Professional boxer Fred “Jigg” Johnson is confident in who he is. “I feel like I’m pretty much better than anybody put in front of me. And if you’re better than me, you've got to prove it,” he said. That level of self-assurance did not come without struggle, however. Long before he ever put on a pair of gloves and stepped inside a ring, Johnson was a kid in Palmetto, Florida, fighting for internal peace. “I had a couple incidents happen to me as a child that I don’t want to touch on, but I grew up hurt,” he said. “The only people that pretty much know are a couple of close people to me and my sisters.” Johnson battled depression, carrying that childhood pain through middle school and into high school. “There were a lot of days I didn’t want to get out of bed, you know what I mean? I ain’t want to leave the house. I didn’t want to breathe anymore,” he said. Heading into his sophomore year of high school, one of Johnson’s friends recommended going to a boxing gym, thinking that being active would be good for him. After a quick Google search, Johnson found Power Boxing Gym and met former WBF North American Heavyweight Champion China Smith. Their connection was immediate. “He took me in right away. Another Black man to just accept me [on the] the first day and start mentoring me from there. That was big,” he said. With Smith training him, boxing not only became Johnson’s passion but also a form of therapy. “Being able to come in and hit something like a bag. That’s like a puzzle piece to let some of that aggression out that a lot of kids, even adults battling mental issues, don’t really know,” he said. As Johnson’s boxing ability started improving, he began an amateur career. Following 61 amateur fights, he turned pro and is 2-0 to begin his career. What is now a way of life is still therapy for Johnson, who also provides boxing lessons to youth at the Frontline Warriors Fitness and Martial Arts in Bradenton. He hopes boxing can positively impact his trainees the same way the sport impacted him in high school. “We can heal together. We can work hard, and we could become men and women in here with somebody who believes in them,” he said. Johnson aims for a third straight victory to begin his pro career when he fights Raul Garcia Jr. on Friday.