Colorado Springs – Boxing isn’t for everybody, but it certainly fits a high school student-body president and glamour girl from Texas. Marlen Esparza, all 5-feet-3, 106 pounds, is one of the most improbable stars of United States amateur boxing.
Esparza, 17, graduated less than two weeks ago from Pasadena High School near Houston after serving as president of the more than 3,000-member student body and winning the Emerald Pageant as the school’s prettiest – and most motivated – teenage girl.
“People don’t believe me, that I’m a fighter,” said Esparza, the defending 106-pound national champion. “They think I’m lying when it comes up. They’re like, ‘You box? Do you get beat up?’ People think that because I’m pretty I can’t fight. I don’t have a temper. I just love the sport.”
Tonight, Esparza hopes to defend her national title, which she won last year as one of the youngest members of USA Boxing. She advanced to the world championships in New Delhi, India, in November and won bronze, losing to the eventual gold medalist, North Korea’s Ri Jong Hyang. It was one of three medals the American team won at the championships.
Esparza is 37-2 since her first amateur bout at age 11.
“I’m not a fan of team sports,” she said. “Too many people to depend on. With boxing, it’s just you and the other person. It’s about who wants it more.”
While women’s boxing is not an Olympic sport, USA Boxing officials are thankful to have her as an up-and-coming attraction.
“She benefits the sport partly because a lot of our women are manly looking,” said Dan Campbell, USA Boxing’s national coach and director of programs. “She goes against that mold. And in the ring, she’s a very top young lady who trains hard, she hits hard, is fast and can take a punch.”
Esparza and just two other women were invited to compete this week in the 106-pound class at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Most female boxers are bigger, making it hard for Esparza to train against women her size.
So she spars against boys 14 and younger.
“At first they’re like, ‘I don’t want to hit you. I don’t want to mess anything up,”‘ Esparza said. “But I’m just like, ‘Hit me!’ And they do, after I hit them.”
The men’s defending 106-pound champion – Luis Yanez of Duncanville, Texas – hasn’t sparred against Esparza, but he knows about her.
“I heard she’s quick,” Yanez said. “I have to give it to her, she’s beaten everyone in her weight class. You have to respect her.”
Esparza said her strength in the ring is exploiting her opponent’s mistakes.
“I have good defense. I wait, and when I see a mistake, I make them pay,” she said.
Leadership seems to be Esparza’s best trait. She was involved in the student council throughout high school, but ran for president because, among other things, she wanted to improve prom and other after-hour events.
“I don’t believe in the whole prom queen thing, the popularity thing,” she said. “I was in the Emerald Pageant at school because that’s the combination of beauty and what you do.”
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
