Meet Tori Nelson: Iron Maiden

ASHBURN, Va. –Women and men rip furiously onto their punching bags to the command of instructor Tori Nelson.

“Go! Twenty-three seconds guys,” Nelson shouts to the group at Ashburn’s L.A. Boxing, where she first learned how to fight.

Seven years ago, Nelson wasn’t any different from the woman she is teaching in class. She wanted to get in shape and learn how to throw a good punch.

She has learned that and more. At 36, the mother of two is the World Boxing Council’s middleweight boxing champion.

“My trainer asked me one day what would you do if you had to compete? And I said, ‘If I compete, I’m going to be the world champion.’ And by God’s grace, I’m the world champion,” Nelson said.

She is going to defend her title on September 21 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax. But for that, she needs sponsorship.

“Women’s boxing, it’s sad to say, is really not respected in the United States,” Nelson said. “Here they say ‘Hey Champ’ and keep walking.”

She needs money to compete and train, and the freedom to make boxing as her full-time job. Her two children, 15 and 18, rely on her for support.

During the school year, she works as in a school cafeteria and as a bus driver for Loudoun County Public Schools. She also sporadically works at IHOP as a waitress.

“I’m the provider for them so I have to do what I have to do,” Nelson said.

While male headlining boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao made Forbes’ 2013 list of the world’s top paid athletes (both earn $34 million), female boxers struggle to maintain a following.

Part of that is because female boxing as an organized sport is in its infancy as far as professional sports go. USA Boxing, the sport’s regulatory agency, did not recognize women boxers until 1993, after a 16-year-old girl — with the help of the ACLU — sued the organization for the right to compete, the L.A. Times reported. Female boxing didn’t make it to the summer Olympics until 2012.

Despite the progress women boxers have made, Nelson said she still sees a discrepancy in the public eye.

“If I was a guy, I would be much further than where I am now,” Nelson said.

Her trainer, Craig Fladager, who has taught men, women, and children in the course of his career, said there are some advantages to being a female boxer — like not having as much competition.

“There’s not as many women boxers … If you’re good, you can rise to the top fairly quickly, like [Nelson] did,” Fladager said.

Nelson is at the gym every day. In the weeks before a major bout, it’s twice a day, at 5:30 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. Her daughter, Simone, helps her train in the evenings. While at first it was shocking to see her mother get hit in the ring, being there when her mom won was all worth it.

“When I found out my mom was the world champion, I was like wow. Cause I thought my mom was just okay, but this showed that she was amazing at what she does,” Simone, 15, said.

Simone said she doesn’t know if she wants to be a boxer like her mother, but she has taken a few classes.

"I see how passionate she is about it and it makes me want to see if I would be as passionate about it as she is,” Simone said.

As Nelson walks through the Ashburn gym, she greets every boxer with a smile or a hug. She offers advice to the room of mostly young men in the room.

Nelson said she hopes to retire from boxing in the next three to four years.

“I want to be that role model. I want to be that one that people look to and say ‘She had a kid early she worked and she was still a champion,’” Nelson said. “When I’m all done with it, I want to train the next champion.”