Boxer Mckenzie Wright in fighting form for Olympic qualifier

St. Davids resident and Olympic boxing hopeful Mckenzie Wright thought she had at least two more weeks before she had to leave for Busto Arzizio, Italy for a qualifying tournament that begins on February 29. 

But her Team Canada coaches contacted her last Monday to tell her to be ready to depart four days later, on February 9, for a team training camp.

The Local caught up to Wright during a training session with her coach Jesse Sallows at City Boxing Club in Niagara Falls.

“It will be an international camp again,” said Wright, comparing the Italy camp to the Canadian team’s preparation for last fall’s Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. “There will be about 300 athletes there, including many that  I will be competing against, from Europe, Asia and the Americas. I’ll have a chance to get some sparring matches in with them. It’s a good way to get a feel for their style.”

In Santiago, Wright lost in the semi-final to the eventual winner, Jennifer Lozano of the US. That forced her to defend her position as Canada’s international representative in the 50 kg class at the Olympic team trials in Montreal in December. She cruised to victory there to earn her chance to fight in Italy to qualify for Paris 2024. 

The 33-year-old is laser-focused on punching her ticket to Roland Garros, the site of the Olympic boxing matches this summer. She had been planning to take her nursing exam in January but quickly realized that her training schedule would not allow her sufficient time to prepare. 

“I put that on the backburner,” she says. “This is once in a lifetime. Nursing can wait.”

Wright has been training hard with two sessions per day and barely a day off. That includes a morning conditioning workout and an evening session in the gym in Niagara Falls.

Tonight she tapes up her hands and spends about 15 minutes warming up with some shadow boxing, working on her footwork before she steps into the ring. Sallows, who wears target mitts, climbs in with her. The coach shouts out commands in quick succession as Wright works on her quick reflexes and reaction time. 

“My best skill is my speed,” she says. “I’m not the hardest puncher, but there’s no one faster than me in the ring.“

Then Wright dons her headgear and spars toe to toe for a couple of rounds against a much younger City Club boxer, Adam Saleh. Finally, she’s off to hit the water bag before a cooldown session..

The Lundy’s Lane location of City Boxing Club shares a parking lot with a Harvey’s franchise right next door. Wright admits that some nights when she leaves the gym the aroma that wafts over is sometimes very difficult to resist. 

“I don’t go in there, though” she laughs, “but I eat well. When we’re in camp in Italy they provide three meals a day, lots of pasta and things like that. I’ll bring my own supplements and some protein bars over there. My pre-bout meal, believe it or not, is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

As it was prior to Montreal, Wright’s loss at the Pan Am Games to Lozano remains a big motivation as she heads to Italy, where the top four boxers in each class will qualify for the Olympics. 

“It’s been four months,” says Wright, “and it’s still a wound that has not closed. That one really hurt. On one hand it was my most proud accomplishment in the sport, but on the other it was also the biggest heartbreak I’ve ever had, to be so close and to see it slip away. But this is my opportunity to redeem myself, to get it back and still qualify.”

The tournament at Busto Arzizio wraps up on March 12. By then, Wright will have either earned her chance to represent Canada at  Paris 2004 or will be forced to fight her way in at the final Olympic qualifier in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3. 

“I’m ready,” an eager Wright tells The Local. “There are eight spots left in my category (50 kg). If I can snag one of these four in Italy that will be a big pressure relief, not having to be in that final one, trying to get one of the last four spots in Bangkok.”