CATSKILL, N.Y. —Undefeated boxer Alvin “Iron Majik” Varmall Jr. takes his daily routine seriously.

Unlike some of his contemporaries who lace on the gloves, for Varmall, boxing is not just what he does when he is not living the rest of his life — it is everything.

Just like clockwork the 23-year-old LaPlace native rises before the sun to do a five-mile run through the cool air of the Catskills Mountains. Following a midday workout on the heavy bag, jumping rope and honing his footwork with his trainer, Varmall retires to his sleeping quarters for a meal designed by a nutritionist to provide him with all of the proper nutrients to help his body continue to build. To end each day Varmall reviews tape of boxers he hopes to emulate before getting some rest and preparing to start the process all over again.

Varmall goes through this routine six days a week, only allowing for Saturdays off, as he prepares to batter his way up the rankings in an effort to secure his life goal — winning a boxing championship.

This has been Varmall’s routine since mid-March when he began training out of legendary Cus D’Amato’s Gym in Catskill, N.Y., where Mike Tyson began his ascent in the mid 80s to heavyweight glory.

Varmall has a path mapped out for him, which includes scheduling fights every few weeks to keep him sharp and on track for a title shot sooner rather than later. As part of that plan, Varmall takes pleasure in putting in so much work and effort.

“I am always at it, but that is good because I can always be sharpening up my craft and honing my skills,” he said. “It puts me ahead of a lot of people because of my work ethic. And that is what being down here, making the sacrifice being away from my family, it is all part of it.”

The move from the bayou to upstate New York was one of necessity for Varmall to advance his career. Part of that move includes being away from his nearly 2-year-old daughter, whose birth coincided with his turning pro.

“She most definitely pushes me,” Varmall said.

Two years ago Varmall was coming off a heavyweight USA Boxing National Championships title after posting a record of 20-1 as an amateur under the tutelage of New Orleans-based trainer Bo Jenkins, his uncle. Varmall’s sole loss deserves an asterisk placed next to it as it came after he was disqualified due to a separated shoulder.

Since going pro just a year and a half ago, Varmall has been tearing up the boxing ranks.

At 21 years of age Varmall’s professional career began by dealing his opponent a knockoutonly 1:45 into the first round. Since then he has been on the rise in the cruiserweight division, accumulating an undefeated 6-0 record, all off of knockouts — three of which came in the first round.

Based on his power and penchant to end fights early, Varmall has been called a knockout artist and favorably compared by those who have announced his fights to Mike Tyson. Even his nickname “Iron Majik” mimics the former heavyweight’s moniker “Iron Mike.”

“Mike Tyson was, and still is, my favorite fighter. Just to be in the same area he grew up in and fighting and training out of that same gym, running probably the same streets he ran, it is a blessing,” Varmall said.

While his idolization of Tyson’s boxing craft has spanned much of his life, only in recent years was Varmall able to meet the man. In fact, Tyson invited Varmall to train with him at his gym in Florida and even included him on a few episodes of the former heavyweight champion’s reality TV series Being Mike Tyson.

“I sparred with a guy down there who was like 300 pounds and he was a heavyweight, I was a cruiserweight at the time. Everybody that was down there did three rounds, but me and the guy I was sparring with were so exciting that after the third round Mike was beating the ring saying ‘One more, one more!’ because he knew I was going to knock him out,” Varmall said.

Over the course of the past seven years, Varmall has experienced a meteoric rise. While he acknowledges every day contains the possibility of defeat, it also provides for the ability to work past obstacles to strive for something greater.

“I like to look at life like it is boxing and boxing like it is life. At the end of the day if life knocks you down or dishes a blow, are you going to stay down or are you going to get back up?” Varmall said.

“I just believe in always fighting and always striving for more and to be better and pursuing my dreams.”   

But it certainly helps if you do not get knocked down to begin with. In 27 fights Varmall has never tasted the canvas and it does not appear  he is going to fall anytime soon.