Michael Parente After batting drug addiction for more than nine years and nearly overdosing at the age of 25, Providence, R.I., middleweight boxer KJ Harrison-Lombardi will return to the ring Friday night to continue his remarkable turnaround. Harrison-Lombardi's story began more than two decades ago in Providence's rough Smith Hill neighborhood, where his father urged him to take up karate and boxing as a way to defend himself. At 13, Harrison-Lombardi (5-0-1) began a promising amateur career that included several regional titles, but soon found himself straying from the path, absorbed by a life on the streets partying, doing drugs and chasing women. A near-death experience in 2008 and a chance reunion with his former boxing coach brought Harrison-Lombardi back to the sport he loved, but not before more setbacks along the way. Read more about his remarkable recovery in this exclusive interview.
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