Mary Spencer was a fairly athletic teenager who got hooked on boxing at the age of 17. After a few months of training at the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club, she took up fighting and won her first fight, which motivated her to get even more into the sport. The road to major competitions began and she quickly climbed the steps from Ontario champion to national champion, eight times over.
It was with Olympic level coach Charlie Stewart that Mary made her way onto the international scene. 2005 was a turning point for the Ojibwe native as she won gold at the Pan American Games in Argentina for the first time in her career. This medal will be the premise of 4 other golden podiums. It was also the year she won her first world championship title. This achievement was to be repeated twice. Competing against the world’s elite thus prepares her to face the best athletes. In 2012, when the Olympic Games decided to add women’s boxing to the program, she became the first Canadian boxer to participate in the Olympics. As not all divisions were present, the young woman had to fight in the 75 kg category and reached the 5th world ranking. A performance that confirms the magnitude of her talent.
After a well decorated amateur career, Mary decided in 2021 that it was time for her to move to the major leagues and made her first professional fight in August of the same year. She quickly won by knockout and sent a clear message to the 147 lb and 154 lb divisions that she was coming to make women’s boxing shine and would not turn down any challenge, even if it meant provoking the current champions in order to achieve the ultimate goal of getting her hands on their titles. Since then, she has been on a winning streak and her ultimate goal is a world championship fight.
