Swaggering into TD Garden, Charles Rosa, famously known as “Boston Strong,” locks his eyes at the center stage of the arena, the Octagon. With a confident smirk, Rosa throws a quick left-hook into the air, splattered with a combination of jabs as the announcer sings out his name. Fans erupt into cheers; a booming chorus chants out “Bos-ton—Strong, Bos-ton—Strong!” for the North Shore native.
Hailing from Peabody, Massachusetts, Rosa is no stranger to Boston sporting pride. Leading up to the fight, Rosa had begun to establish himself as a solid MMA fighter. In all of his professional fights, Rosa has maintained a dominant record of 10 wins and two losses. In the most recent fight, here in Boston, Rosa was able to pull out another hard-fought victory by decision. Rosa was paired up against Kyle Bochniak, another descendant of Massachusetts. The two stepped into the Octagon as a featured fight off of the main event between T.J. Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz. Rarely do the fans get more enthusiastic for a feature fight, but in their Sunday match-up, Boston went “freakin nuts” over the class of Boston fighters.
Approaching the fight, Rosa was unsure how he would react to coming home. “I was a little worried about being able to come back to Boston with my friends and family. I really wanted this fight,” Rosa said. “He’s a super tough kid, and that forced me to fight a little bit smarter, but being able to fight in Boston again was a dream come true.”
Despite his great achievements, the road to success was harder fought than most would imagine. Inside the Octagon Rosa is poised, confident, and deadly… I mean literally. However, outside the caged arena, Rosa’s life has been far from perfect. Rosa is no stranger to the nightmares caused by drug addiction – tragically losing two older brothers to drug overdoses. Despite the heartache and setbacks, Rosa is triumphing both in and out of the arena.
“Coming home brings back all the memories — the good and bad times — that make me who I am,” Rosa said. “I do a lot of charity work at hospitals because I like to give back to the community. I just feel like that is the right thing to do. Maybe selfishly it makes me feel better and that’s why I do it, but I think it’s just the way you grow up around here. There is a pride in the city and in its people, and in my heart, I feel like this is what I was born to do.”
Regardless of motives, it is clear that Rosa is having a tremendous impact on our community. While landing jabs and hooks to his opponents with one hand, Rosa is attempting to take down addiction with the other. Even with a heavy plate of work, competitors should shutter with fear when facing “Boston Strong.”