Boxer tells of her road back to self respect

Boxer Mia St. John provided a lesson Tuesday night. It wasn't about jabbing and it wasn't about dodging. It was about love and it was given to 100 women inmates at the North Las Vegas Detention Center.

St. John, who is 12-0 with seven knockouts, is in Las Vegas preparing for a Saturday night bout at Mandalay Bay with Kelly Downey on a card led by Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad.

"I'm here to tell you that anything is possible, no matter where you came from and no matter what kind of a life you led," the 32-year-old St. John said. "You just need to accept and love yourself for who you are."

The boxer, flanked by her mother and trainer, Pete Cunningham, told the crowd that although she could die a happy person today, she suffered from feelings of unworthiness for years. She grew up in the Midwest when Hispanic people were not accepted, and she lived with a father who was an abusive alcoholic, she said. Her father introduced her to tae kwan do and boxing as a youngster.

St. John said she began drinking at 10, overdosed on drugs at 12 and ran away from home for the first time at 13.

At 20 she reached the bottom and began going back to the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings she blew off as a teenager. She also began to train again.

St. John, 5 feet 6 inches and 126 pounds, turned pro boxer two years ago.

"I found solace in fighting," St. John said. "It was a way to get my anger and my aggression out, and I thought it was better to do that in the ring than on the streets."

Although it was tough keeping sober at first, St. John said she always kept her mother's wisdom in her head. Her mom, Maria Rosales, always told her she could do whatever she wanted as long as she believed in herself. She kept that in mind while she worked on her psychology degree and she told herself that when she decided to send fight promoter Don King a letter and photo.

King called her within one week of getting her letter, St. John said. He represented her until last year.

And while St. John said she has been incredibly lucky, it's not the fame and fortune that give her happiness.

"It's living my life sober and it's doing what makes me happy," St. John said.

Chief of Detention Ken Ellingson and security control officer Patti Kitchen said St. John was just the beginning. They hope to have other motivational speakers and are preparing educational programs for their inmates.

Having a boxer speak was "a good way to start off because a lot of boxers grew up in rough neighborhoods and they made positive choices," Kitchen said. "They made positive choices in life rather than choosing an alternative path."

archive