Cdn boxer Spencer looks to make history
Posted December 1, 2011 5:51 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
By James Brydon, CTVOlympics.ca Staff
Mary Spencer isn’t just chasing her first Olympic medal. At London 2012, she could very well be chasing history.
The world champion boxer from Windsor, Ont., hopes to be one of three females to say they were the first to stand atop the podium at next summer’s Olympic Games. Women’s boxing makes its official Olympic debut in London (it was demonstration sport in 1904) with competitions in three weight classes, and Spencer is eager about the chance to be the first champion in the middleweight division (75 kilogram limit).
“I know down the road there’s going to be a lot of boxers looking at who was the first champion and how did they train, how did they think, how did they fight and I (could) be that benchmark,” Spencer said at the Canadian Olympic Committee Media Summit on Nov. 21 in Mississauga, Ont. “At the same time all the female boxers now going to the Olympics are going to kind of set the tone for how we act, how we carry ourselves and how we compete, so that’s tough on its own.”
Spencer, who turns 27 later this month, has certainly set a good tone for herself of late as she prepares for final qualifications. She is fresh off a gold-medal win in October at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where women’s boxing was also making its debut. The top-ranked Canadian had little trouble advancing to the final of the 75kg division (it was called light-heavyweight there). She faced a slight challenge against Yenebier Guillen of the Dominican Republic, but managed to rely on her seasoned skills and determination to earn a 15-11 win and the milestone Pan Am crown.
It has been a long time coming for the ladies to see their sport recognized alongside men’s boxing — the IOC approved the addition of the three events in August 2009 and said in a press release, “the decision was a recognition that women’s boxing has made substantial progress in universality and technical quality of the athletes.”
Spencer, an eight-time Canadian champion, said she could see the day when it would be a legitimate sport on the international stage as early as 10 years ago, when not many people knew a lot about the sport.
“I knew it would happen and I prepared for it,” Spencer said.
The talented all-around athlete got into the sport almost by accident. She said she started off just wanting a workout. She played a number of sports in high school, including basketball and remembers the day when everything changed for her.
“(Our basketball team) lost in the playoffs and I found myself in a cab going straight from the game to a boxing club,” Spencer said. “I walked in and I was in this amazing atmosphere of people in pain not because they were getting hit but because they were pushing their bodies … it just instantly grabbed me.”
Now she can’t imagine doing any other sport. She certainly can’t imagine any replicating the buzz she gets from letting her fists fly.
“I think everyone enjoys stuff they’re good at … and I felt that from day one and that was what kept me in it,” Spencer said. “I don’t know if I would have stayed interested if I wasn’t very good at it. My first day golfing I was terrible and (said) forget it, I’m not going back. But I thought (boxing) would be something I could become great at it and I stuck with it. And now I love every aspect of the sport, I love every moment, being able to train, compete, everything about it.”
The success she envisioned having didn’t take long to materialize — especially in the hardware department. Spencer, who won world amateur championship titles at 66kg in 2005 and 2008 to go with a bronze in 2006, later moved up to 75kg where she took home gold at least year’s World Championships in Barbados.
Now, as a favourite to medal at London 2012, she says her expectations are high and she takes the experience at last year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where Alex Bilodeau was the first Canadian to win a gold on home soil, as inspiration.
“I remember watching his interview after he won that gold medal and just being like, ‘That’s amazing, this is his moment and he’s thinking about this the way I’m thinking about my Olympics,’” Spencer said. “He’s able to celebrate in it and take pride in the work he put into it and I remember thinking, ‘How amazing would that be if I get that same moment?’”
Spencer, who is also proud of her Canadian Aboriginal heritage (she is of the Cape Croker nation), has a bit of business to take care of before London — a national championship, then a World Championship and her team’s trials in May.
But barring some major upset, the No. 1-ranked Canadian has a chance not only to win gold for her country but make sure Canada will be the one to claim the first Olympic gold in women’s boxing.
No pressure.
“I feel like it’s not going to be pressure, it’s a great opportunity,” Spencer admitted. “When you’re able to showcase your sport and represent your sport and know that you just want to do it to the best that you can, it’s more privilege than any kind of pressure.”
