Mandy Bujold – Interview

I have two older brothers and my parents came home one day with sets of boxing gloves and a punching bag; they decided that they were going to put this up in the basement in the hope that we would stop fighting each other and start hitting the bag instead! So that’s where the interest sparked for me. A little later I moved and went to high school in Kitchener which has a big boxing history and there is a really famous boxing gym called the Waterloo Boxing academy. Lennox Lewis started his career there and my brother joined the gym. Not too long after I followed in his footsteps. It was more just for fun, to get active and to get in shape. The interest sparked from there and I never looked back.

There will always be challenges. At the very beginning it was a little harder; I remember going in to the gym and certain coaches where still not accepting of it, either that or they just were not used to coaching women. I remember being in the ring once and was kicked out after being told to take my gloves off because they didn?t want me in the ring. A few years later the coaches actually came and apologised saying they weren’t used to the situation. They were so used to just having boys and they didn’t know how to handle having a female in the gym or how to deal with it. So when I started, it was a harsh situation, but now it’s a lot easier because women’s boxing is accepted almost all over the world now. With us being in the Olympics we are breaking barriers all the time and I think that’s what has helped our sport become more accepted.

I wouldn’t say there’s been any challenges; I think for me at the level that I am at I want to be treated like a boxer. I’m not a female boxer, I?m not a male boxer, I’m just a boxer. I think high level coaches respect that and they will treat you in the same way.? I don?t expect to get different treatment because I’m a girl and I respect my coach because he treats me that way. I think that’s what makes me stronger and that’s what makes me who I am as a boxer. When I’m in the gym and I’m sparring I spar with the boys just as much as I spar with the girls, so you don’t make a difference between the two. Working with a male coach has never really made me think of it as it being any different. I have had the opportunity to work with female coaches in the past and they do understand you a bit more I feel. They are great to work with, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with working with a male coach either.

Yes, I think we do. You walk into a gym and although I don’t notice it anymore, if you stop and look around you realise you’re the only girl in the gym. I’m at the point now where I’ve gained the respect of everyone in the gym. I have respect from all the boxers in the gym, but you do have to work for that. When some girl’s first start in boxing, it can be a struggle and you feel like ok, I’ve got to be really good at this. The bottom line is, if you give 100%, you’re going to gain that respect from anybody because it is a tough sport. So long as you give 100% that’s all you can do.

It’s been going great actually. The last 4 weeks I’ve had 3 fights and right now we are just working on getting ready for the competitive season so we have been doing local fights. It’s been good to have a fight and come back into the gym for a week or so, work on specific things and then go back into the ring and test it out. It’s been very good for that aspect.? We have our first international competition coming up in April and then the qualifier for the Pan Am Games, so it’s exciting! You can feel the buzz happening in Toronto, everyone is getting excited about it. There’s always little events and things going on to promote the games so its definitely exciting for us! I don’t know how much other countries are feeling it or seeing it but for me when I was driving into Toronto yesterday, there is a new sign above one of the bridges saying ?The Games are coming! You see stuff like that and it gives you butterfly’s almost! It’s definitely exciting and I think it’s going to be a great games.

I think it’s helped it bring more publicity. We now have 3 Olympic champions that are out there promoting the sport Katie Taylor is an amazing ambassador for our sport and all the other girls that are out there. They can say that they are Olympians and they are raising the profile of the sport. I think it’s great in that sense. I know that since the Olympics more women are getting involved and getting involved at younger ages which is really great to see because it’s developing our sport. Now we have junior and youth world championships were as before we never really had that. So these girls get to travel the world and have these experiences at such a young age. I just think back and think if I had that opportunity when I was young where I could I have reached as an athlete. It’s just amazing that it is starting to grow at that grassroots level as well as the elite. I think more people are taking boxing more seriously and it is also easier for us to go out and get sponsorship now that we can say we are in the Olympics. That’s the goal for every sport  this is what I’m training for, this is my end goal and people want to support you to get to that because it’s the Olympics.