Called to be a boxer

THE FACE of a beauty queen. The body of a dancer and the supreme self-confidence of Muhammad Ali.They all describe 18-year-old Kimberly Gittens, who will be fighting in the welterweight division in next month’s AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships at the Garfield Sobers Complex from September 6 to 19.With claims of having some of the moves of the great man Ali, Gittens definitely has the talk of the boxing legend in outlining how the sport of boxing called to her when it was introduced at her alma mater Colerdige and Parry while she was in fourth form.“My mother does not like the idea of me boxing, my father is against it and my grandmother definitely does not dig it,” said the only child.  “But, when the sport was introduced at my school it called out to me, and I realised that was something that I wanted to do and which I will continue doing because I just love it,” she added.Even so, Gittens was forced to train at school without the knowledge of her parents, and her initiation was not too sweet as she said that when she received the first punch she had second thoughts.“But I realised that I could take licks and share some and I said to myself, yeah, this is my thing,” Gittens added.Last year was Gittens’ first bout, which she won in one round. Her mother was at ringside and she remembers with a laugh her mother “scotching” and cringing everytime that her only child received a punch.Ironically, Gittens almost missed out on the championships as she broke her left hand, she is left-handed, while fooling around without her gloves on with a friend. “It was torture from March to August as my hand was in a cast and I struggled to brush my teeth and even to eat. “I am a very active person and I also dance professionally, but it was more painful to miss training for boxing,” Gittens recalled.“I was so depressed that I was thinking of quitting as I could not train and I knew that many of the overseas boxers would have been training for years. But, I then said to myself that there is no one in the world who can fight like a Bajan and with the home support, I could do this,” Gittens said.Gittens said the training has been so intense under the local, regional and international coaches that it was mandatory that you sneaked some sleep between “11 to two” during the day or you would be ‘dead’ by night time.“But I just love it because it has made me even more ready for the championships,” she said.Unbelievably, Gittens is also a nursing aide which she stresses combines with boxing to make her dangerous. “I want all of Barbados to come out and not just support me but to support all of our boxers.  “We intend to enter the ring with confidence. We have been training hard, and I am sure that when we land those punches the home crowd will have a lot to shout for,” a confident Gittens said.