Women in Motion
Jelena Mrdjenovich
On November 18th, 2005, Mrdjenovich, brought Alberta its first world boxing title when she defeated Franchesca Alcanter of Kansas City at the Shaw Conference Center in the presence of 2200 screaming fans. The winner of both the WBC and WIBF Junior Lightweight titles, the young Edmontonian has her sights set on bringing home a third world title, in hopes of becoming the undisputed champion in her class.
Jelena Mrdjenovich is not your average twenty-three year old. When it comes to learning just about anything, she’s a quick study- able to hammer away at a skill until she picks it up. After her involvement in boxing for four short years, Mrdjenovich has successfully climbed right to the top of her sport, with very few hiccups along the way. Now a superstar on the international boxing scene, the ambitious athlete holds two of the three world boxing titles for her weight class.
Mrdjenovich earned both the WBC super featherweight and WIBF super featherweight titles in November, of 2005 when she defeated Franchesca Alcanter of Kansas City, here at the Shaw Conference Center in Edmonton. Though she’d already had a dozen or so professional matches, it was the fight against Alcanter that put Jelena, and consequently Edmonton, Alberta, into the international spotlight of professional boxing.
With a work ethic second to none, the rising star doesn’t limit life’s challenges to the ring. Balancing a hectic training schedule, the young boxing champion doubles as the manager behind the helm of the Nova Hotel in the Northwest Territories, one of ten hotels in a division of her father’s burgeoning development company. Mrdjenovich, who prefers to learn through doing, enjoys the hands-on business education of her position, and much like in her sport, is a firm believer in the old adage “practice makes perfect”
Though she tries not to let her newfound notoriety go to her head, Jelena is openly amazed at the amount of media attention she has received since her big win. “It all seems surreal for me. It was funny, I was talking to some of my friends from high school and they said they never, ever thought I would be a boxer. A professional boxer with for a world title, it is unbelievable.” Still, the down-to-earth farm girl originally from Hay River has remained humble, as the list of her fans has continued to grow.
When you started, what was the most difficult aspect of boxing for you?
“Developing the co-ordination. It was hard for me to get the natural movement of boxing. There’s nothing natural about moving the way that you need to in the ring, so it’s taken some time to get used to it. My footwork is still a little slow, but I’m working on it.”
How does boxing compare to other sports you’ve been involved in?
“When I first started boxing, I knew nothing about boxing. I thought that it would be great upper body cross-training while I was rehabilitating my knee injury. I had no idea what boxing was really all about. I’ve played volleyball, basketball, soccer- boxing doesn’t compare. You need to have so much endurance. Lots of people think that they can get in the ring and throw a few punches. I’d like to see anybody hit the bag for twenty seconds, let alone the two or three minutes straight we do in training.”
What specific training, if any, has given you an advantage?
“When I first started boxing I used to do a lot of heavy weightlifting and I used to be really bulky. I found it hard to meet the super featherweight requirement of 130lbs, which is the category that I fall into now. As I’ve been boxing my body has changed a lot. I used to have a lot of unusable muscle, looked nice- but it wasn’t functional for my sport. I’ve started training in a much more functional way- doing exercises that are more boxing-specific, including more core work. Now I don’t have any problems meeting the weight requirement, my body is naturally smaller and leaner ”
What do you find to be some of boxing’s greatest challenges?
It’s tough getting in the ring and getting hit, not just physically, but emotionally. It’s really hard having somebody hit you and learning to not take it personally. That’s tough. I’ve had days that I’ll leave the gym crying. I’ve been really frustrated before too. Where you forget everything that you’ve worked on in training and you start fighting their fight.
But I love being challenged. When I first started boxing, I realized right away that boxing was going to be really challenging for me. But that’s part of what made me love it. And every time I fight there’s a new challenge. My love for boxing has really grown. It’s become more a respect/love for the sport.”
What are some of the pressures you have faced in your sport?
When I was an undefeated fighter, I went 9-0. There was a lot of pressure to stay undefeated, to keep having knockouts. I really let people influence me. That was a lot of outside pressure- my family, friends, media. I faced a really hard fighter, Layla McCarty from Vegas, very skilled, very tough. I was listening to everyone around me tell me how tough she was, how good she was. I let that get to me and ended up losing the match, because I went in under all that pressure. In boxing you can’t ever think that you’re going to lose, otherwise you’ve already defeated yourself. It’s the same with any other type of training. ”
What has changed for you after winning your world title?
“I’m not an under card fighter anymore. I’m not just the opening act so to speak- I’m the fight that people are coming to see. I didn’t expect this level of exposure and attention. It’s a little awkward for me, because I didn’t really expect it to be this way. But all the press, it’s great for women’s boxing as a whole.”
What’s next? Where do you go from here
“I want to be the undisputed champion, to have all three world titles. I have the two: both the WBC super featherweight and WIBF super featherweight titles. My goal is to defend those and to work for the third.”
What advice do you have for women wanting to be competitive in their sport?
“They say you have to love your sport to really compete in it. That’s how it is in boxing. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing- you can’t expect to compete. Boxing is my life. Between boxing and work I don’t have much free time. But boxing is my passion. I don’t do it because it pays the bills. I do it because I love it. If you love your sport and you want to be the best, then go for it. Do what you love.
