A boxing champion is in the making on Staten Island.
Ten-year-old Brooklyn native Laila Zakirova has been training to be a boxer since she was 5 years old.
Her dad is a championship boxer himself and now owns, Bars Boxing Gym, in Midland Beach.
Inspired by her father’s success, Laila follows a strict training schedule in hopes of becoming a household name like her other idol, Muhammad Ali.
Laila is a star student at P.S. 215 Brooklyn and has high hopes for the future.
"I need to speak up and wake up to make my dreams come true," she said. "To start training hard, I have to be serious and all of that."
Laila hopes she will continue to punch her way to a Junior Olympics qualifier at the end of this month.