Local pro boxer is taking a jab at the history books
A 29-year-old professional boxer from Sherwood Park will be competing for a Canadian title, even though she has only been in the ring for a few years.
“Sometimes I look at it and think, ‘I’ve only been doing this for four years,’ but then I know that it’s been four hard years,” said Mikenna Tansley. “We haven’t taken our foot off the gas pedal.”
Outside of the ring, Tansley is a graphic designer.
“I’ve got two passions in life and you know, when I first started people said I’m going to have to choose between one of the other and I’ve just been trying to prove them all wrong,” said Tansley.
Tansley only has three pro fights under her belt and has fought on world-champion Jelena Mrdjenovich’s last two cards. She is now going to fight for the Canadian title in the bantamweight division.
“I’m so confident she’s going to win this title,” said John Mendonca, Tansley’s coach. “She’s going to bring back history and she’ll be the fastest girl to do it.”
Tansley will be up against Shelley Barnett from Ontario in the title fight, though it will not be in Alberta or Ontario.
“With all the restrictions because of COVID the U.S. is a little easier to fight in,” said Tansley.
The fight is set for June 19 outside Chicago and will have 2,000 people in attendance.
“It’s definitely a record-setting fight,” said Tansley. “It’s a huge opportunity and we’re really looking forward to it because we’re ready for it, we’ve prepared and we’ve trained.”
She plans to rely on defence in the fight, an important skill she said she learned while playing as a goalie in Midget AAA hockey.
She will have to take five COVID-19 tests and quarantine when she gets back to Canada. Despite that, she is excited to get to compete.
“It’s incredible, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I have the heebie jeebies,” said Tansley. “No other girls have gone out of Canada to box for a Canadian title.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.