This was a common refrain for Waialae since the first day he followed his two older twin cousins, Breten and Brennen, into the gym. “A lot of the coaches would gas me up like, ‘Oh, this little kid knows what he’s doing,” remembers Waialae, whose father, who is Hawaiian, is an insulator for Hawaiian Electric and whose mother, who is of Mexican descent, is a hospital worker. Waialae had about 20 amateur bouts by the time he was nine years old, but left the sport at that point until he was in ninth grade, focusing on football instead, playing quarterback for the Waianae High School Seariders. He returned to boxing with a purpose, making expensive trips to the mainland for national tournaments.
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