Julian "Yaya" Jimenez is an 18-year old boxer from Indianapolis. He's been training since he was a young boy, & at the age of 15, decided to go the direction of boxing, despite coming from a family with an MMA background. Yaya is the middle child of Tiny Jimenez. His oldest sister, AJ Jimenez, is also a professional fighter signed to the UFC. After winning an 18-under boxing tournament held in the state of New York, Yaya earned his professional boxing license & is ready to not only keep the Jimenez name on the map, but also create a name for himself.
This is the ballad of Yaya.
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"My kids are kind of upset with me, not really upset but they don't understand.."
The audio from the tv plays in the background while Yaya is doing some heavy bag training in his home gym. He glances up to see his father, Tiny, doing guest commentary on Inside the NBA on TNT.
"I tell them all the time, ‘We ain’t rich. I'm rich.' AJ is making a name for herself she's in the UFC. Yaya's got talent but his professional career is just getting started. They grew up rich but I just gave them a taste. They have to go get it for themselves."
Yaya chuckles & turns the tv off to resume training.
"No I'm rich." Yaya says under his breath as he gets ready to move to the speed bag.
In 3 weeks he'll be making his professional fight debut against the 14-12-0 Jared Kirkland in Mexico City. He looks around his father's gym at all of the accolades on the wall. 19 main events. 4 UFC title victories along with 6 title defenses.
"He's right." He whispered as he found another boost of motivation from within.
Yaya doesn't want to live off of his dad's success. His father is his greatest inspiration & biggest supporter & he knows his comments on tv are tongue-in-cheek, but he also knows he's right. It's time to plant a new tree in the family name.