LYNN – Rashida Ellis has loved to fight ever since she was a little girl. Unfortunately, her passion for going a few rounds in the schoolyard was more likely to earn her a trip to the principal’s office than a gold medal.Ellis also likes to be with her older brothers and do what they were doing, and fortunately, what they liked to do was box. Their love for the sport rubbed off on Ellis and she moved her fighting into the ring. Now a junior at English High School, Ellis is hoping to one day box in the Olympics.”I just love to fight,” Ellis said. “It’s all I like to do.”Ellis said boxing has helped her develop good discipline and it’s a very good workout. She fights at 132 pounds and currently holds a 21-1 record. In October, she and her 19-year-old brother, Rashidi, competed in the PAL National Tournament in Toledo, Ohio, and they both won their respective tournaments. Rashida Ellis also spent 2 1/2 weeks at the USA Boxing Youth National Team and Select Women’s Training Camp in San Juan, Puerto Rico recently and she’s hoping to be invited to another training camp in Colorado this spring.Ellis trains six times a week out of the Somerville Youth Development Boxing Club. The only day she takes off is Sunday. Ellis said she loved to play basketball when she was younger, but she gave it up to focus on boxing.”I love basketball. I wish I could play for Lynn English, but I don’t have the time for it,” she said.Ellis said her brothers (her oldest brother, Ronald, 23, boxes professionally) are very supportive as is her father, Ronald Ellis. Ellis said her father is more into karate and was a runner back in Barbados. Her mother, Beverly Ellis, has also been in her corner.Ellis said she likes to practice with “the guys” because it makes her more competitive when she gets in the ring against another female. She said she spars with her brothers a little, doing blocking and countering.At this point, Ellis is hoping to fight again in February and she’s looking forward to the Golden Gloves, which could earn her a trip to the nationals.Joyce Erekson can be reached at [email protected].