Melissa O'Flynn from the 2 Rivers Boxing Club proudly won a big boxing match in Coquitlam thanks to support from some excellent coaches.
"Usually you'll hear the saying, by almost every single boxer that's ever competed, 'the fight before the fight is the hardest part.' You get the nerves," O'Flynn said. But with the support she had behind her, she went into the ring with a clear head. "I had nerves, but I was not nearly as nervous as I've ever been for any fight before."
One of the coaches in her corner was boxer Shawn Archer and professional coach Manny Sobral who is a former International Boxing Association Champion and coaches professional boxing.
"I was like a little girl on Christmas," O'Flynn said.
Archer, who works with O'Flynn regularly, told her she was calmer than he had every seen her before. She was calm enough that she napped outside the ring before the match.
When she got into the ring, she realized her opponent was good but she knew could beat her.
"She's very fast. Her hands (were) just flying. She was throwing 10 punches in the time I threw maybe three," she said. But O'Flynn realized they didn't hurt her. "I didn't feel them. It was like I was this tight little shell and she couldn't touch me through my shell and I was like 'oh my gosh. I'm blocking these.' She started throwing these flurries and I just started throwing power in between."
O'Flynn built up a pattern of power shots and as her opponent adjusted, she changed it up.
"I'm power shotting her and I get her into the corner and I can hear my coach, Shawn, in my head saying 'don't stop unless the ref stops you,'" O'Flynn said. "So I start really throwing (punches) hard in the corner and I hear the referee say 'stop' and he stops the fight and gives her a standing eight count." It was O'Flynn's first time giving somebody a standing eight count, which is when the referee stops the fight to give a fighter a brief break from being overwhelmed by their opponent.
O'Flynn won the fight with a unanimous decision. After the fight she pulled her opponent in and thanked her for the fight.
O'Flynn left to go back to Quesnel at 4 a.m. to get back to pick up her kids. She said as a single parent she wouldn't have been able to go to boxing events without support from sponsors.
Boxing is a healthy outlet for O'Flynn and she said it was made easy as a single mother by having her children allowed to hang around and play while she trained.
O'Flynn trains and coaches out of 2 Rivers Boxing Club.
