Italian flyweight Christian Chessa is looking to build a name in the U.S.

Christian Chessa was always a target. He could not get away from it growing up on the streets of Milan, Italy. Chessa was constantly bullied. He would look at himself in the mirror and wanted to do something about it. Everything he tried, it seemed, was judged by his size. Chessa was a tiny kid. When he was 10, he looked like he was eight.

So, he stopped kicking around a soccer ball, where he was pushed around on the pitch and rarely picked to play because of his stature, and decided to do something about the abuse he was taking—and took up boxing.

No one pushes him around today.

“Il Bambino” is a budding 20-year-old, 5-foot-5, flyweight who likes the Italian saying: “Nella botte piccola c’è il vino buono,” which means, “In small barrels, there’s good wine.” In other words, good things come in small packages.

About to turn 21 in August, Chessa (5-0, 5 knockouts) is managed by BWAA 2022 Manager of the Year Peter Kahn, and trained by Javiel Centeno, Xander Zayas’ trainer. Chessa is looking to build his boxing brand and name in the United States.

What stirs him deep inside is the memory of the 10-year-old kid that used to be picked on.

“I remember walking into the boxing gym that first day and I knew I could put all my effort into myself,” said Chessa, who speaks and can read Italian, Spanish, English, and French. “I knew I could only depend on myself. The first time I stepped into the gym, they put me in the kid session, with the kids who were first starting. When I did well against them, they elevated me to the young fighters at a higher, advanced level. When I was put in the first level, I was doing the work when I was 11 of guys who were already fighting.

“They were going hard on me. In the moment, I could feel a little bit of fear. I was younger and smaller than everyone, and it made me want to show the boxing coaches that I could beat the older, bigger kids. I knew I had to try harder than the older kids. I became committed. I was at the gym every day at the same time. In time, I could see the coaches putting the hard work into me more than with the older guys.”

That signified to Chessa that he was pretty good at this boxing thing. Chessa is the youngest of three boys. His middle brother is 35 and the one who introduced Christian to boxing (his oldest brother is 37). Christian was 14 when he committed himself to boxing.

“It was more than committed, I became obsessed with boxing,” he said. “I knew I had to go to the United States if I wanted to do something in boxing. Even when I was in school, I would always say that I wanted to be a pro boxer. All of the work I put in, I did not want to settle for the average. I always wanted to turn pro.”

He came from humble beginnings. His father is an airport worker and his mother is a custodian at a local school. Christian was with the Italian national team, though he did not trust the Italian amateur system.

In 2021, Chessa and Kahn found each other when he trained in Boca Raton, Florida, with Centeno. Through Centeno, Chessa met Kahn.

“Peter was very happy to hear what everyone was saying about me, and I could see in Peter’s eyes what he thought about me, and it was good,” said Chessa, whose five fights were in Italy. “My next fight I would like it to be in the United States. I came here to find a team. I could only find an average level in Italy. Getting my VISA is my first goal, and then to show everyone how great I can be. Hopefully, in the next two years, I would like to fight for a title. I just want to fight here and start my career in the U.S.A. It would an accomplishment. My dream is to stay here.”

When he first saw Chessa, Centeno loved him. Chessa was traveling with a strength and conditioning coach. They liked Centeno’s Sweatbox Boxing Gym. Centeno liked the pop he heard from Chessa’s punches.

“We got some sparring in and I was thinking to myself, ‘This kid has some pop, and some heart,’ because he was in with a kid who outweighed him by at least 20 pounds,” Centeno recalled. “We invited Christian back the next time he came to the US. He got some really good work in. Christian has that relentless aggression. He has that same ferocity as Arturo Gatti, with power in both hands and a little more refined defense. As a flyweight, he is always in with bigger guys, and he did a lot of rounds with Isaac Dogboe, Henry Lebron, Charlie Sheehy, who is a 135-pounder. He got the work in. They didn’t take it easy on him, because Christian can pop.

“What I would like to do is work with him more. We brought Peter in and we want to start testing Christian. I know he has the heart and the guts. I want to see what his speed and his power does against guys in his own weight class.”

Recently, Centeno had Chessa in with a young welterweight. Before long, the welterweight was spitting him out his mouthpiece from Chessa’s pressure.

“We want to move Christian slowly, try to keep a lid on him for a while and see what he can do,” Centeno said. “We don’t want too many people to know about him. But I have a feeling, good things are ahead.”

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JSantoliquito

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