Melvin Richards brought his son Adam to the boxing gym when he was only 8. The short, chubby kid didn’t look very athletic.

Adam won two national championships at age 13 and 14. When he was 14, he was about 5-foot-5 and weighed more than 200 pounds. In 1995, he competed at the National Junior Olympics and lost a decision to a Native American Indian boxer whose last name was Thunder. At 6-5, Thunder was about a foot taller than Adam.

At that point, Adam hadn’t scored any knockouts. Rather, he won most of his bouts by decision. The next year, Adam, now 15, had grown to 6-1. His power had developed so much that he began knocking out every opponent he fought. Everyone ignored Richards when he arrived at the Northern Michigan University campus in Marquette, Michigan, for the national championships. He won his first fight by knockout, but virtually no one noticed him. He didn’t look like a fighter.

Instead, the kid capturing everyone’s attention that year was a sculpted, muscular teenager, Leonard Childs. Childs and Richards were in the same weight class, but in different brackets. Childs, 16, resembled a full fledged clone of Iron Mike Tyson. Childs won his first bout by knockout. Because of his power, his impressive physique and his physical resemblance to Tyson, everyone began to call him Tyson. In the second round, Richards again knocked out his opponent, but so did Childs. Childs amazed everyone, but paid scant attention to Richards. They were on a collision course to meet in Saturday’s finals, which would be nationally televised.

The media, fans and the other boxers all jumped on Childs’ bandwagon. He looked so fearsome and impressive that it was easy to see why everyone was rallying around him. The other boxers in the tournament started badgering Adam, saying Tyson’s gonna knock you out, Adam. With a cruelty particular to teenagers, they kept repeating the chant. Tyson’s gonna knock you out, Adam Tyson’s gonna knock you out, Adam.

In the third round of the tournament, Adam knocked out another opponent. Childs faced Thunder, the big Minnesota kid who had beaten Adam the year before. Childs KO’d Thunder. After Childs’ win, everybody fawned on him as if he was the real Mike Tyson another prodigy destined to wreak havoc in the ring.

The cruel chants from the other boxers became much worse for Adam. The media representatives were excited because they thought they were witnessing the birth of another future professional champion in Leonard Childs. They built him up, swarming him while completely ignoring his opponent, Adam Richards.

This was merely an amateur boxing championship, not a professional world title. But I can’t imagine any world champion experiencing any more pressure in a fight than what young Adam faced that week. I could see the tension in his face, as if he were fighting against the entire world. He was considered the underdog with no chance of winning. He was stressed and worried, but he wasn’t about to give up.

When we arrived at the basketball arena where the bouts were being held on Saturday, Adam got dressed and I wrapped his hands. He loosened up, and we sat and watched the fighters in the lighter weight divisions compete in their championship bouts. When the Adam Richards- Leonard Childs bout was called to the ring, Adam raced up the steps ready to face his adversary

When the bell sounded for the first round, Adam Richards moved to the center of the ring, walked straight to Childs, threw his signature left hook, and caught Childs flush on the chin. Childs plummeted to the canvas and could not rise to his feet. Adam had knocked him out in the first minute of the first round with one single, explosive left hook.

Adam had knocked out every single person he faced to win the heavyweight National championship. What an accomplishment for a shy, chubby 15-year-old. Adam went on to win the national championship again in 1997 by again knocking out every opponent he faced.The only other person to accomplish this feat was none other than the real Mike Tyson, the youngest man to ever win the world heavyweight title.

Today Adam Richards, is a lean, muscular, chiseled, contender who is in training camp preparing to fight champion Marco Huck for the WBO Cruiserweight world title. No one would have ever believed it when we arrived at Marquette University for the national championships, in the Summer of 1996.