SPRINGFIELD — Tape stretches tight around his thumb, then loops across his palm — each wrap a ritual, each movement a kind of promise. In a small Springfield gym, Yaimil “El Chucky” Lozada is getting ready to fight for something bigger than himself: to make his family proud.

“You have to wrap the tape around the hands correctly, so it can be firm, and to protect your thumb and wrist,” Yaimil said.

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