Author: Helene Jafine

Coach Helene here – I felt compelled to write this because I just came back from watching the Brampton Cup tournament & after watching the wins and losses of about 40 fights I thought this topic should be discussed.

Whether you are just starting your boxing journey (with no fight path in mind), thinking about fighting in the future, prepping for your first fight, a seasoned fighter, or somewhere in the middle of that – I hope this will be helpful!

Like it or not – our sport is judged and therefore can be subjective. It is not a race where you either made the time or you did not. That is why you may have heard the saying – ‘don’t leave it up to the judges.’

I will start off by saying no one goes into a fight wanting to loose. So with that in mind – the thought of loosing becomes a non-option which can then be more of a shock when the winner is announced and it is not you.

It may be controversial to say this, but you will learn WAY more from a loss than you will a win. Let’s look at the two scenarios below:

1) You win – There is usually celebrations of some kind. Possibly some rest days after and then back to the gym. When you go back to the gym you get back to work and prep for the next (if that’s your path). While in classes there may mentions of what worked well, but is there as in depth of conversations as you would have if you lost? Is there video replays and discussions with your coach? Have you replayed your videos to see what you can improve on? Maybe and maybe not.

2) You loose – There is probably some version of disheartenment (in my case that was crying). There may be some rest days from the gym to recover from everything that happened and give you a moment to process it. Maybe during the rest or after you will most certainly review the footage, discuss with your coach – what ‘went wrong,’ what improvements do you need to make. Will you be more ‘hungry’ for that win – probably? Will you work even harder this time to prep – maybe? Will you know what a loss feels like – sure will! So you can mentally prepare for that scenario if it were to happen again.

Am I saying that I want you to loose – definitely not! However I would like to structure the win aftermath differently. I think its important to take the win – enjoy, celebrate, etc – but I think it is important to do the same measures after like a loss. Just because you won doesn’t mean there isn’t something you can’t work on. Boxing is the most unforgiving sport as there is ALWAYS something you can work on. So use any opportunity (sparring/fighting) as LEARNING opportunities – what worked and what did not. What can you improve/enhance and how can you take the steps to work on those.

I lost my first fight and I grew more as a fighter and a human than if I won. I wouldn’t have been able to say that in that moment, but after years and further reflection it has made me realize this. ALSO – just because I lost, doesn’t mean that I didn’t give it my ALL!

I feel there is a big misconception between loosing to the judges and not putting your best effort in. I have said this to any of my fighters – the most anyone can ask for is that you put in 100% effort. If you have done that, then you have won! Regardless of what the judges say or anyone else. Your 100% effort may not have won the judges, but at least you can say you did everything you could. There are no regrets or what ifs.

The last thing I will say is this: we don’t choose to fight because we want to win. Yes that is definitely the end goal, but I bet if you asked yourself (or someone else/your fighter) – why are you doing this? The answer would not be to win. The answer would be something like: I want to prove myself I can do it, I want to challenge myself, I want to prove to others I am capable, etc. So again remember that when you win/loose – did you accomplish what you wanted to accomplish? If you wanted to fight – then stepping through those ropes and competing means you won – because that was the goal and the purpose. Just something to consider for yourself or your fighters!

I would love hear in the comments below if this was helpful. Did you resonate with it? Do you agree with it? Do you disagree with something? This is a tricky topic, but one that should be discussed…..

Until next time 👊

In June 2021 we announced our TEAM GJWB Ambassador team!! But do you know who they are?!

Depending on your learning preference – we have larger bios on our Instagram page (if you scroll down), YouTube channel with video visuals and a more exclusive interview/chat with them, and now we are offering a brief synopsis of each of them below so that you can follow their journeys as well. So let’s dive in!

Each were selected by both myself & Kristina because they have/are currently helping move the needle for women’s boxing. We figured why not bring a community like this together to help move the needle faster & worldwide!

(In no particular order):

Melanie Whitmore: Amatuer boxer and coach, she’s been in the boxing world for just over 15 years now & joined the sport through coach Kristina. With her boxing journey she lost 100lbs, but GAINED so much more – self confidence, healthier lifestyle, and met her current partner. With the life lessons she’s learned, she’s passing this on to her daughter, friends and clients and is most certainly not only a GJWB OG, but an inspiration to us and all!

Yvette Raposo: Canada’s first boxing female ring announcer, keynote speaker, former amateur boxer and current coach, Find Your Fighter Within workshop host, and the list goes on! Yvette is not new to the boxing world. She has worn many hats in the sport but her mission is to bring boxing to the boardroom, schools, and to the general public. She believes the lessons and wisdom we find in boxing can provide considerate advantages in all areas of people’s lives.

Bettina Dahl: Former Danish national team boxer, founder of Ladies United Boxing Club, and current boxing coach. Bettina’s wealth of knowledge from her time in the sport is now being carried over to the next generation. In addition, she is on the female development board for Denmark and is also helping to create more opportunities for female boxers.

Lee Smith: In Ontario, she is known as the boxing matchmaker extraordinaire. She is also a boxing coach and Boxing Ontario official. When she is not officiating/judging weekly cards, she is helping athletes in the gym work on their craft and provide guidance both personally and professionally. Lee is known as a motherly figure to some – in the ring it is her job to protect the athletes and make sure they are safe – but with her strong heart she also does the same outside of the ropes.

Luiz Faye: From the UK – Luiz is the founder of Kronik Warrior: England’s first boxing affiliated adaptive boxing academy. Offering both virtually and in-studio training Luiz and her team are proving how not only beneficial a sport boxing is, but also how inclusive the sport can be and breaking down the barriers that have been faced previously. She was also part of the board that developed the first ever adaptive boxing wheelchair in the UK designed by RMA Sport & the Great Britain Disability Boxing.

Ellen Connor: Ellen started West Coast Wonder Women+ started 5 years ago and has since become an international all female boxing card (of which there are only 5 and WCWW+ is one of them). This all female card spans over the course of a long weekend and is for not only all ages, weight classes, and experience BUT it is a celebration of women’s boxing. Ellen’s vision was more than just a boxing fight, but it is to bring these fighters together for an experience of a lifetime. She is also one of the coaches of Sooke Boxing Club (local/head club for WCWW+).

Kandi Wyatt: Boxing out of Calgary, Alberta Canada she is a professional boxer and WBA Intercontinental Welterweight Champion. In addition to her professional career, Kandi had an extensive amateur career, some highlights including 10x Alberta provincial champ, 6x Canadian national champion, and 4x Gold Ringside World Championship. When she isn’t training herself, she runs a local cafe, and also coaches boxing classes at the Calgary Boxing Club.

Carolyn Redmond: Professional boxer originally from the east coast of Canada, but currently residing in Ontario. Fighting in the super welterweight division Carolyn says she feels best when she is in the ring. Boxing has helped with her stress relief, create healthy habits, and build her confidence. As this has been such a positive outlet for herself, she wants to be a role model for other women and have them also reap the benefits of boxing.

Charlie Cavanagh: She is a Team Canada Boxer and 2024 Olympic hopeful. Charlie’s amateur boxing career is long and growing including Women’s World medalist, Continental medalist, and Pan American Games medalist. Similarity to most of the TEAM GJWB’s mission – encourage girls to try “unconventional sports’ ‘i.e. boxing that has been male dominated for s many years. Charlie has gained the common benefits of boxing: self confidence, discipline, and handling a loss, BUT she has also been able to travel the world, meet other girls in the sport, and be a mentor for other young girls looking to follow a similar path.

Deedra Chestnut: 4x Canadian national champion and the first female boxer to represent Sierra Leone on the international stage. Similarly to most of us, boxing has taught her many life lessons and skills she applies in her everyday life and wants to see more people boxing to also reap these benefits. She’s been involved with some of the growth in the sport already and wants to see more of this in the future.

Corey Erdman: Over 15 years as a boxing commentator, writer, and producer on boxing broadcasts for ESPN, ESPN+, NBC, CBS, CBS Sports, BoxNation, Sky Sports and more. In addition to the above, Corey is also an advocate for women’s boxing. He’s witnessed the change and evolution of women’s boxing and although he can’t tackle this by himself he uses his platforms and amplifies the stories of female fighters and advocates for inclusion of the sport in influential spaces. In order for change to occur, we need more men like Corey to help be allies!

Holly Lawson: As both a professional boxer and celebrity trainer – she practices what she preaches. Training out of WildCard Boxing Club in Hollywood, CA, she is surrounded by the best of the best in the sport. Both a game changer inside and outside of the ropes, Holly wants to help other women find their superpowers. I want to see the sport of boxing existing as a truly equitable place, where women are paid according to their skills in the same way men are, where 3 minute rounds are the norm, and where promoters will be incentivized to promote their female fighters in the same way they do men. ⁠

GJWB and our ambassadors share our mission: to unite women through the sport of boxing. Our TEAM GJWB is used to support one another and help spread the strength and empowerment that boxing provides. We are so lucky to have a great group of people to support our mission and reminding the world: #girlsjustwannabox.

Two weeks ago, GJWB brought a group from Toronto & Newfoundland to the 2023/2024 International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHOF) last weekend – October 6&7 – to celebrate both the 10th anniversary of the IWBHOF & 25 years of the WBAN!

Some words to describe the weekend include: empowerment, fighter, community, hard-work, determination, persistence, attitude, histories-first, champion, and deserving. ⁠

It was such an honour to be able to be a partner of the event, pay tribute to all their efforts to help pave the way for the future of women’s boxing, and to provide these women with not only a platform to share their stories but also acknowledge their efforts & accomplishments. 🤩⁠

Cheryl Torrance GJWB member, coach Helene, Lyla Simon Boxing Ontario Official, Lita Mae Button former professional boxer and coach, coach Kevin, and coach Kristina.

Friday afternoon [October 6th] was the pre-celebration in order to have an additional meet & greet with the 2023/2024 inductees & to also award a few special awards.

It was an emotional afternoon as Sue TL Fox surprised 3 pioneers (Pat Pineda [pictured above], Dar Buckskin, and Jamie Johnson) with mini WBAN belts since championships belts didn’t exist when they were boxing, so they were unable to earn one. As they received their belts, the room erupted with cheers & tears.

Special award recipients included:

Olivia Gerula (26 year anniversary as an active boxer), Alicia Ashey (oldest pro boxer, male or female, to become a world champion), Chevelle Hallback (26 year anniversary as an active boxer), Layla McCarter (25 year anniversary as an active boxer), Marty Robert Wynn (2023 ‘Beyond the Ropes’ award), Michael O’Neill – posthumous (Contributions in women’s boxing & journalism), Regina Halmich (2023 Lifetime Achievement Award), Jamie Johnson (2024 pioneer in women’s boxing), Stuart Breslow (2024 ‘Beyond the Ropes’ award), and Sumya Anani (2024 Lifetime Achievement Award)

Coaches Helene & Kristina with Pat Pineda (1st professional female boxer in the state of California) with her WBAN mini belt that was awarded to her at the October 6th ceremony.

Saturday night [October 7th] festivities included a video message congratulating 2023/2024 inductees from Amanda ‘the Real Deal’ Serrano & Barbara Buttrick (pioneer of women’s boxing from the UK), a beautiful dinner, and speeches from the inductees sharing their gratitude and stories from their past.

2023 Inductee recipients: Jennifer Alcorn, Kaliesha West, Kim Messer, Leah Mellinger, Melissa McMorrow, Laura Ramsey, Sonya Lamonakis, Yvonne Trevino, Melissa Del-Valle, Jill Diamond Chastain, Dallas Malloy, & Bruce Silverglade

2024 Inductee recipients: Daniella Smith, Sindy Amador, Maria Jesus Rosa (posthumous), Rhonda Luna, Stacy Prestage, Judy Kulis, Lou Dibella, Jenny Reid, Esther Schouten, Suzy Taylor, & Agnieszka Rylik.2023 & 2024 IWBHOF inductees with their awards. Featuring 18 inductees and 4 special award recipients at the Orleans Hotel & Casino

This was the biggest (attendance wise) event for the IWBHOF since its inception in 2014 and GJWB is so lucky to be apart of this prestigious event!!

We congratulate and THANK all these people for their efforts as without them, GJWB would not exist.We look forward to inducting and celebrating the next class of 2025 👊

I bet if you were to ask what three things’ boxers need to have in their fight camp, most people would say: boxing (heavy bag drills, sparring, etc), running (conditioning), and strength training. I would add journaling.

Regardless of whether you are looking to compete in the sport or even just improve as a boxer, it is important to journal your progress – very similarly to when people lift weights, they write down the amount of weight they deadlifted, etc, or when people track their weight loss goals through inches and the weight noted on the scale. I would highly encourage competitive boxers to keep a journal throughout their fight camp. This can be done verbally through voice notes, pen and paper, or even typed on your computer/phone.

I encourage competitive boxers to keep this record because it is a great way to note your emotions as fight camp can be quite demanding and therefore expose things you didn’t think would come up, it’s a great tool to track tactics and drills that you may need to work on, it can be your resource to remember your why as your challenged in the gym, and it can be a great tool to help with the mental aspect of the sport – sometimes the most undervalued aspect of a fight camp.

Pen and paper journaling is my preference. I find it has more meaning when you are handwriting and there can be more moments of free flow writing [where you just put your pen on the paper and continuously write until you are done or your timer goes off]– which can help draw out emotions and possibly issues holding us back. You can also use this journal to reflect back during and even at the end of your training camp to see what were the peaks and dips, how you felt during each week, and track your progress. Some people will argue that it is 90% mental when you step into that ring (personally I agree with this!); therefore having a resource and a guide to continuously work on your mental game throughout your camp can be a game changer!

However, I do understand that journaling can be a daunting task – Where do I start? What do I write? How often do I need to do it?

To keep it simple, I am going to give you 4 quick questions (that can be answered in 5-10 minutes depending on how much you have to say for each) that you should try and journal 2-3x/week.

Questions to journal: 1) Why am I doing this? Aka why do I want to fight? 2) What is something I need to work on? 3) How will I work on this? and 4) What is one of my strengths?

*some of these questions may have the same answer week to week – that is okay as this is used as a continuous reminder of these answers and manifestation.

Why I chose the 4 questions above: 1) You need to know and be reminded of your why for when you have a tough day in the gym – this should help keep you going. 2) There are always improvements that we can make whether they are big or small. 3) It is important to note how we will turn these weaknesses into strengths and have an action plan. 4) We need to be confident in ourselves and be reminded of our strengths because when we step into that ring – you need to believe in yourself, no one can do that for you!

Do you journal? Do you have a boxing journal? Would love to know your thoughts on journaling for boxing. Would also like you to try using my question prompts above and journal for 1 week to see how it goes. Send me an email to: helene@girlsjustwannabox.com to let me know how it goes!

Comments are also welcomed below 

Coach Helene here writing this because we have received a few messages about this topic and some of you will be entering the ring for your first bouts soon!

First & foremost, being nervous before a fight is totally okay! Whether it is your 1st fight, 3rd, or 50th fight – it doesn’t matter, it is natural to feel nervous. Hopefully knowing this can make you feel a bit better that you are not alone in this!

There can be lots of thoughts going through your head in the week leading up and the day of your fight – thoughts of doubt, preparedness, skill level of your opponent, and the thought of winning vs loosing.

I personally think its important to feel all the feels. I don’t believe these thoughts and feelings should be suppressed, but I also don’t think they need to consume ALL of your thoughts. Especially if this is your first fight- there is a lot of NEW! Its important to remember that (in your taper week & day of) you [should] have completed all the physical training. You completed all your runs (or cardio substitute), you had various sparring experiences (more experienced than you/less experienced than you), and the necessary shadowboxing and bag work. Physically you should be/have peaked (so no need to worry about this element) and now it comes down to honing in on the mental aspect.

The mental aspect can be one of the hardest parts. We are our own worst critics. I would recommend for your taper week (& fight night) – use this time (continue if you have already started) to work on meditation & breath work exercises to help calm the mind and focus. Remind yourself of the game plan that you and your coach have decided upon. Again if you haven’t already- maybe even start a journal and write down all your thoughts. Keep reminding yourself of why you have decided to do this!

Another super important element is to: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! They say the fight is won when you step between those ropes and I couldn’t agree more! When you enter that ring – you need to enter with confidence in yourself and your abilities. Your opponent and their coach will sniff out any insecurities. You enter that ring with the winning mentality – because to be honest you have won by doing just that.

In regards to the safety aspect – bouts are sanctioned by the governing body of your province/state. There are referees and doctors at these events and their job is to ensure the safety of the boxers at all times.

Lastly – remember to have fun! For some of you this may be a one and done so make the most of it!

If you still need a mantra for fight night, use: I’VE GOT THIS!!

Let me know if this is helpful in the comments below!

These are just a few of the many reasons why we recommend women spar with other women. ⁠ We fully understand that most gyms don’t have enough women to spar each other or get quality rounds due to discrepancy in weight and/or experience. ⁠Let’s discuss why it’s better to spar with women.

🥊⁠ Let’s be honest when you spar with a man the one benefit is you may feel you can apply all your power. Until you hurt him and unless the man is very disciplined he may get upset and come back at you even harder and most likely leave you feeling defeated and/or hurt for no reason. *Most of us who have sparred with men (or young men that are your weight) have experienced this.

⁠🥊 Again we understand this in many times necessary if it’s the only work you can get but things are changing and if you aren’t getting the work – be the one who starts an all female sparring opportunity at your gym. Ask your coach if they are really interested in your success -they will find the sparring for you!

⁠🥊 On fight night when we step into that ring – we are fighting another women. Let’s be honest again, women fight very differently than men. Nothing prepares you more than training & working with what you will be up against, no man prepares for a fight sparring with only women.

Women and men spar & fight differently, therefore we highly recommend getting sparring in with other women to best prepare yourself 🏆⁠

STOP WAITING for someone else to set up your success.
BE THE CHANGE! This was one of the reasons why we started our monthly Sunday Funday Sparring so that women from different gyms across Ontario could come and not only work with other women, but hopefully experience new styles, tactics, and opponents to work with.

Will you be the change needed in your city or country?! SPEAK UP and get things started where you are.

#girlsjustwannabox #gjwb #girlsjustwannaspar ⁠