AUBURN - Today at the State Fairgrounds, Auburn's own Doug Morgan will be stepping into the ring for only his second boxing match in a Golden Gloves bout.

“I'm a little anxious,” Morgan, 19, said. “I'm not nervous, I'm confident in what I've learned and what I've been taught.”

For the past year, Morgan has been training with Quadir Muntaqim, a former professional boxer, who runs Muntaqim's Gym located in the New York Institute of Dance and Education building.

From an early age, Morgan said that he was intrigued by the sport.

“I used to watch it on TV,” Morgan said. “I just loved the sport, it was a sport for gladiators and I was very interested in learning more about it and that brought me here to train.”

On average, Morgan is in the gym working with Muntaqim Monday through Friday and all that work has been paying dividends for the young fighter.

“It has been a good process,” Morgan said. “We've been working on a lot of technique and we change it up pretty much everyday. I've been learning a lot.”

Last summer, Morgan took his first steps into the ring in another Golden Gloves, which is designed for amateur boxers, bought in Syracuse.

But this match was brought to a premature stop.

Morgan said that the match was called because he couldn't stop his nose from bleeding, but at the time the match was called he was leading.

“It was a really good experience,” Morgan said. “I knew that this was something that I really liked and I knew that I wanted to be in the ring.”

This year, the 125 pound, 5-8 featherweight, has been focused on his match and is determined to have a different outcome this time around.

Muntaqim said that Morgan is a great student with a lot of potential.

Muntaqim said that he has a unique way of teaching, using what he calls a dyslexic style, teaching fighters to work from both sides of their body, as opposed to focusing strictly on being left or right handed.

Muntaqim believes that this gives his students a unique advantage in the ring, one that many opponents aren't trained to contend with.

Morgan has been excelling at this technique.

“It is exciting to see,” Muntaqim said. “He has really picked up on this really well. He is almost like watching a mirror. It feels good to see him learn like he has and to see him make the progress that he has. He has a lot of talent and a lot of potential.”

Morgan said that in his first match last year, he went into it without really focusing as much on his technique as he wanted to.

Something he has been really focused on as this year's match approaches.

“I was just kind of brawling,” Morgan said.

“I kind of forgot what I'd been taught. I've been really working on my technique. A lot of counter punches, a lot of head movement. I've been really focusing on moving to my opponent's side. I've just been really focused on my technique and getting ready for this match.”

Watching Morgan progress like he has, Muntaqim said that he has all the confidence in the world that Morgan will do well Saturday.

“Doug really listens well,” Muntaqim said. “He has the potential to go a long way in this sport. When he goes out there he gives you all he's got, you can't ask anymore than that. I think he is going to do well.”

And Morgan definitely has long term plans for his boxing career.

He hopes that Saturday's bout will be the beginning of many amateur boughts to come, which will give him the experience he needs to make it up the ladder in the world of boxing.

“I want to get a good number of fights under my belt,” Morgan said. “And just see where that takes me. I'd love to be professional. My coach is pretty confident that I could make it to the Olympics that would be great. I'm just going to keep training and see where it goes.”