by David P. Greisman

David “DayDay” Grayton started boxing a lot later in life than most, beginning his amateur career at 18. He’s 26 now and has fought nine times as a pro in the past two years, going 9-0 with 8 KOs.

The native of Washington, D.C., is among one of the numerous signees with powerful boxing adviser Al Haymon, joining his ranks in April. It’s under Haymon that he hopes his career will pick up.

“Since I’ve been signed with Al, they’ve been keeping me busy,” Grayton told BoxingScene.com on Sept. 20.

He fought in April underneath the Bernard Hopkins vs. Beibut Shumenov bout in Washington, D.C.; in June on a Golden Boy “ShoBox” card in California; and in August in Washington state on a show that featured Gabriel Campillo vs. Thomas Williams Jr.

Grayton said he’s been told he’ll be back in October, “somewhere on the East Coast,” though with no specific date yet.

“Right now I’m just working on each fight, just to stay busy and stay focused and keep moving up the rankings right now,” he said. “Once I get to the big fights or whatever, whoever want to fight, I’m ready to fight.”

His father was a boxer, but Grayton wasn’t allowed to take up the sport. That meant that he had to establish himself against people more experienced.

“When I was fighting in the tournaments like the Golden Gloves, I had to prove myself. Everybody else, they already had names. I was just the new kid on the block,” he said.

He describes himself as someone who walks his foes down, “a banger-puncher,” but he’s also working on “being a lot more slicker and more defensive-wise.”

“I want to be slick because in this sport, you can’t get a lot of punches upside your head because you won’t be able to enjoy your money when it’s time to retire,” he said.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com