ASHTON SYLVE has refused to drop the ball on his boxing career – giving up any hope of joining the NBA or NFL.
Sylve turned pro at just 16, but gained recognition a year later after signing with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
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Paul is predicting the 20-year-old to be the sport’s next superstar with big things to come.
But outside the ring, Sylve was a talented college football player and an excellent basketball player.
“As a kid, I always wanted to be a football or basketball player,” he told The US Sun.
“That was kind of, I guess, the trend at the time.
“So that was my mindset growing up and I still love both sports. I always watch and play to this day.
“But yeah, like there are other kids that are really trying to make the league, so they’re putting their all into it and I’m like 50/50 on both sides.
“So basically we didn’t want to risk any injuries, especially since I turned pro at 16. So it was very risky to do both.”
Sylve revealed that football was more of a passion than basketball when asked which league he had his eye on most.
“Even more so in the NFL,” he said.
“But for the NBA, I love basketball. NFL is like, okay, it’s a fun sport to play and I mean, it would have been cool.
“At the time, yes, I had aspirations of going to the NFL. But it was like my third option.”
Fortunately for Sylve, his decision to focus on boxing proved to be a wise one, as he raced to 11-0 with nine knockouts.
And he was ready for the biggest fight of his life against Floyd Schofield 17-0.
But the event – scheduled as Netflix’s first foray into live boxing – was canceled after Mike Tyson postponed his fight against Jake Paul, citing health issues.
The controversial clash – scrutinized due to their 30-year age difference – has been rescheduled for November 15.
But Paul, 27, will return this weekend against former UFC star turned boxer Mike Perry, 32.
We really didn’t want to risk any injuries, especially since I turned pro at 16. Therefore, it was very risky to do both.
Ashton Sylve on choosing boxing over football
So Sylve took the opportunity to also ensure he remained active with a fight to keep busy against Lucas Bahdi.
But he refuses to throw in the towel on the fight with 21-year-old Schofield, who he hopes to revisit later this year.
“I wish it were that way. I think this is a good card, especially on Netflix,” said Sylve.
“But on his side, I can’t say too much about what he has going on, but I know that definitely on my side we are, we are ready.”
With such a big fight still on the line and his reputation as the next big thing, Sylve can’t afford any slip-ups.
“I feel like from now on I’m going to have to always be mindful of my Ps and Qs,” he said.
“Because I’m at that stage where our game plan is to always progress.
“So there won’t really be any draw fights. There are no tune-up fights. There will always be some type of challenge inside the ring, so we always have to be on Ps and Qs.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
