First Nations Olympic Boxer (b. 1984)
Winner, National and International Boxing Titles
Model, CoverGirl Cosmetics
Community Activist
Mary Spencer, an Ojibway athlete originally from the Cape Croker First Nation began her boxing career at age 17. Although she was born in Wiarton, Ontario and lived there for a time, she also lived in Big Trout Lake, Owen Sound and Detroit before settling in Windsor, Ontario. She attended Roseville Public School where she played volleyball and soccer and was also a track and field and cross country athlete. While attending high school at WF Herman Secondary, Mary played soccer, basketball and volleyball there, as well. Originally, she tried boxing only during the summer to stay in shape as a basketball player, but she discovered that she loved the sport!
In 2002 at age 17, Spencer decided on boxing as a career. She trained at the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club under the tutelage of renowned Olympics coach, Charlie Stewart. She was a gold medal hope for Canada, and although she fell short when she tied for fifth place in the middleweight category, she still placed among the top women boxers in the world.
Her boxing prowess would further earn her three-time world championships, five-time Pan-American championships, and recognition as a national ambassador and role model for her sport.
In only her first year as a boxer, Mary Spencer was awarded the distinction of Canadian Boxer of the Year. After only 18 months, she won her first Canadian Championship in the 66kg weight division. She won consecutive national titles in 2004 and in the same year went undefeated in Taiwan, Italy and Poland.
Spencer won world titles in 2005 and 2008 when she won her third Canadian Championship and another gold at the Pan-American championships. But 2006 proved to be a year of testing for the young pugilist; although she easily qualified for the semifinals, Mary experienced her first international loss by earning a bronze medal at the world championships in New Delhi.
But 2008 was Mary's comeback year. She went undefeated internationally, won gold at the Ahmet Comert Cup in Turkey, and gold at the Pan-American Championship in Trinidad and Tobago (where she was also named Best Boxer of the tournament). When women's boxing debuted in the 2012 Olympiad, Mary Spencer landed a spot on Team Canada as a wild card. Among other honors, she was inducted into the WF Herman Sports Hall of Fame.
In addition to many more championships-as well as challenges-along the way, Spencer takes time for community-building and lends her name to other causes.
She is a member of Motivate Canada's GEN7 Aboriginal role model initiative which was established in spring 2002 through World Bank seed funding. The monies allowed for research in determining how the existing ESTEEM Program might be altered, expanded and adapted to serve the unique challenges of Aboriginal youths in their neighborhoods. For her contributions, time and support, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity named Mary Spencer as One to Watch on their list of Most Influential Women.
Called "the real deal" both inside and outside the ring, Mary, who grew up in hard-hitting circumstances herself, also helps to run a boys and girls club at a Windsor housing project and is a volunteer mentor to youths at the Cape Croker Indian Reserve in Wiarton, Ontario.
Perhaps the most unusual of Mary Spencer's attainments during her boxing career is that she is arguably the first boxing pro to be a glamour model for a makeup company. Although her modeling career was short-lived, Proctor and Gamble chose Spencer as a CoverGirl cosmetics ambassador in Olympics-related commercials and magazine ads in 2012.
Mary's heart, however, remains with boxing. She states, "The main thing I think is going to change people's opinions is not what women look like...I think what's important is that we put on a good performance and break the stereotype that girls can't fight."
Sources:
Biography (http://maryspencer.ca/2015/biography/), posted by Smith, January 17, 2015
Changemakers webpage, Gen7 Aboriginal Model Program
Falcon, Janine, Contributing Editor, TheKit, CoverGirl Mary Spencer, Canadian Olympic Boxer, Talks Beauty, HuffPost, STYLE, updated 09/06/2012
Mary Spencer, Calgary webpage
Mary Spencer, Olympics webpage
Starkman, Randy, Olympic Sports Reporter, Mary Spencer, March 10, 2012
Wikipedia, Mary Spencer
A version of the above article appears in 100+ Native American Women Who Changed the World by KB Schaller, winner, International Book Award, women's issues category. Available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and other book sellers. Website: http://www.KBSchaller.com; Contact: soaring-eagles@msn.com.
