CLEVELAND — It took Patience Williams three years to get the speed bag down to a rhythm. Her name couldn’t be more fitting.
What You Need To Know
- Sisters, Patience and Naveah, will compete at the USA boxing national qualifiers
- They qualified after recently winning the silver glove championship
- They have a strict regimen leading up to the qualifiers
“After so long of me getting it wrong and not being able to do it. It’s easier,” she said.
And now it’s part of a routine that she follows with her sister, Navaeh. They’re both just teenagers, but they already have some pop in their punch.
“The best part of boxing is being able to go to a fight and show off my talent after working so hard,” Navaeh said.
It has paid off for both of them, as they’re heading to the USA boxing national qualifiers after recently winning the silver glove championship.
Both are also ranked in the top three in their weight classes.
Patience said the sport is fulfilling and a confidence booster.
“Four years ago, I was skinny and thought I wasn’t able to defend myself. I was getting bullied and stuff. But then I joined boxing,” Patience said.
Now’s not the time to rest. They’ll have a strict regimen all the way up to the qualifiers, and it doesn’t start in the ring.
It starts the minute their father, Robert, picks them up from school. They get home, and are assigned a chore every day. They can’t go to the gym until they’re finished.
“If the house is still dirty by the time it’s time to leave, we probably won’t go to practice,” Navaeh said.
Robert said this is by design. It teaches the girls discipline, which any great boxer needs to have.
“That’s the first priority,” he said. “You make sure your home is good. Home has to be good first.”
Robert said his daughters became interested in boxing on their own, but he doesn’t coddle them. He doesn’t even help carry their bags.
“I call it carrying their own troubles,” he said. “When they first started boxing, I would carry the bags for them. Then I realized, if I had boys boxing, I wouldn’t help carry their bag.”
They may not compete against each other at qualifiers, but they’ll be pushing one another to go for the gold.
“Patience is definitely going to be my biggest motivation to win,” Navaeh said.
Sparring partners second, sisters first.
