In This Corner, a Boxer Jabbing at a Dream

As a Dominican native, Fernando Guerrero had to fight for US citizenship. This week, the middleweight boxer is saving his jabs for the ring, where he hopes to earn a spot on the US Olympic squad headed for Beijing. The 20-year-old champ, whose career detoured because he wasn’t a naturalized citizen, is within striking distance of his dream.

The victor in three tournaments, Guerrero remains conscious of how quickly success fades. “Boxing is not a fairy tale,” he mused to the Washington Post, but he does relish happy endings, like his defeat of the country’s top-ranked boxer. Victory was great, but Guerrero craved more. “I wanted to be with the Olympians. I wanted to be one of them.”