Catching up with ‘The Mitt Queen’
Q: A:What role did your older brother have in your current career journey? If it wasn’t for my brother, I wouldn’t be The Mitt Queen, to be completely honest. He had a love for MMA and he was and is my best friend, so I wanted to enjoy it with him. He brought me to the gym for the first time, and if he never was a fighter, I’m sure I would’ve never walked into a fight gym.
Q:
What was it about that first time you watched him fight that inspired you to learn about the sport, to the point of participating in it yourself?
A:
Nothing is like watching a family member get into a cage and fight. It’s a very scary thing when you don’t understand the sport, and that’s what I experienced. I was scared for him and didn’t want to see anything bad happen to him. I heard people cheering, but I didn’t know if it was good or bad. That’s why I chose to understand the sport and learn myself.
Q:
Can you talk about how the pandemic played a role in helping you increase your visibility in the sport?
A:
I have been a trainer for over 10 years. I always had being a boxing coach as my second, and at one point, third job to make ends meet. Everyone always told me to post my videos on Instagram of me holding their mitts, but I didn’t decide to do it until the pandemic hit. I knew everyone was on their phones, so I decided to post mitt work videos. I saw views I have never seen before, and my other jobs ended up closing, so I decided to go all in. I kept posting and posting, numbers were going up in followers and views. From there was the start of people outside of my home gym knowing who The Mitt Queen was.
Q:
For people who don’t know much about boxing outside of what we’ve seen on television or in movies, what role does working with mitts have in boxing?
A:
Holding mitts holds a big role in boxing. It helps with accuracy, speed in the ring, conditioning, as well as repetition to repeat the same in a fight. With my type of mitt work, it pushes your cardio to a different level.
Q:
In what ways is working with mitts important in a boxer’s overall development?
A:
Very important to a fighter. It helps translate the same movement in a fight.
Q:
Why did you choose to focus on holding the mitts?
A:
I’m not going to say I chose it because I feel like it chose me. When people compliment you on how you hold, I took pride in it and always wanted to be the best.
Q:
What does it take to become as skilled and sought after as you’ve become in training with mitts?
A:
It takes a lot of skill to hold mitts. You need to understand how to flow on the mitts, meaning you have never-ending
Ann Najjar is “The Mitt Queen,” known for her skills holding the mitts in the boxing ring for the athletes she trains. It was the first time she watched her older brother, a mixed martial arts fighter, in a professional fight that inspired her to learn more about the sport.
“I never realized how nerve racking, intense, and exciting the sport was until I went to his first fight,” she said in a 2018 essay about how boxing changed her life. “It was at that moment that I realized I needed to learn and understand the sport.”
Her brother invited her to join him at his training gym, where she started taking boxing classes, moving up to hitting the gym five days a week. By 2015, she was managing her brother’s career and had fallen in love with the sport. She’s been a boxing coach and trainer for more than 10 years now, but it was the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and social media that catapulted her profile. She started posting videos of herself and her work holding the mitts during sessions and her views and followers skyrocketed. Today, she has 1 million followers on Instagram, she trains both amateurs and high-profile athletes and celebrities, and you can spot her in “Creed III” alongside Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors.
Najjar, 34, lives in La Mesa and coaches at Bomber Squad Boxing Academy in El Cajon. She went to Monte Vista High in Spring Valley, and was born and raised in San Diego (along with her siblings) after her parents moved here from Baghdad, Iraq. She took some time to talk about her career and whether we’ll see her on the big screen again. combos, you are calling out what to do while holding at the same time, and moving on to the next combo while still holding for the prior combo called.
Q:
In an interview from 2021, you mention how hard it is to hold mitts. What makes it difficult?
A:
You have to be thinking quick and ahead to hold mitts. You never want a fighter waiting for you to think of the next thing to hit on the mitts.
Q:
What are you thinking about, or focused on, when you’re holding them?
A:
To be honest, I’m so used to it, I don’t have to think about it. It comes natural to me. Clockwork. If I know a fighter has something to work on, then I tweak it for the fighter I am holding for.
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Q:
I’ve also read that you’re a first generation American and your parents came to the United States from Iraq. Do you have a large family?
A:
My parents are from Baghdad and have been here over 50 years. I am one of five siblings, and they were born and raised in San Diego. My parents came here to give us a better life, and they sure achieved that.
Q:
When you first started on your boxing journey, how did your family respond? Did this seem on brand for you, or was it a surprise to them?
A:
My parents were never against what I was doing. As long as I was working, that is all that mattered.
Q:
How did you get connected with your first professional/ big-name client?
A:
My first big name was actually [professional basketball player] Dwight Howard. He was actually just a walk-in at the gym I worked at, at the time.
Q:
I saw you on screen in “Creed III,” getting Michael B. Jordan’s character ready for the big fight. How did this particular movie opportunity come about?
A:
That’s where social media loops back in. MBJ would see my videos on Instagram and had his assistant reach out to me. Couple months later, I left town to Atlanta to train him and the cast.
Q:
How do Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors compare to the professional fighters you work with?
A:
MBJ and Jonathan Majors are both great athletes. They had a goal, and they knew how to achieve it. The training some days were tough on the body, but like true athletes, they pushed through it. I put them through fight camp like I would a real fighter.
Q:
Who are some of the athletes you’ve worked with that fans of their sport would recognize?
A:
Dwight Howard, Ryan Garcia, Terence Crawford, Florian Munteanu [who played Viktor Drago in “Creed II” and “Creed III”], Monte Morris, Mario Lopez, Josh Bridges, and many more.
Q:
You’ve mentioned that boxer Jonny “Magic” Mansour was one of the few fighters who didn’t care about what anyone said when you would hold the mitts for him. What were people saying when you started? What kinds of comments were they making, and how did you deal with that?
A:
Jonny supported me from the beginning and still here today as one of my best friends.
Q:
What’s next for you? Can we expect to see you on TV or in another movie soon?
A:
I’m focusing on making my own mitt line.
Q:
What’s been challenging about your work as one of the few women who do this kind of work?
A:
Nothing is considered a challenge for me being a woman. My skills didn’t let someone say, “She’s a woman,” to doubt me. It showed in my work and that never made being a woman an issue.
Q:
What’s been rewarding about your work?
A:
The biggest reward is hearing my parents talk about me and how proud they are.
Q:
What has this work taught you about yourself?
A:
Work in silence and the hard work you put in will be loud.
Q:
What is the best advice you’ve ever received? Just do you.
A:
Q:
What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?
A:
I’m obsessed with getting my nails done and having wild designs.
Q:
Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend. A:
Shopping, shopping, shopping, and some coffee.