Dreams do come true!
A DC teen recently signed with Floyd Mayweather and is currently training for an upcoming competition, WJLA reports.
Jalil Hackett just turned 18 on May 11th, a few months after signing a contract with Mayweather’s promotions company. His father, Bernard Hackett, a former amateur boxer in the District, has been training his son since he was a kid. Now the teen is watching all of his wildest dreams come true as he heads to Vegas to train with boxing champion Floyd Mayweather in preparation for an upcoming competition.
“It’s great. I’ve been working hard for this since I was eight years old. So for the hard work to pay off is good,” Jalil told reporters.
The budding boxer graduated from Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C., a year early with a 3.5 GPA. His father said the staff at the school has been some of his son’s biggest supporters.
The upcoming event features Mayweather against Logan Paul, and Jalil has made the boxing card.
Hackett calls the opportunity a “bucket list” moment for his son, who is currently working with Derrick Curry, Mayweather’s D.C. rep, who is now Jalil’s manager. Curry said it was the teen’s “mannerisms [and] his politeness” that impressed him, referring to him as “the whole package.”
Jalil’s goal is to win three world boxing titles before he turns 23-years old. When he retires, he wants to focus on real estate. The D.C. teen hopes that his story inspires other youth to get into action around their dreams.
“It’s very important to chase your dreams to the fullest extent because you never know if you’ll make it until you try. If you are confident and believe you want to achieve something, no matter how irrational it may seem to others, if you put forth 1000% effort, you can do it,” he told Because Of Them We Can.
Jalil will be fighting on Pay-Per-View alongside Mayweather in Miami on June 6th.
Congratulations, Jalil! We are all so very proud of you!
Photo Courtesy of Jalil Hackett