Photo: Getty Images
A nine-year-old Black girl from D.C. recently won big at the Junior Olympics in Kansas.
According to NBC Washington, Westia Russell took home a medal at the Boxing National Junior Olympics.
Russell, known as Princess Mama in the ring, has been boxing since she was in kindergarten. The fifth grader now trains at the NoXcuse boxing gym in Prince George's County five nights a week.
“I get to beat people up without getting in trouble,” Russell said.
Russell's mom, who is a former boxer, said she wasn't surprised when her daughter picked up the sport.
“She told me that’s what she wanted to do,” she said. “She could’ve said she wanted to do anything: cheer, soccer, dance. She chose boxing.”
Lamont Roach Sr., Russell's coach at NoXcuse gym, called her a "little beast."
“Man, I'm so proud of her," Roach said. "When she first walked in at like five or six-years-old, she had her mother’s spirit on her, and I knew she was going to be a fighter.”
Russell said she hopes to make the Olympic team in boxing in the future.
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