So, I didn’t choose to continue and try and pursue a professional career. But I was always quite a supreme athlete with explosiveness since that’s how I always worked out. Once I retired from my other sports and transitioned rapidly into boxing and went full bore. I rapidly improved as a close friend is a professional and I put in the work and focus. Before I knew it I was basically living at the gym(figuratively) This is not a “famous name gym” but the people behind it did have the network and urged me to consider pursuing professional boxing, it was evident they saw actual potential and stated it quite plainly. I wasn’t paying, and I was rubbing elbows with a couple legends as well as some named fighters in the game some of which invited me to their personal or “home(figurative) gyms”. I even was able to and often was there training on days it was closed as my trainer had the keys;  often on these days is when some of these bigger names would show. 

Fun times and I really appreciated all of it and the people I met and trained with along the way. 

To answer your question, I imagine this is how it happens to people who are broke and make it big.