There’s people cheering all around, sweat drips from his forehead and blood runs down his cheek. It’s a familiar scene for Noah Zuhdi, third year law student. After classes, Zuhdi spends his evenings in Oklahoma City’s Remington Park Arena knocking out his competitors as a professional boxer.

“I started boxing professionally in November of 2007, but I have been boxing for about two years now,” Zuhdi says. “Boxing is my passion and my dream.”

Zuhdi was introduced to boxing at an early age by his father’s best friend, Sean O’Grady, the world light weight boxing champion in 1982.

“I grew up with my mom, and she said no to boxing,” Zuhdi says. “My first love was basketball. I played all the way up through college, and when I realized I wasn’t going to make it into the NBA, I decided to try boxing because I have always wanted to be a professional athlete.”

Zuhdi’s decision led him back to O’Grady with a blank slate. He was ready to try something new. And he seems to have found his niche. On Nov. 24, 2008, Zuhdi continued his boxing success with a first round TKO of George Colbert for the Oklahoma lightweight boxing title.

Jeremy Minihan, Zuhdi’s strength and conditioning coach, credits Zuhdi’s personality for his success.

“Noah’s success has to be a combination of his obsessive compulsive nature because he always has to do everything perfect and the team that has been building him into the boxer he is today,” Minihan says.

Minihan was originally Zuhdi’s strength and conditioning coach for basketball, but he transitioned to training him for boxing when Zuhdi decided to take a different route.

“So far my ability to articulate and construct Noah and Sean O’Grady’s instruction have been an unbeatable combination,” Minihan says. “Throughout these past few years his progress has been nothing but steady. He has a lot going on and trying to manage all of this is no easy task, but he keeps knocking people out in the first round.”

Zuhdi’s boxing is an important part of his life but he is also, first and foremost, a law student, a role that can be difficult for anyone.

“Law school is not like undergraduate classes in the fact that professors will call on you on any given day, and you have to be prepared to give them an answer,” Zuhdi says. “It is extremely hard to have the discipline to keep up with my schoolwork. Add on getting punched in the face every night, and it gets tough.”

Zuhdi met Blake Pinard, who is also a third year law student in 2006. The two developed a friendship that has helped give Zuhdi a support system to help keep a healthy balance between school and boxing.

“I was a bit skeptical when he told me he wanted to start boxing because there are a lot of readings and work to keep up with in law school,” Pinard says. “ I wondered if he could do all his work and get knocked in the head each evening. I really worried about how he could manage his time.”

Despite Pinard’s skepticism, Zuhdi has been able to keep up with his schoolwork and pursue boxing at the same time. Pinard says Zuhdi is always well-prepared for class, and if the professor calls on him he will know the answer. It might be hard to imagine Zuhdi having time for anything outside of boxing, but he continues to excel in law school. He is also managing the demands of a newlywed; Zuhdi and his wife Sarah married last summer. Pinard says this has brought them even closer.

“I just got married recently and so sometimes Noah, his wife, Sarah, me and my wife will go to dinner,” Pinard says. “Noah tries to make time for his friends. In fact, just the other day he sent out an email of a lunch plan for about 10 of our friends, but he was unsure if people would come with finals being so close. In the email, he gave everyone nicknames and percentage chances of who would come and who wouldn’t.”

Zuhdi’s life of juggling law school, training, boxing matches and marriage seems demanding, and it is. But his ability to time manage and prioritize seems to be the secret behind all of his success.

“His mental focus and intensity are probably his best qualities,” Minihan says. “He is probably the most intense person that you’ll meet. The man has incredible integrity, he is a great husband, son, and I know he will make a great father some day. The world is going to be a better place because of him.”