Tori "Sho
Nuff" Nelson, like many single mothers, is a strong-willed woman who works
multiple jobs in order to support her family. Unlike most mothers, however, she
is a professional boxing champion who relies on God to give her strength both inside
and outside the ring.
Although the 35-year-old
Nelson holds two world titles and is the highest-ranked female middleweight in
the United States, she has struggled to gain sponsors and has been forced to
work other jobs as a result. In between training sessions, which take up nearly
four hours of her day on average, she works as a school bus driver, school
cafeteria manager and an IHOP waitress.
"I do get tired,
and I do get stressed out, but I just pray, and I keep going," Nelson told
The Christian Post on Thursday.
A resident of Ashburn,
Virg., Nelson lives with her two teenage children. Although her schedule is
already seems full, Nelson still makes time to attend church and participate in
Bible studies.
"It would be
impossible without God," she said. "It would truly be impossible
without God helping me."
Her spokesperson, Barry
Bateman, says even though Nelson should be embraced as an "American
hero," it has been difficult to get her widespread recognition and
financial support because she is a woman.
"She's a beautiful
soul. She's a beautiful person – very eloquent, very elegant – but at the same
time the women's boxing is just not branded and endorsed the right way, where
it should be more of a business or sport that is recognized," said
Bateman.
Nelson's mother was a
single parent and worked constantly when she was growing up, so she was in many
ways raised by her three brothers. She learned to be tough in her childhood
home, and she's not afraid to go toe-to-toe with a man even to this day.
"I spar only
men...I train with guys because I know if I'm training hard with a guy, and a
guy's hitting me with all he has, there's nothing a girl can do to me,"
Nelson said.
She began boxing at
29-years-old, which is late for a beginner, after having her two children and
seeking a way to get back into shape. She had previously started testing to
become a police officer or state trooper, she says, before "God
intervened" by allowing her to become inexplicably ill on the day of her
physical evaluation. She believes her success in boxing is further evidence
that she is being obedient to God's will for her life.
"I just feel that
it's what God wanted me to do, it's the gift that he gave me. It's not that I
really chose it. It chose me," she said.
Once she's finished
competing, Nelson hopes to open a boxing gym where she can help other women,
especially those who had children at an early age.
"Most girls
just feel like they can't finish school, they can't do anything other than just
be a parents and that's not true. You can still keep your dreams and be
whatever you want to be," she said.
Nelson has an undefeated
record – six wins, no losses and one draw – in her professional boxing career.
She currently holds the female middleweight title for both the World Boxing
Council (WBC) and the Women's International Boxing Association (WIBA), which
she won in February by defeating Vashon Living.
In her next bout, which
was scheduled for June 23 but has been postponed, Nelson will compete against
Sweden's Maria Lindberg. According to the Women Boxing Archive Network,
Lindberg is ranked second in the world among middleweights and Nelson is ranked
fourth.
