A 13-year-old boy with an addiction to junk food has shed nearly four stone and become a BOXING champion after being tormented by school bullies.
Brandon Scott got so big his parents were in pieces and didn’t know how to stop him eating.
The young lad ballooned to 10 stone and four pounds – three stone heavier than the normal weight for a boy his age – at just 12.
He would spend hours playing his PlayStation and would sneak chocolate and crisps into his bedroom to gorge on before he had dinner.
But after getting called “fatty boom boom” by pals at school, Brandon decided to turn things round – and now has an UNBEATEN boxing record.
“I was 10 stone,” said Brandon.
“I was running up the stairs and I was getting out of breath.
“I saw some boxing on YouTube and thought I would give it a go.”
“It is the best decision I have ever made,” he added.
Brandon, of Clydach in Swansea, Wales, was named Welsh boxing champion for his age group last month after shedding 3.5st in 19 months.
He has won his first three bouts to date at Townhill in Swansea, Forge Fach in Clydach and Cymmer last weekend when he clinched his title.
But his eating habits were once so bad, his parents, Aimie, 33, and Jamie, 36, didn’t know what to do.
“Brandon used to sneak packets of crisps up to his room and spend hours on his backside playing Fifa,” said Aimie, who runs a care home with Brandon’s dad.
“We were at a loss of what to do.
“It was our responsibility to control his diet but he’d moan when we gave him healthy meals and we found it hard to say no to him because he was at that fragile self-conscious age, so we just hoped he’d grown out of it.
“It was tough to find out kids were calling him names at school but ended up urging him to be healthy in a way me and his dad never could.”
The transformation has seen Brandon hit the gym six evenings a week, put sedentary attractions like PlayStation to one side and ditch chocolate, pizza and burgers in favour of a healthier diet.
Still known as the ‘Boom Boom’ because of the punches he packs, Brandon has now has filled the household cupboards with chicken, rice and protein shakes.
And although his friends would always stick him in goal during football sessions because he “couldn’t run”, Brandon now trains his younger brothers – Dafydd, 10, and Osian, seven.
“I have learned how to fight. It could come in handy,” he said.
Brandon now has dreams of being a world champion and his trainer – former boxer David John – thinks he has the potential.
“He just won’t go backwards,” he said.
“He has got the boxing brain of someone who is 20, not someone who has just passed his 13th birthday. He has got a great future.”
Mother Aime added: “While other mums might have lazy teenagers, ours is an inspiration.”
