Boxing as altruistic work

Boxing is a sport full of emotions, enjoyed by boxers and fans and it also works as a very important way of expression and communication.

On many occasions, different athletes have used their sport to raise awareness about different problems, with altruistic work.

A clear example is Melissa St. Vil, a professional boxer, striving to improve herself within the sport, and to raise awareness about autism around the world.

Melissa is a convinced  that the challenges she faces as a boxer are not comparable to those that a person with autism has and that the boxer’s life took a complete turn, the day she met Kaylene, a little girl with autism. There and then she found a motivation beyond her performance as an athlete.

From that day on we can see on her social networks the help she has given Kaylene, from teaching her to box as well as learning new things and words. The ring is climbed wearing clothes that have puzzle designs of different colors, it is the symbol to raise awareness about this disorder, as it represents the complexity of autism, and each color of the pieces alludes to the diversity of people who suffer from autism . St. Vil told 2 On Your Side “she just wanted to show the world the beauty of autism and how amazing and smart someone on the spectrum can be.”

St. Vil isn’t the only boxer seeking to raise awareness about autism. Boxer  Callum Smith, along with his brothers, seeks to raise his voice around this issue. They have a sister with autism and she has been inspiration and motivation for their altruistic work. As part of this, Callum has entered the ring, in his most important fights, with shorts that has the word “autism” engraved on it and in this regard he commented: “When she was first diagnosed, we didn’t really know what it was. So when someone asks, I explain. We are putting our grain of sand.”

These two boxers are the wonderful  example of how sport can be a fantastic  medium and channel the case  of autism and other issues.