A softball player turned boxer, Columbus high schooler Jaden Jimenez has embraced a sport that turned her into a national champion.
The 17-year-old is ranked third in the nation for her age and weight group. She started boxing when she was 9 years old but quit for a few years before restarting when she was 12. Her mom, who was a boxer, helped her get back into the sport.
“She told my big brother and me to come and we would work out,” she said. “And then also, whenever I quit, me and my family were big Canelo Álvarez fans, so we would watch him. And then I just realized, like, I thought that was cool, so I wanted to start up again.”
One of her coaches, Seth Caffee, seeing her talent and work ethic, urged her to compete. She won her first match on her 15th birthday and went on to win three Indiana State Silver Gloves Championships. Last month, she defeated the number one girl in the country in the national semifinals in Washington D.C. She lost the title bout, earning a silver medal. Her record stands at 12-3.
“It was a hard process,” Jaden said. “Like there was days where I wanted to really quit and I didn't feel as good as the other people, but honestly, I was comparing myself to boys, and it was way harder, but I pushed through it. I built my mindset and my is mentality strong, so I just kept on, and I really love it now…I got beat up, I cried and bled and puked a lot, and then you just get used to it, and now it's just like, whatever.”
She spars with guys. Caffee says there aren’t any females in the state at her weight class who can compete with her.
“We have to literally travel out of state just for her to compete, because her skill level’s growing so rapidly,” he said. “She's got some teammates in this gym that she spars with. She does work with the newer young ladies that are coming along. So, I think we're about to have another group of little Jadens, and that's the most beautiful aspect about it, right? When you're working with youth, if you reach one, you teach one, and then, if you're lucky, they reach younger people, and that's what we get with Jaden. So, she does spar with some of the newer girls, helping them learn, and she spars with our highly competitive boys. I've seen her send boys out of the gym with bloody noses.”
Jaden will be competing this weekend at the Silver Gloves Regional Tournament in Elkhart, where the competition will include state champions from Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In training, Caffee says they focus on cardio and being more aggressive.
“Right now, we're just trying to sharpen skills, game plans, being able to execute things in the ring that we see or that we work for, and then doing it,” he said. “In boxing, you have a very, very short window. Boxing will teach you more about life than any other sport, because when you get hurt, there is no time out. If you're tired, you can't have a substitution. It's just like going to work. You still have to go to work.”
Jaden’s dad, Francisco Jimenez, said he didn’t expect Jaden to become a boxer, but is proud of how far she has come. She used to work at Target, but he let her quit so she could focus on boxing.
“One thing about my daughter is that, you know, she puts in 110 percent and I'm excited where she is now,” he said. “I had a talk with her, and she got all support, 110 percent from mom and dad, talked to her about if she doesn’t need to work as long if she put in the work and shows us that this is what we're going to do. And she just got to give us results from the sport.”
Even though traveling around the state for competitions is expensive, her dad said the sacrifices, including working long hours at his barber shop, are worth it.
“I work[ed] on the 25th, the first, the 31st, so there is no holiday for that,” he said, “but I'm willing to do all this because I know that she wants it. I can see that. I can see that she really wants to put her name up there.”
Jaden’s dad said he’s not worried about his daughter getting punched in the face. He knows how tough she is.
“I know she's strong, so I don't think about her being in a risk of any kind,” he said. “I don't think she's going to get hurt.”
When Jaden tells people she’s a boxer, they also ask about her face.
“They're like, ‘Oh my gosh. Are you not scared you're going to mess up your pretty face?’” she said. “They always tell me I don't look like a boxer either. And then guys my age, like they're dumb, so they're just going to be like, oh, I bet I could beat you up and stuff, but it's funny.”
Caffee said Indiana is not a boxing stronghold but is surrounded by boxing meccas like Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky, the home state of Muhammad Ali.
“Most of your boxing gyms are not businesses,” Caffee said. “It's just people who love helping kids and providing life skills. And it's really booming. And then Indiana has had some success in the last few years with some of our youth boxers. And then when you get kids who are good kids, and they respond well and they lead by example, it makes other kids get interested.”
By representing her family and her state, Jaden hopes boxing will continue to grow.
“I hope I can do more to make sure that Indiana stands out, and I hope boxing can grow in Indiana,” she said. “And I hope I'm making my family and my team proud.”
If Jaden wins the tournament this weekend, she will compete in the National Silver Gloves competition at the end of February. She’s also considering competing in an all-women’s tournament in Colorado in March and the Junior Olympics in the summer.
“I hope to become an Olympian, and I want to become pro,” she said. “I really want to become someone big that can inspire little girls to become something great.”
