Assistant
boxing coach Michael Elizondo, left, holds mitts while Marvin Allen throws a
left punch during the Aug. 18 Booyah Boxing class at the Cherokee Nation Male
Seminary Recreation Center in Tahlequah, Okla. PHOTO BY JAMI CUSTER


By JAMI CUSTER
Reporter

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Booyah Boxing and Dog Pound Fight Academy are expecting to host a second “Night at the Fights” Sept. 25 at Sequoyah Schools’ old gym, but this time fighters from other gyms will be competing.

The event, which begins at 6 p.m. and is free to the public, will host 12 to 15 female and male bouts as well as a demonstration from advanced fighters.

Booyah Boxing instructor Melissa Drywater said her fighters have trained hard for the event, working on conditioning, sparring and foot work.

“I want my fighters to be in tiptop condition,” she said. “We’re going up against Haskell Indian School, Anadarko, Tulsa and Owasso Boxing, just to name a few.”

Drywater said for the previous “Night at the Fights” in May, she had a difficult time finding boxers to fight against her students.

“We had to go up against our sparring partners, but everyone did excellent and most everyone hadn’t been in front of a crowd,” she said. “I was very pleased with the skill level that my boxers demonstrated. I know they can really box, but they need competition. They need to be up against somebody from a different school with a different training style.”

Drywater said she received positive feedback after the bouts from people interested in boxing and volunteering.

“I have been getting e-mails and phone calls from all kinds of people…who didn’t feel comfortable training with a male coach,” she said. 

Paula Soap, a new female boxer, has been training with Drywater for the past month.

“People like Paula Soap, she has fought in the tough man contest in the women’s division and won the last four or five fights in a row, and they told her she can’t do it anymore. But she’s 41 and she still wants to compete, and I think that’s awesome,” Drywater said. 

Also new to Drywater’s team is assistant coach Michael Elizondo, who said he has boxed most his life and still has much to offer.

“I just recently retired from school from being an art teacher for 15 years, so now I have time to get back into the boxing world,” Elizondo said. “After reading the story about her (Drywater), I contacted her and set her up with a few boxers I knew. I’m here to give her a good hand and as a hobby for myself.”

Drywater said she and Elizondo are on the same page when it comes to training.

“He has a lot of knowledge to offer, and our boxers are going to benefit from his experiences and training methods,” she said. “Our fighters will be more polished and better prepared for September.”

Drywater said she is also trying to acquire a Cherokee Nation Community Organization Training and Technical Assistance grant, which will help her fund her program as a non-profit. She said she created a board of directors and wrote her bylaws, but getting the grant could take a year.

Because her boxers need additional space as well as ring training, Drywater is relocating her program Sept. 1 from the tribe’s Male Seminary Recreation Center in Tahlequah to the Park Hill Community Center.

“We’re going to set up the ring, bring in all the bags and free weights. It’s just going to be a fight training camp with not only boxing, but Muay Thai kickboxing as well as a women’s self defense/rape prevention class and Brazilian Jujitsu,” she said. 

Drywater said she was unsure of membership costs, but had to charge because she has to pay rent on the facility, which is located in a renovated schoolhouse near the Cherokee Heritage Center. 

“I want it to be affordable, and I want my fighters to be well-rounded. They need the right kind of training, and here (recreation center) isn’t it,” she said. “I am very creative, and I have been working around it. But my fighters have advanced, and I kind of feel like I’m not giving them what they deserve and what they’ve earned. So we need to take it to the next level, and they need to be in the ring and get in there with some top contenders and see where they’re at.”

jami-custer@cherokee.org • (918) 453-5560