Surviving life’s blows

Jesus Heard knows how it feels not to get presents from his parents on Christmas morning. He never even met his parents. The 20-year-old has seen friends arrested for dealing drugs.

And three years ago, Heard was on a very bad path himself. He had so much trouble focusing on life that he dropped out of high school.

"I don’t like dwelling on the past," said Heard, of Sixth and Mifflin streets. "Sometimes you get sad and it stresses you out."

He prefers talking about the future, and how the pieces of his life are starting to connect like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. An amateur boxer, Heard especially likes talking about the Philadelphia Golden Gloves title he won on April 2 and his upcoming graduation from South Philly High. The 140-pounder advanced to the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves championships at the New Alhambra, Swanson and Ritner streets, where he lost via decision.

Heard said he won’t let his most recent setback keep him down.

"Every day I fight, I try to learn something new because one day I want to go pro," Heard said. "I am just doing my best."

The boxer, who has compiled a 4-2 record, had a chance to perform on a bigger stage when he tried out for the NBC reality series The Contender. He won the audition fight via knockout.

"I was so nervous that I was shaking," Heard said.

Unfortunately for him, the show’s producers ultimately decided to go with a different weight class.

In recent months, Heard has been focusing on his goals in the amateur ranks. At the Philadelphia Golden Gloves championships, he had the added challenge of fighting in the 152-pound weight class. He was bumped up because he was overweight by two pounds.

"I ate too many cheeseburgers," Heard said with a laugh.

LIKE SO MANY other areas of his life, boxing has sometimes been a struggle for Heard. He joined the sport last year after contacting Mike Rafferty, a former South Philly amateur and pro fighter, about learning to box. But Heard wasn’t ready to make a full-time commitment, and stopped training for three months.

"I wasn’t sure if it was for me," Heard said. "I had to get adjusted to it." Rafferty asked his pupil to give him just one fight. In November, Heard made his debut with a win via decision.

"It was big for me," he said. "I didn’t believe I could actually win. My coaches saw something in me, so I gave it a try."

When he lost his second fight later that month by decision, Heard didn’t let it discourage him.

"It just let me know to try a little harder," he said. "I think I needed a wakeup call to take it more seriously."

Heard has faced the need to overcome hurdles since he was born. He spent his early years living with a foster family in West Oak Lane. During that period, he couldn’t look for his parents and didn’t even know their names. The situation left him feeling disconnected and lonely.

"I had to figure out why I am here," he said. "I had to figure everything out my own."

Finally, at age 11, Heard met his mom’s sister, Ruby Heard, and moved into her South Philly home.

"I asked my aunt to tell me about my mom, but they weren’t close," he said. Heard’s aunt did tell Jesus one chilling detail: she said his mother had been murdered.

Despite having a blood relative in his life, Heard was still troubled and reached a breaking point at age 16.

"It was one of the hardest years I ever had," he said. "I didn’t have any direction, and I kept moving from house to house because I wasn’t getting along with my aunt."

Life got so confusing that he dropped out of school.

"I was always a good kid. I just had a lot of family problems and I couldn’t focus on school," he said.

Instead, Heard started hanging out on the streets with friends, looking for a solution. He acknowledges that there was peer pressure to get involved with drugs, but said he pointedly avoided it.

"People were selling drugs and going to jail, but I stayed focused and didn’t get caught up in that type of stuff," he said.

Slowly but surely, Heard started finding his way, which included following the advice of his friend’s mom, Monica Epps, that he return to school.

"Getting a high-school diploma is a big step for me," said Heard, who is taking night classes at Southern. "I didn’t want to be a fighter without a high-school diploma."

BUT HE STRONGLY believes that God is the one who really helped get his life back on track.

"Where I was coming from, there was no hope," he said. "I’ve come a long, long way. I never thought I would be here."

Even after discovering his own path, Heard is still searching for answers about his past.

"I would love to find my dad, but it’s hard because I don’t know his name," he said.

For the most part, Heard concentrates on the future, which, he hopes, will include enrolling in Lincoln University to major in political science.

He also dreams of being a member of the 2008 Olympic team, which will compete in Beijing.

"My goal right now is to go national and gain a little more experience," said Heard, who can accomplish that goal by competing in next year’s Golden Gloves open-class division.

Rafferty believes his prospect can go far – even all the way to China.

"I can definitely see him making the team," the trainer said. "I think he can turn pro next year, depending how hard he trains. He is going to get better and better.

"He is a great kid and, win or lose, he is going to be a winner in life."