(JULY 27) While most of us are
content to put our feet up and relax at the end of a hard day
Kaliesha West is just getting started. Off come the school clothes
and the clothes from the job, on comes the gym clothes and the real
work begins! “Now I can really breathe, this is home.”
She greets everyone who crosses her path, acknowledges their recent
accomplishments as she heads to the ring. Her father Juan West waits
with her gloves and mouthpiece, ready to lace her up, give her
instructions and in she climbs. But…..she is not alone.
In the opposite corner stands a
sparring partner. A little bit bigger, tough and eager to mix it
up. A skilled and talented fighter herself, Rhonda Luna has been
here before. She is ready to deliver several rounds of hard
charging, power packed punches to help whip Kaliesha into shape
for her August 1st fight against Rolonda Andrews, a skilled
veteran southpaw.
“I am not concerned with Rolonda being a southpaw” says Kaliesha.
“I am a boxer. I am trained to adapt to whatever is in front of
me. You come into every fight different than the last. She is
who she is and I am Kaliesha West, we don’t know each other and
we have never fought each other. I just know I am coming in
there with the best training, best conditioning and I am
prepared to fight. I am not nervous or anxious I am excited.”
From the time she was a young girl Kaliesha’s love of boxing was
flowing through her veins. Posters of Muhammad Ali hung from her
wall and she read every book she could find about him. “It
wasn’t just his boxing; it was his spirit, his mind, his
humanity. His greatness is a total package. He is the history of
boxing.”
And it appears that Kaliesha has that same spirit. “I want to do
what I can to make history in women’s boxing. This is where I
find happiness. I understand this game and it lives inside of
me.” As you watch Kaliesha spar, there is no question that this
is true. As Rhonda throws rocket fueled punches her way Kaliesha
seems to smile and beg for more. Slipping, sliding,
punching…..the rounds end and they both emerge smiling like it
was a ballroom dance. Her heart is right and her skills are set.
“I learn something every day I walk in here. I have learned
something from every fight. I never want to stop learning. I
grow from the things that I have learned and I can’t wait to
find my new lessons each day.”
Her drive and love of boxing
feeds her soul. She is young and ambitious……will she go down in
history as one of the best? She has all the tools. Passion,
skills, heart and the spirit of a warrior…..the list goes on.
Let’s watch her carve out her spot in history starting August
1st.
