his family.

Charles says, "I never wanted to do anything but make my dad proud, and now I have. "

We sat down and ate lunch in Uptown, where everyone was asking Hatley to take a picture and pose with his championship belt. Then it was off to his former neighborhood of Oak Cliff, where he encouraged kids on a local playground to reach for their dreams.

Charles Hatley says some of the kids "don't even think about success. They have no reason to right now. But hopefully when they see me, they see a chance to accomplish their goals."

Hatley plans to fight again in April or May, and he says he no longer gets inside the ring with any nerves.

Coming from the inner city, not having a lot of advantages, he says he's fighting for every young kid in Dallas, who just needs a fighting chance.

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