One-Armed Bandit

A fellow fighter once called 24-year-old Morgantown, W. Va. Native Eric Watkins the "one-armed bandit." The professional boxer out of Jim's Gym in Morgantown snapped his right arm in the first round of his first ever professional fight.

"When I thought about calling the fight it meant I quit, I quit meant I lost and I lost meant I was a quitter," Watkins said.

Watkins now holds a 4-0 record as a professional boxer and is a proud parent of a two-and-a-half year old son. Boxing turned his life around six years ago following several run ins with the law. He trains on a daily basis and follows a rigorous routine he created to fit his busy schedule.

"I fight two or three times a week now so I don't see a need to fight some Tom, Dick or Harry because he thinks he's tougher than me," Watkins said. "It keeps me out of trouble now."

Watkins is a nontraditional student at WVU where he's taking summer courses as a sophomore to pursue an MDS with an emphasis in strength and conditioning and entrepreneurship. One day he hopes to be a successful businessman, but for now he's content with following his dreams of one day winning a title.

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