WESTWOOD — Travis “Rattlesnake” Hanshaw has practically grown up in the boxing ring.

So it should come as no surprise that the 18-year-old welterweight is turning pro.

Hanshaw, who graduated from Boyd County High School last spring, will be signing with One Punch Productions out of Tampa, Fla., during a boxing show at Boyd County Middle School on Saturday.

It’s a dream come true for Hanshaw, who has a 123-6 amateur record and numerous national championship belts.

“When I saw boxers on TV, that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “I remember I wanted to be a boxer when I watched (local boxers) Nikki Eplion and Jeremy Bates fight. Jeremy didn’t know it, but I looked up to him, I really did.”

Hanshaw watched as Eplion and Bates took their opportunities in the pro boxing world against champions. Eplion had a fight with Laila Ali and Bates once fought Evander Holyfield.

Hanshaw has been boxing for 10 years, ever since his grandfather, Virgil Hanshaw, got him into the ring when he was 8.

“He snuck him in the gym and started fighting him,” said Tom Hanshaw, his father. “I wasn’t ready for him to start.”

But Travis Hanshaw took to boxing like a duck to water. He has competed across the country in amateur tournaments.

Father and son recently went to Tampa, Fla., after being invited down by scouts from One Punch Production. That’s when the reality hit his father in the face like a roundhouse.

“My exciting moment was getting off the plane in Tampa and having a stretch-limo waiting for us,” Tom Hanshaw said. “There were billboards welcoming him to One Punch Productions. I got a little excited.”

So did Travis. “They took us out and wined and dined us,” he said.

Scouts had been watching him as an amateur and they set up the visit to their training camp for Hanshaw to show his stuff in the ring against boxers they had been working with.

“They have champions in every class,” Travis said. “A lot of good fighters have come through their program.”

Travis sparred against a 180-pound champion who had just finished a 10-week training camp. “I sparred four rounds and beat him three,” Travis said. “I took a beating in the fourth. They wanted to see if I was a fighter who had guts.”

“They were really impressed,” his father said.

Even after being stung early in the fourth round, Travis kept his composure and hung in the entire round. “I wasn’t going down,” he said. “No way. They were seeing if I had heart. I got hit in the body in the fourth round and it took all my wind out. But I didn’t get dropped. I kept moving around, grabbed him and had a fast combination. It was a very long three minutes.”

Tom Hanshaw said the coaches there told him Travis was “a million dollar baby. The way they talked, we could make some money out of him.”

Travis Hanshaw’s advantage in the ring is his length. He is 6-foot-3, which is much taller than most in the 140-pound welterweight class. Years of amateur fighting have also toughened him for the pro game, his father said.

The contract with One Punch Production is a four-year deal, his father said. “After that, they negotiate one way or the other.”

Tom Hanshaw said the journey for Travis going from an amateur national champion to a professional boxer has been a good one. He also said his son didn’t do it alone.

“So many people have helped him,” Tom said. “The ABC Pals board, (Boyd County) jailer Joe Burchett, the Westwood Boys Club and so many others. His mother (Mindy Hanshaw), my brother Charlie (Hanshaw), Doc Walsh, Virgil Hanshaw, his brother and sister, all those guys who helped with boxing at the youth center, his baseball coaches at Boyd County. If not for those people behind the scenes, Travis would have never got his shot (to fight professionally).

“It shows if you’ve got a dream to so something, it will happen if you don’t lose that dream.”

Travis will have one more amateur bout during the Boyd County Boxing Tournament on Saturday. There will be 12 to 15 fights on the card, Tom said.

After that, Travis begins training locally for his first professional fight on Dec. 3 in Charlotte, N.C. He will be trained by One Punch Production about four weeks prior to that fight.

“The deal was, I get to keep him here,” Tom said. “They’re going to fly in sparring partners because it’s hard for him to find anybody to spar against. He’ll be on a strict diet, too. No more McDonald’s Big Macs or Whoppers from Burger King.”

Travis said even his girlfriend, Brooke Selvage, was excited about the career he was about to start. “Most girls don’t like it, but she was happy about it,” he said.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.