New Hope boxer fighting for 'Dreamers'
NEW HOPE, Pa. (WPVI) -- Alejandro Jimenez is a fighter in every sense of the word.
The 26-year-old is 4-0 in his young career. He's the first professional boxer to come out of New Hope, Pennsylvania.
"I'm going to do anything to become a world champion, that's my goal, that's my dream," said Jimenez.
On Friday night, Jimenez will have the biggest bout of his career when he faces off against Edgar Joe Cortes. But when you hear his story, you realize he's had to fight for so much more outside of the boxing ring.
Jimenez is from Oaxaca, Mexico. When he was just 15, his brothers sent for him, paying a smuggler to bring him across the border. Jimenez walked across the desert for two days leaving his parents and four sisters behind.
"It was hard for me, it was hard. I crossed the desert, I didn't have water, I didn't have food, I didn't have clothes," said Jimenez.
Alejandro enrolled in high school, got a job as a cook in a restaurant and started boxing.
He's here under the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and 11 years later, must cope with an uncertain future, depending on what kind of immigration reforms are approved by Congress and the president.
And so this Friday night, wearing shorts that say "give me liberty, or give me death," Jimenez won't just be fighting for himself, but all the other 'Dreamers' out there trying to live out their own American dream.
"To be in this country, there's a lot of opportunity over here, there's a lot of opportunity in this country--that's why we are here," Jimenez said.
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