Fighting As An Underdog

  I'm a very active boxer, I fight quite frequently, especially for a female. This is for a few reasons:

One - I came into this game late(r) in life. I was 26 when I decided to start boxing, had my first fight right before my 27th birthday, compared to many people who start boxing in their early teens, so if I want to accomplish anything in this sport, I would need to be quite active.
Two - my style matches up much better with more experienced/skilled boxers than beginners, who generally tend to brawl and scrap.
Three - I love competing. Training just for the sake of training and being fit is great, but I am someone who gets strongly motivated when I know there's competition involved.

  So that's brought me to having 23 fights in two years, which I'm very happy with, but it's lead to some tough obstacles as well. Amateur boxing in Ontario has rules and guidelines set out to protect boxers and keep the focus on safety and well-being. Categories are class as "Sub-Novice (1-5 fights)", "Novice (5-10 fights)", and "Open Class (11+ fights)". This means that a boxer classified as Sub-Novice or Novice are only allowed to fight other boxers with a 7-fight difference, so someone with 1 fight cannot have a sanctioned bout against someone with 10 fights. However, this all changes once you hit 11 fights and enter Open Class. This literally means "Open", open to anyone and everyone (You also take a step up in the length of the bout - men go from 2 minute rounds to 3 minute; females go from 3 rounds to 4). So this means someone with 11 fights could face someone with 110 fights - which is exactly what happened to me in my first Open Class fight at Ontario Championships.

  So how does one go into a bout when they know they are generally so clearly outmatched? I was up against a 4-time National champ, 3-time Pan-Am Gold winner, and this was my first step up to 4 rounds and the biggest stage I had faced to-date. I thought about dropping out of the tournament. I knew I wasn't going to beat her, so what was the point? Not only did I not grow up in sport, but I grew up in a home where individual success was not encouraged or rewarded, so self-confidence is something I struggle with daily.  This is why coaches exist. Not simply to teach the techniques and tactics of a sport, but to be that outside voice of reason, encouragement and support. Coach Horace Hunter gave me one of my first "stern" talking-to's. He compared the bout to real-life showdown, and one that she would be coming to with a gun, and me with just a knife. Obviously, someone with a gun has a much better chance of winning that fight. But ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, remember that. The gun could jam, it could run out of bullets, anything. Suddenly that knife in your hand is looking pretty good, no? But you need to actually show up to that fight and believe in your knife, this is the only way you even have a chance. It was a lesson that has stuck with me. Because I bulled through my first 10 fights as fast as possible, I was facing girls who had been boxing 10, 12 years compared to my 1 year, but it didn't matter anymore, we both were coming to fights with our own weapons, I need to believe in mine, that's all that mattered.

  Since that fight I've faced National champions, World champions, an Olympian, girls with 10-times the experience I have. I've won fights, I've lost fights, I've been robbed of victories, been the victim of "hometown advantage", I've been through it all. Currently I'm training for a fight in 3 weeks against a girl with over 58 fights, more than double my own, but it doesn't matter. I have my knife, I'm sharpening it, I trust that knife. I may be going in as the under-dog, but they better be ready, cuz I'm coming to fight til that final bell.