Outside the ring, Nelson is, in the words of her friend and fellow boxer Tyrieshia Douglas, “a nice churchy lady.” She spends half an hour each day reading and discussing Bible verses with her longtime boyfriend. She’s a hugger, a baby nuzzler, a bestower of silly nicknames. Then she enters the ring and something terrifying emerges, something that won’t let her stop punching until she has annihilated the person in the opposite corner.
This 42-year-old boxer has a job at IHOP, two kids, and 11 titles. She isn’t done—yet.
Britt Peterson | The Washington Post | January 24, 2019 | 3,350 words