Female boxer Lena Taylor, 28, of Orlando has a different attitude and mindset than when she hung up her boxing gloves in 2006; she wants to make an impact on her community.
“I want to be someone who spreads that unity in the community,” said Taylor. “I feel like in my [minority] community we’re missing that,” Taylor said.
“It was something that I saw as I was traveling in boxing, I was like ‘this country is very connected, this group of people is very united, and then I came back home and I was like something’s not right,’” Taylor said. “So I started to do a lot of research and understanding who I was and just the history of the people I grew up with and I realized that’s what we are missing.”
Taylor, who grew up in Pine Hills and attended Boone and Jones high schools, says that when she turned professional at the young age of 18 she was fighting out of obligation.
“It was something I had been doing so long…I didn’t really have a vision,” Taylor said.” I was an athlete, I like to compete and I like to win and I think I would have been good at any sport that I played.”
“I had to actually choose between soccer, karate, or boxing. I end up choosing boxing because of the family that built around the boxing team,” explained Taylor.
Taylor had a very impressive amateur career, winning four gold medals. One at the Junior Olympics at the age of 15 in Fort Lauderdale, another at the first women nationals in Spokane Washington, a third at the PAL tournament in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a fourth in the first men’s and women nationals in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Taylor made the cover of the USA boxing magazine; a milestone in the fight for women’s boxing to be in the Olympics.
Soon after, Taylor turned pro at 18 and she went on to win two fights; stepping away from boxing at the age of 20 with a 2-0 record according to fightsrec.com. Her promoter for those two fights was none other than the infamous, Don King.
“It was pretty good for me starting off…It was exciting,” Taylor said. “But I’m the type of person who’s been around the block a time or two and things don’t impress you as much. It was really interesting to be in Don King’s office at 18 years old, I’m like ‘wow’ but I was just run up.”
During Taylor’s hiatus away from boxing, she attended Valencia College and the University of Central Florida, and then she finished her last year of college at American InterContinental University in Schaumburg, Illinois where she received a Bachelors degree in business.
At 21, Taylor was a former professional boxer with a degree in business. She then spent four years refereeing basketball; one of her passions is basketball.
But, boxing was never too far away from Lena’s mind; she is now focused on having a successful comeback and finishing strong.
“It was always in the back of my mind, and I couldn’t see past boxing yet,” said Taylor. “When I visualize my future, all I can see was boxing…my mind is made up that I want to finish, I gotta finish.”
Taylor won her first comeback fight in a technical knockout against Shaley Joanne Alvarez in two rounds in Paget, Bermuda, in Jul. 11, 2015 according to BoxRec.com.
“It was good to get my feet wet, getting the nerves out, to realize how I feel when it’s that time and to feel my power again” said Taylor. “I feel like I was stronger at 17, but now I feel like I have women power. I can definitely feel the difference in the way I hit now than when I was 17.”
Robert “Shihan” Rene, Taylor’s coach and manager, the man who got her started in boxing, says the difference between a 20 and 28-year-old Lena Taylor is maturity.
“Because of the maturity of her mind she feels that she can deliver more power because she feels a lot more secure, a lot more mature,” said Rene. “That has a lot to do with how a person feels at that stage of their life in terms of their self-esteem.”
“She has a different attitude, there’s a different mindset because of her goal and what she is trying to establish,” said Rene. “She realizes at this age that it’s now or never.”
Taylor won her last fight on Nov. 7, 2015 against Kandyce Williams and she is now 4-0.
Photo Courtesy of BMB Promotions
