Kinan Bazzi knew he couldn’t let his bout go a second round.

The University of Maryland freshman and Middletown High graduate, an amateur boxer, figured he wouldn’t have the stamina to outlast one grueling blow after another from Virginia Military Institute’s Jayvion Summerville. So, Bazzi began attacking.

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He stunned Summerville with an overhand right, then another. Finally, Bazzi hit Summerville with what he called “the best cross I’ve ever hit anyone with.”

“It felt like I hit nothing,” Bazzi said. “There’s no resistance.”

The referee stopped the match. Bazzi was declared the champion of the beginner class at 154 pounds at last week’s United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association National Tournament in Macon, Georgia.

It was the third consecutive technical knockout for Bazzi and served as a great morale boost for someone who took up the sport in part to raise his self-esteem.

Bazzi has been fighting for about three years, and his interest in the sport piqued while watching a Muhammad Ali documentary.

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“He looked like someone who could make his own decisions without caring about what other people thought,” Bazzi said. “I started watching [boxing] more, and I started seeing just the beauty of the sport and how two people really both believe they could win. … And I wanted to be one of those people.”

It didn’t come easy.

Bazzi was knocked out in his first sparring session, which prompted both him and his parents to question whether he should even continue. But he felt it was “the most real thing I’ve ever done,” and Bazzi returned to the gym weeks later.

Slowly, he worked his way into the ring. When he stepped in for the first time against a real opponent, Bazzi said he wanted to fake an injury and get out of there.

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But his coaches kept him motivated, and that confidence continued to increase. At the University of Maryland, he tried out for an amateur club that travels around the country competing in tournaments.

When he arrived in Georgia last week as the No. 5 seed, Bazzi entered as a considerable underdog in his first major national competition. Though he left battered, counting a mild concussion and bruised ribs among his injuries, he also left a champion.

“I feel much more confident,” Bazzi said. “I just went out there, tried my best and it really paid off.”