The dedication, the sweat and the adrenaline that comes with boxing are amplified with young women who have the sport on the ropes.
Andene Lum, Hannah Jung, Alexa Hansen and Lily Ferrier are four Cranbrook Eagles Boxing Club members who have shown their passion for the sport.
Lum, 16, has been boxing for two years and says she was led to boxing because of her previous history with Taekwondo, which she practiced for 10 years.
“I was in Taekwondo prior to it, and I wanted to continue with it after,” she said, adding the club had died out and she wanted to continue with her fighting.
While it’s only been two years, she says it has been fun to get into it. Her favourite aspects are learning self-defence and training.
“It’s just working with the people, and getting to experience it first hand,” she said.
Lum doesn’t have any fights under her belt yet, she hopes to be able to get into the ring sometime soon.
For 15-year-old Jung, she has been boxing for roughly three years and is going to have her first fight in Nelson at their Fight Night VI on May 11.
Eating healthy, exercising and working hard is how she has been getting ready for the fight.
“I guarantee I’m going to be nervous and have a lot of butterflies,” she said. “But, I am excited and confident for it.”
This is the first year that she has committed to boxing full-time.
“I really liked it in the previous years, and I wanted to focus more on it,” said Jung, noting there isn’t much she doesn’t like about boxing.
“I like all of it really— I like the cardio, I like the people and I like all the drills, I just really like it.”
No stranger to the ring, Hansen, 12, is preparing for her ninth fight when she takes part in Rumble in Rock Creek.
“When I have a fight come up I usually mentally prepare myself. I’ve fought most of the girls around our area, so I sometimes know what’s coming to my fights, and I just try to look back on my previous fights,” she said.
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Hansen specifically has been working on keeping her chin down during her battles.
“Working on keeping my chin down so they don’t have an easy shot on me,” she said.
The boxer has been in the sport for more than four years and started to get into it when her father introduced her to the sport.
“I really enjoyed it, and it got me [hooked],” Hansen added. “I really like the workout, especially when I’m sparring and even fighting it’s really fun. It’s therapeutic and fun. I just like being in the ring and having the defence and learning as you go along in the fights.”
One of the youngest boxers is Ferrier, 8, she has shown her dedication to the sport in the year she has been involved, including hitting the bags, sparring and going on runs.
“It makes me feel proud, and makes me feel like I can do anything,” she said about why she likes boxing.
While she hasn’t been in the ring for a fight, she says she hopes to get one someday.
“I’ve been eating healthy, at my house I’ve been taking my dog out for runs and getting lots of exercise,” said Ferrier.
It hasn’t been long that Ferrier has been boxing, but she encourages others to try it out.
“You can do it, just believe in yourself,” she said.
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