Palm Bay Round 13 Boxing gym participated during the Health First Holiday Light Parade on Dec. 7. Five of their boxers took part in their float. Throughout the parade route two boxers were in the ring sparring, one was doing hand mitts behind the ring with Coach Johnny. The remaining two boxers were running with the float, jumping rope or shadowboxing.

“Overall it was really fun. I loved how we had the speakers playing some traditional boxing songs,” Annarose Altmann said. “In my opinion, the crowds loved it when we played songs from Rocky.”

The crowds were cheering as the float passed by. Even a few people started following the float down the street. At one point during the parade, a group of Round 13 boxers and their families who had come to watch the float pass by. The second they saw the float, they all ran up to the boxers and started cheering them on and hyping up the crowd.

“I was really glad to see the rest of the team and their family,” Chris Rodriguez said. “It was pretty cool when they started cheering and gathered around the float.”

The boxers were there from 3:30 p.m. and didn’t leave for home until past 10 p.m. It was a late night but it gave them a chance for people to recognize the boxing gym and have some new sign-ups.

“Maybe we’ll get some new members to our team,” Altmann said. “Overall it was a great night and everyone had a lot of fun.”

By Lillian Altmann