I'm An 85 Year-Old Boxing Coach

I’m very strict. The kids will tell you that, but they also think I’m good. If you don’t learn what you’re being taught, then you can’t perform and win. They want to win.

How It All Began

I married my husband Ray in 1959. I’d been married before and had a boring life: get up, go to work, go home. In Ray’s previous marriage his wife wasn’t interested in what he was interested in, which was boxing. Ray spent probably 60 years of his life in boxing. When we came to Reno and got married, he got in touch with some people who had a boxing club called the Mighty Mites.

They hired him as a volunteer to coach. They needed equipment and money so I joined Ray to take over that part of it. Later on we wanted to work with a different group of kids so we started a club called the 'Sparks Jr. Boxing Club' in Sparks, Nevada. I helped in the business end of it; he didn’t like the paperwork.

So I listened and watched, and I enjoyed the art of boxing. When he passed away, I went to turn his keys in, and they asked me if I would like to continue on. There were nights where we didn’t have a coach, so I just started doing it. I like it, and I think I’m good at it!

A Promise To Keep

My husband and I did it together. We had no other interests besides the kids and boxing. My husband went through cancer – chemo and radiation – and he never missed a night.

At one point the doctor told me he only had two months left. He was pretty bad at the end.