Golden Girl Fany Martinez dreams of the Olympics

By Gabriel Cruz – El Universal

Being the “Golden Girl” of Mexican boxing is a nickname given to  Fany Martinez by her Dad.

Fany earned fame in amateur boxing,  notching more than a hundred wins, so some are mighty cautious of fighting her!
Actually, she is still a fourteen year old girl, but she has been training   for seven years with the cherished  dream of representing Mexico at the Olympic Games… just one step on the road to becoming a  World Boxing Council champion. It`s an aim and  a hope that no one will snatch away from her.
Not even the environmental contingency caused by the coronavirus,  has been able to stop Fany, on her roller coaster adventure, as she`s converted her home into a boxing gym!

“Following the recommendations to stay at home I`m doing my workouts at home, training two hours a day so as not to lose shape.”

Fany`s remarkable maturity, is firmly geared to her planned objective.  “The routine has changed because I don’t have a coach to correct my mistakes, so I do more physical conditioning and I combine it with the bag and exercises that help me for the day I return to the gym, so as not to lose strength and speed.”

Simultaneously Fany has inescapable obligations  like school, which she currently absorbs at home . “I take classes on the computer from 11 to 12:30, in addition to doing the exercises that have been left at school.
It`s not  difficult, and an important ethic,  because if you go to school to relax you will not learn. I must also do well academically because if I do badly at school, then  I lose boxing.”  Her favorite subjects are  Spanish and physical education.
Though nothing comes close to touching her passion for boxing:  “I think it has helped me to be a responsible and disciplined person, who helps at home and in the family business. I don’t care about sacrifices, the time has come to do other things. For  now I am one hundred percent focused on my family, on the sport I love and on my studies. ”

Fany wants to specialize in Marketing or become a vet explaining: “Time will give me the answers in choosing  my destination.”

It will not be long to “Children’s Day”,  and yes, she`s looking forward to it commenting:   “It is a very special day for me. All children like it because we receive gifts, we spend with our friends, we play and there are many activities. This time it will be different and I plan to celebrate with my dad, training and whatever we can think of, having fun.”

Being the “Golden Girl” means everything: “Whenever I am in a fight they cheer  for me, and it`s a great motivation to seek victory, I know that I am an example for the children who follow me and I want to show them that whatever they  desire they can achieve.

“Don`t  forget that you`re too young for an excess of responsibility, but do not avoid it either. I am 14 years old and I am not afraid to be a reference. Now I know that all the sacrifices I make in my training and this has served me well, I want to share that everything is possible in life and our greatest rival is sometimes ourselves. Don’t stop dreaming.”

FANY IN BOXING

During her seven years as a boxer Fany has seen the sport grow, but she wants more. “Women’s boxing has improved in many ways and I feel it is simply because we women strive in the same way as men. We have discipline and we put on a good show looking to be someone in boxing.”

Before becoming a professional, Fany would like to go to the Olympic Games and seek a gold medal for Mexico:  “after that I would seek to be a professional, but with better sports support and more experience.”
And she does not want to achieve the dream of boxing alone, so she is about to open her own gym.

“It is a project that was stopped by this  contingency.  But it will be a gym and boxing school for boys and girls from 7 to 14 years old, with the intention of receiving the attention they do not have in traditional spaces. Teach them how to stand, learn to throw punches, the types of blows and the basis for loving boxing.

“I just ask them to like it, use strategy and exercises so they don’t get bored. Boxing does not make people violent, but frees them. It gives them confidence and security to achieve what they want in life and in sport. Boxing  has made me very disciplined and a confident girl. I won`t give up.  I want to succeed in life and in boxing.”