By Derrel Johnson
From the outside, Democracy Prep Charter High School senior Kahlil Gordon looks like the average teen. He wakes up five days a week to go to school. On weekends, he works a part-time job at his deceased great-grandmother’s famous Harlem soul food eatery, Sylvia’s Restaurant. But what Gordon does after school during the week sets him apart and makes him an extraordinary teen.
Gordon is an amateur boxer, and five days a week after school you can catch him training, sparring, learning, and observing at Mendez Boxing Gym in the heart of Harlem.
The promising pugilist—who lists current and former boxing legends Floyd Mayweather, Gervonta Davis, Terence Crawford, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson among his favorites—was recognized earlier this year for winning a national boxing championship in California at 176 lbs when he was 16. He followed that up by winning the Ringside King of the Jungle National Championships in the same weight class in August.
But boxing is not just about what you learn in the ring, and the young student of the sport shared with The Harlem Times what it teaches him that he can use outside of the ring.
“Boxing really taught me a lot of discipline,” he said. “Nobody really wants to work out after school or work, but having that mindset to do it no matter what is going to help you in your everyday life.
Because nobody wants to go to school, nobody wants to go to work, but when you have that discipline, it really allows you to still make that effort and still persevere.”
Iron sharpens iron, and Gordon—who was born in Boynton Beach, Florida, and moved to Harlem at age three—often sharpens his boxing skills against those in their early and mid-20s. He does so consistently, sparring to prepare.
Gordon is always under the watchful eye of his father, Richard Gordon-Woods, who is not only in his corner in life but also in the boxing ring. It helps bring the two even closer.
“I realized that in a world with so many distractions, you have to find something that you and your child both enjoy, just like any relationship in life with people,” Gordon-Woods said.
“With my son and me, it’s boxing. I feel like his shadow at times, although he is the one in the ring. We go over every day how his workouts went, and he once told me on our way to the gym that it’s our father-son time, so I make sure to never miss a day with him in the gym.”
Note: Congratulations on your win at the 2026 USA Boxing International Open at the Pueblo Convention Center in Pueblo, Colorado, which took place February 7–14.