This
chapter excerpt is from Lisa "Too Fierce" Foster Cohen's
gripping memoir about her life as a foster child and her
subsequent involvement in boxing as a controlled outlet
for the pain she suffered while enduring 13 foster
placements. The working title for the book (still being
written) is Being Too Fierce; One Woman's Incredible
Journey from Foster Child to Championship Boxer.
After retiring from boxing, Lisa started a non-profit
organization called Capitol City Champs to help at-risk
and foster children. Her own children, who were 4 and 6
when she started boxing, are now 20 and 22. Divorced
from their father, Lisa is now married to Neil Cohen, an
attorney who resides in Washington, DC and Naples,
Florida.
At age 45, Lisa recently received a BA degree in English
and plans to go to law school and become a legal
advocate for foster children. She is an active member of
The Rotary Club of Washington, DC.
The Championship Belt
Memories of the first time I ever saw a championship
belt in real life came rushing back. I was back in
Atlantic City, scheduled to fight an up-and-coming
contender from California, Mary Shaida. My first two
fights had been in meager venues, but this one was at
the upscale Tropicana Casino Resort and I was impressed.
There was an all-female
card consisting of women coming from the US, Canada and
Europe who were defending and competing for vacant
titles in three weight classes. I was there to start
fighting my way up the ladder. When my trainer, Gene,
and I arrived at the hotel I was looking all around and
admiring the fancy billboards and posters which
announced the show with beautiful photographs of the
main eventers.
We were on our way to get
some food when, coming on the up escalator as I was
going toward the down, I saw Kathy "Wildcat" Collins
followed by her entourage. I noticed right away that she
was carrying her championship belt. I just stared at it
in awe; it was bright white leather with shiny red
stones sparkling in the lights. While I stared at it, I
was thinking, It's so fly! I'm gonna get me a belt of my
own!
Just seeing how Kathy proudly owned that belt gave me
goose bumps! I back-stepped to get a better look at her
and our eyes met. Then we both stopped in our tracks. It
seemed like she knew that I was a boxer too, and I
caught how she automatically went into a little
defensive mode, pulling that prize belt a bit closer to
her body. I flashed her a big smile, offered a gentle
fist bump and said a warm, How you doing? She relaxed a
bit and smiled back while we lightly bumped fists and
exchanged good lucks, ending with a mutual, See you at
the weigh-in.
As Kathy walked away, I sneaked another quick look as
she slung that beautiful belt over one shoulder. Then I
whispered to Gene how one day I was going to win me one
of those. Gene said yeah but then pushed me to hurry up
before the line at the café started to snake out the
door. I began walking but stopped and said to Gene in a
deadly serious voice, “I’m gonna to be ready. And I’m
not gonna stop training even if I don’t have a fight
coming up. I just gotta be ready.”
“That’s what you s’posed to do, Fat Head,” Gene said,
laughing.
“And while they sleep on my skills that phone will start
ringing,” I said, still dead serious.
By now, we were standing in the buffet line choosing our
food and Gene started complaining about my plate not
having enough food on it. “How you think you gonna fight
with no fuel in your body? Eat!” he ordered.
I plopped another serving of pasta on my plate, rolled
my eyes and pooched my lips the way I do when I’m
showing some attitude, and said, “Okay, I’ll take some
more food then. But you gotta know I’m serious about
what I’m saying, Gene.”
Gene got his own attitude on and raising his voice a bit
said, “Yeah, I know, now eat!” |
