Young boxer making history, lifting people up along the way

ORLANDO, Fla. - FOX 35 News interviewed a 19-year-old athlete who has been boxing since he was eight years old.  

Omari Jones is already making history in the boxing world as the number one amateur boxer in America in the welterweight division and has the championship belt to prove it. Boxing is his passion.

"Right now, it's two workouts a day, six days a week!"

And he is really, really good at it.

Since he was a child, he knew he wanted to be like the best to ever step in the ring.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.  Believe it or not, I'm going to be the next Muhammad Ali!" 

Muhammad Ali is his idol -- not just because he was a great athlete.

"He spoke up for people, Black people, to fight for their rights," he explained. 

Just a few months after bringing home the belt, he went to Serbia as a member of Team USA, winning a silver medal in the world championships.

"This is just going to build up to the ultimate goal, which is the 2024 Olympics.  I'm going to bring home a gold medal there and then go on to turn professional and be a world champion in the professionals."

While inside the ring, Omari is putting people on the ropes. Outside, he's lifting people up and supporting his community.  Omari has been committed to volunteering since he was in middle school.

"He just leads by example," Kirk Malcolm, Omari's mentor. 

While at Edgewater High School, he was a leader in the Lambda Gamma Young Men's Club.

"We did a lot of feeding of the homeless downtown.  We also did a lot of mentoring of middle school or elementary school kids depending on what grade we were in at the time," Malcolm explained.

His work in his community got him recognized by Orlando city leaders, including Mayor Buddy Dyer, who gave him the Youth Humanitarian Award.

While he works hard to reach his dreams, he is also focused on who he is going to help when he gets there.

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