A former ice skater takes up boxing despite disapproval from family and her male counterparts, saying it hardens her resolve.
By ERIK JACOBS
Published August 11, 2004
HOLIDAY - Since 14-year-old Kaleigh Patri started boxing in early June at Magnum Boxing in Holiday, her trainer Jack Frissina has started telling the other guys in the gym, "Hey, you had better look out, this girl is going to kick your butt."
Kaleigh usually responds in a quiet, confident manner: "Yeah, bring it on."
Kaleigh started training as a figure skater when she was 4 years old, performing double axels and wearing sequins, her sights set on competing in the Olympics. She decided to give up skating two years ago, though, and recently opted for sweaty gloves and uppercuts.
"There is something about physical sports that gets my energy up. It is exciting," explains Kaleigh.
"I think Kaleigh has a lot of aggression," says her mom, Perinda Patri, who supports Kaleigh's boxing despite objections by the teen's father, grandmother and uncles, who say it will "ruin her pretty face."
Perinda Patri tells a story about one trip to a soccer game with Kaleigh.
"Mom, want to know what my goal for the game is?" she recalled her daughter asking.
"What?" Perinda said she responded, thinking maybe Kaleigh wanted to score four or five goals.
"To get a red card and get kicked out of the game," Kaleigh said.
Perinda Patri believes that boxing has given her daughter an outlet to get rid of her aggression.
"She also likes to be able to do the same things a boy can do," Perinda Patri said. Kaleigh admires Laila Ali as a prominent figure in a male-dominated sport.
Kaleigh admits that there are probably some guys who think that she shouldn't be boxing, but she says it only strengthens her resolve.
"I have to work twice as hard because they don't think I can do it," said Kaleigh, who is about to start ninth grade at River Ridge High School.
In the next year, Kaleigh plans to try softball, ice hockey and weight lifting in addition to soccer, volleyball and boxing, in which she already participates.
She wants to be the first person in her family to graduate from a four-year college and still hopes to compete in the Olympics and be famous.
"I'd like to be a doctor, too," Kaleigh added as an afterthought.
