I wake up and go to my mom . When I grow up I 'm going to take my family away from here . '' But for Lyari 's boys , the future is often bleak . Many here blame the government for failing to keep neighborhoods safe and a broken school system for robbing children of the chance to succeed . For decades boxing has given thousands of Lyari 's kids what the government has not -- a safe place to grow , learn and chase a dream . African immigrants brought boxing to Lyari in the 1940s , when Karachi was still part of British-ruled India . More than 70 years later , 22 boxing clubs , run by volunteers and private donations , have made this neighborhood Pakistan 's boxing factory . `` This is the second Cuba , '' says the head of the local boxing association , Asghar Baloch , referring to the Caribbean nation that has produced some of the best boxers in the world . `` If these kids were n't here , they would be with guns and arms , '' he says . `` If we continue our positive activities ,
Karachi , Pakistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Do not mistake eight-year-old Bilal Ahmed 's skin-and-bones body , his beguiling smile and his big beaming eyes for weakness . Bilal changes when he steps into a boxing ring . When the pint-sized Pakistani fighter climbed into a shabby old ring at an outdoor youth center , his smile turned into a stone cold scowl . At the sound of the bell that marked the start of round one , his tiny fists at the end of his stick-like arms turned into pain-inflicting projectiles , pounding away at his opponent . `` I want to hit my opponent , '' says Bilal , minutes before the fight . `` All I think about is winning . '' Bilal is obsessed with winning because , to him , boxing is more than a sport . It 's the one chance he has to escape Lyari , one of the poorest , toughest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the sprawling southern port city of Karachi . Drug and gang violence is rampant here , killing nearly 100 people this year alone . `` There is shooting at night , '' Bilal says . ``