Wilkins Santiago

“That which does not kill you, makes you stronger.” This famous quote is something Wilkins Santiago knows much about. The 29-year-old Puerto Rican boxer from Lorain, OH, has used this saying as his motivation time and again. Whether it’s from his entrance into the sport of boxing, to his life on the streets, the birth of his two kids, or even the work he puts in every day at Freddy’s Boxing Gym, Santiago has always been a fighter.

As an amateur boxer, Santiago participated in many of the biggest tournaments such as the Jr. Olympics, Golden Gloves and the Ohio State Fair. Santiago placed number two in the United States in 1995 at the Jr. Olympics, 119-pound weight limit. However, as he now enters the professional ranks at 160-pounds, he enters a whole new game.

What it took to get to the position of being able to be a professional fighter, was a lot more than what it takes for the average person. It was almost all over before it began.

As a nine-year-old, Santiago was first attracted to the sport when he entered Freddy’s Boxing Gym and saw the people working and heard the noise of the bags being pounded on. He lied to head trainer Freddy Barreiro and told him he was ten-years-old, since according to rules, a kid has to be aged at least ten-years-old to begin fighting. It did not take long for Barreiro to figure out Santiago was lying, and he sent him home as the young Santiago began to shed tears.

Santiago was disappointed, but not ready to give up. “For him to tell me no, that I couldn’t do something that interests me, was kind of like a beat down,” Santiago said. Maybe it was the ...