THE CONFIDENCE OF BOXING

For Neida Ibarra, boxing is more than just a sport. The endless hours she’s spent honing her punches and perfecting her footwork have taught this 23-year old fighter a lot about herself.

“It’s life changing,” she said.

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“I’ve learned so much about myself since I started boxing. Women, we sometimes feel we can’t better ourselves just for ourselves, like we always need to have that other person.”

According to Ibarra, boxing not only taught her patience and discipline, it gave her the courage to finally leave a bad relationship.

“I’m not the person I was back in high school. I was in that relationship for about seven years, and that really lowered my selfesteem and got me down,” she recalled. “Now my friends from high school are like, ‘Wow, Neida, you’re so different now. You’re this confident person.’ I still struggle, but boxing has helped me overcome all of that and see that women can do it on their own.”

These days, Ibarra juggles early morning training at the gym and late night runs with a fulltime job as a medical technician. On top of that, she’s taking courses at Tulsa Community College, working towards a future in sports medicine or sports psychology. Ibarra finds her schedule challenging but rewarding.

“It’s hard, but a lot of it is just mental,” she said. “When I’m mad, when I’m sad or when I’m angry, I go to the gym, and right after, I’m better. It’s like - Boom! – all my problems are gone. I love it.”

This weekend, Ibarra, along with dozens of fighters from around the state, will compete in the Oklahoma Golden Gloves State Championship at Tulsa’s Greenwood Cultural Center. Winners will advance to the regional competition in Wichita and from there to the Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions, one of the most prestigious amateur boxing events in the U.S.

This will be Ibarra’s second time to fight in front of a live audience. She won her first fight at a boxing event in November. She’d like a shot at the Olympics and maybe even a pro career.

“I want to go far with it,” she said. “Why not? I’m already training and putting in the work. I might as well test myself and see how far I can go.”

For now she’s successfully blazing her own path as a woman in a male-dominated sport.

“Women have to prove themselves more. There are are always people telling me, ‘You hit hard for a girl,’ or ‘You hit fast for a girl.’ For a girl? I’m like, ‘there are girls out there who can whoop you, so don’t even say that,’” she laughed. “You have to follow your passion and do what your heart wants and not what society tells you you should want.”

For more information on the Oklahoma Golden Gloves State Championship, visit www.engineroomboxing.com.