By NICHOLAS ROBINSON

Daniel Martinez, 17, a senior from the Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship in Edenwald, wouldn’t mind dropping out of high school to pursue his sports career as a boxer.

He wants to be the greatest of all time. And so far, on weekdays, he’s invested the time, beginning his training regimen at 4 p.m. until he goes to sleep, and on weekends he trains longer.

As for an alternative plan should things go south, Daniel would rather not think about that. “If I had a backup plan, that means there would be a thought in my mind that I would fail,” he said.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association was unable to provide statistics over how many student boxers make it to a professional level. It did provide data on student athletes transitioning to professional sports. The numbers were low. According to the NCAA, just 0.3 percent of players in men’s basketball, 0.9 percent of football players, 0.5 percent of baseball players and 0.4 percent of men’s ice hockey players go pro.

Steve Leone, a coach at the Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship, prefers student athletes be more realistic about their plans. “They should plan for not being an athlete and go to college,” he said. “High school students can tell when they’re not going to be elite.”

But for Daniel, his boxing career comes first.  “It’s a validation of life and myself. Everything that comes with it in my specific situation, I won’t fail because of it,” he said.

As for college, Daniel intends to stay local for the sake of training. “But if I do go to college, I’d like to go to Fordham so I can stay where I live so I can continue going to the boxing gym I go to,” he said.