BRANTFORD – “I feel I am getting stronger,” says up an coming amateur boxer, Six Nations’ Cher Obediah-Blasdell after winning the United Golden Gloves Championship belt last weekend at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.
“I’ve been working on my cardio a lot so I am better for the next person I meet in the ring,” she says.
Obediah-Blasdell defeated Emma James for the belt with a unanimous decision in their four round bout.
James is a familiar opponent for her, as Obediah-Blasdell has now faced and beaten her three times, the last time at the Silver Gloves tournament.
“I was a little concerned about my energy level after I weighed in,” she says.
Obediah-Blasdell’s home scales were wrong and when she went in for her official weigh in she discovered she was actually under weight by about three pounds. She and coach Jackie Armor went out for a good nutritious meal between the weigh in and the afternoon bout to get her weight and energy back up.
“It was a great fight,” says coach Jackie Armor, of Brantford’s Black Eye Boxing Club. “Cher was showing more power in her punches.”
“I felt in charge but it was a hard fight,” reflects Obediah-Blasdell. “She came out stronger than I though she was going to. She didn’t shoot down my confidence level or anything, she was just tougher than I thought she would be.”
The win qualifies Obediah-Blasdell for the Canadian Nation’s where she won Bronze last year. Now with the United Golden Gloves Provincial Belt, it makes her the girl to beat and she will attract an even higher level of opponents. But she is up for this and any other challenge as she works her way towards turning pro.
Armor, who has been carefully directing Obediah-Blasdell’s career, is still going slow with her methodically adding more amateur championships to her resume before making the step up to the pro ranks.
“Oh, yes, I definitely want to turn pro,” she says. “So now we are just building my credentials so that when I do go pro, I will be easier to promote.”
The way things are going, that day is not far away.
