Twenty-four women will step into the ring for their first amateur boxing match Thursday night at MGM Music Hall in Fenway. The annual Belles of the Brawl event, hosted by Haymakers For Hope, invites women from all walks of life to do their part in the fight against cancer using the sport of boxing.
Every fighter steps into the ring with their connection to cancer. New Hampshire-based fighter Nikki Gonsalves has a close connection; in 2018 she lost her husband to lung cancer. She knows firsthand what it is like for families to walk through a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and loss.
Gonsalves applied for the first time in 2019, but it wasn’t until this year she was accepted. She sometimes still feels in shock that she’s stepping in the ring but reminds herself, “The families that do go through [cancer], including my own…you don't get that choice of, well, do I want to fight for my life or not? Like they just do it because that's the only choice they have.”
On Her Mark
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Gonsalves immediately reached out to a coach -- at the boxing gym she was working out -- to ask him to join her corner. The coach, Christian Moura, was humbled by the request. Moura is confident that Gonsalves is ready for Thursday’s fight. He explains that her fundamentals are “on point” and her IQ “has been built exponentially.”
The fights start at 7:30 pm on Thursday. For more information visit: Haymakers for Hope | Haymakers for Hope.
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