The Martlet

Mary Rose doesn’t look like your typical boxer. At 5’3 and 115 lbs, her small frame can be misleading. But at the 2010 Golden Gloves boxing tournament on April 16 and 17, she intends to show the world just how powerful she is.

Rose, 35, joined Island Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) just nine months ago. She graduated from UVic with a degree in philosophy in 1999, and is a single mother. But, after a life of suppressing her true desire to fight, and becoming overweight and depressed, she’s finally in what she calls, “the right place.”

“I know it doesn’t seem normal to my mother and some other people that women want to fight but, I feel, as a woman and as a mother very connected to earth, that we have an innate ability to fight,” Rose said. “When I’m locking eyes with someone that I’m going to fight, there’s this deep, deep respect, because I know that she’s been through the same thing and is representing the same thing.”

The Golden Gloves tournament will be Rose’s first amateur match. And while the bout isn’t for money or titles, it’s all part of the process — it takes 10 amateur fights to turn pro. But this won’t be Rose’s first full-contact experience. She’s trained for 10 years in karate, Capoeira, Shorin-ryu and other martial arts.

Rose has reason to be confident. Due to the small number of women in the sport, she trains and spars mostly with men between 140 and 180 lbs. While she says she’s taken beatings, there’s a part of her that thrives on the challenge.

“The way I train, since I’m a shorter person, is to get on the person’s inside. If a person is taller, they’ll typically have a longer reach, so if they jab, they got me … but once I am inside, these little arms can go crazy.”

Rose says overriding your own mental demons through training is akin to pregnancy.

“Working toward a fight takes about six weeks, and the only thing I can compare it to is going through pregnancy. It’s shorter, but it’s extremely intense. You feel like the energy you take in is almost too much. It makes your body, and your mind stretch.”

Rose isn’t afraid of much — she’s suffered through broken noses, black eyes and bruised muscles. What really terrifies her, though, is not having someone to fight with.

“[Women] drop out all the time. There have been a few fighting opportunities that have fallen through because the girls backed out,” Rose said. “And that’s really disappointing, because you’re training really hard to meet a goal. It’s not just your goal — you have to rely on the other person to be there.”

In order to meet those matches when they do come along, Rose often has to spar with women out of her weight range.

This doesn’t mean she gets to fight someone bigger or smaller — it means she has to find a way to match their weight.

“I’ve been willing to go from the 110 lbs to 130 lbs weight category,” said Rose. “It’s dangerous to drop a whole lot of weight really fast, and it’s even harder to pack that kind of weight on quickly. I’ve done it; it’s possible, but it’s not the best way to do it. I’m willing to do what it takes. I just want to get recognized so I can move forward.”

Rose believes that, as a woman, it’s only her “intense desire to fight” that has made it a reality for her.

And it’s little wonder women do back away from fighting sports, as stigmas continue to run deep. Rose had to battle her own demons when her mother learned Rose wanted to fight.

“My mother is very judgmental. She refuses to watch my fight. She doesn’t want to hear about it. She did say something very sweet once though; she said, ‘Even though I don’t like what you’re doing and I don’t really support it, know that I’ll always be in your corner,’” said Rose. “And there are certain things in your life that, even if the person you love and respect the most is saying ‘I don’t know if you should do this,’ you just feel this innate mission in doing. It just makes me feel perfect.”

As a single mom, Rose still has a strong support system. Her nine-year-old son, Luke, trains too. Rose says Luke doesn’t worry about her in fights — he knows his mom is tough. Lately, they’ve been growing even closer to one another.

“The other day we were playing air hockey, and it was weird. We were really intensely into it and it was almost like a boxing match,” said Rose. “We were at 8-8, it was the final point, and I was just trying to egg him on and confuse him. Then, he just looks at me and he whispers, ‘anticipate.’ And as soon as he said that, I started thinking about what he was going to do. And, quicker then lightening, just zoom, right into my net.”

Rose says psyching your opponent out is a large part of the fight, but so is respect.

“[Boxing] is about two spirits going up against each other,” she said. “And it isn’t about hitting hard — it’s about making the judges see you’re controlling the ring. That’s a talent.”

That talent is something that others are noticing about Rose. Joe Walker, long-time sparring partner and a fellow Golden Gloves contender, says that Rose has inspired him in his own training.

“You just can’t break her will. She just keeps coming, and throws super hard punches for her size,” said Walker, who has been in three amateur fights. “She’s basically ready [for the tournament], and that’s the biggest part — just preparation for the fight.”

Rose hopes that her appearance in the Golden Gloves tournament will help to rebuild the image that the sport isn’t about men or women — it’s about the soul.

“My goal is to basically get recognized as an extremely unlikely up-and-comer. I don’t care if it’s amateur or pro, I don’t care if I get paid — yet. It’s just about representing females in a completely different way — a way that I’ve never seen represented in the city yet … and I think I could give anyone a run for their money. ”

The Golden Gloves will be held at the Eagle Ridge community centre in Langford, April 16 to 17.