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Joe Louis, Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Evander Holyfield, Iron Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya all got their starts as Golden Gloves boxers.
Now three Utahn's are trying to pound their own way to glory starting Monday in Indianapolis at the National Tournament of Champions begins.
For Kyle Klus, boxing at 124 pounds, the golden journey has been a long time in the making.
"I eat, drink and sleep it. It's a lifestyle. I'm going to take it to the next level. I know what I'm capable of and I know what I can accomplish. Nothing is going to get in my way."
Boxing is demanding, physically and mentally.
Training, making weight and taking a punch, weighs on a boxer.
For Klus, making his dream a reality has not been a fast track to success.
Starting at 12, Klus got about 40 fights in until he reached 16 and quit the sport. He got sucked into the poor decisions of youth by partying with friends and neglecting school.
Eight years later, it was the birth of his son Christopher than knocked him back into the boxing ring.
"After I had Christopher, that's when I decided to get back. I just had the itch", said Klus.
Christopher's mother Lara Dietz has seen a change in her boyfriend.
"He's matured a lot more since we had the baby. He's stepped up and he wants Chris to be proud of him." said Dietz.
Christopher is two, and like most two year olds, he knows what he likes and it's usually a pair of boxing gloves attached to his tiny hands, cheering on his father in the ring.
"Christopher loves it," said Dietz, "He's like 'Go, go, Da Da, go!' The whole time in the fight, that's all you can hear in the background."
Klus, perhaps not entirely objective on the matter, sees a future for Christopher in the ring, "He gots it in his blood, I can just tell", he says with a big smile.
But it's not all fisticuffs with Chris, books are his other passion.
"He loves to read, he'll make me read all of his books." said Klus.
Balancing training, fighting and raising a child is demanding.
"Sometimes after a long day, I'm not going to lie, I get a little impatient. But I always bite my tongue and do it for him because he doesn't know how I am feeling." said Klus.
"He's a great Dad," said Dietz, "he'll wake up in the morning and get everything (Chris) wants. Go to the gym, come back, play with him, come outside if it's a good day and bounce the ball around with him. Eat, of course he has to eat somewhere in there and go right back to the gym."
Whether it's blood sweat or tears, the dedication is bigger than Kyle.
"I want him to be proud of the stuff that I'm doing for him. This is for me, but it's also for my family. All this hard work is to make sure we have a better life together." said Klus. "Of course, I want to make a lot of money off of boxing, but the reward I get in return from my family is priceless."
