Freeport's Day has big boxing dreams

Amateur boxing standout and Freeport native Patrick Day does not subscribe to the "mother knows best" philosophy.

His mother, Lisa, detests the sport, despises the fact that the youngest of her four children lives to fight. She has never attended one of his matches or watched one of his fights on tape.

Lisa Day is the strong-willed sort, not exactly the type of woman to be disobeyed. But her son, a flashy stick-and-move artist, is not the type to be deterred.

Moving up the local ranks, he has an eye on making the 2012 London Olympic team. That goal is two years away, an eternity when it comes to the ever-changing status of amateur boxers.

Thursday night, Day, 18, lost a close decision to Gabriel Dulue in the 141-pound open division semifinals of the Long Island Amateur Boxing Tournament at the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence. His mother was not in attendance.

"I wish I had more support from her," Day said. "She just tries to discourage boxing overall but doesn't realize that it is only making me stronger."

Despite his mother's objections, Day was pulled into the sport 4 1/2 years ago, when he walked across his street and knocked on the garage door of Joe Higgins. Higgins has a gym in his garage and runs the Freeport PAL, where Day still trains.

"Patrick came in like any other kid," Day said. "Eventually, he wanted to come to the gym."

When Patrick told his mother of his new hobby, she expressed obvious concern but believed it would be little more than a passing phase.

"I told her I was going to join the boxing gym, and she thought I was going to do it recreationally," Day said. "Once I started getting serious, she got concerned."

So she had to see what Higgins was all about. She paid him a visit at the garage gym. "She scared the heck out of me," Higgins said. "But I think in the 30 minutes that we talked, she realized that he wasn't in some sort of Fight Club. There is a strict regimen to this training.''

Despite his promising future in the sport, Day is preparing for life beyond boxing. He plans on studying nutrition at Nassau Community College in the fall and hopes to transfer to a four-year university after the 2012 Summer Games.

"He is just an honor student who has been raised correctly," Higgins said. "That discipline made him a match for boxing."

When it comes to the sport he loves, Day longs for the Olympic gold medal and professional titles. But when asked about his future goals, he gets straight to the point: "I want to see how far I can take myself in boxing and just get my education."

Taking boxing out of the equation would suit Lisa Day just fine, but for the time being, Patrick has other ideas. He wants to fight.