Mischa Merz (born 1964) is an Australian

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and the owner of Mischa's Boxing Central in Footscray where she has been head coach since 2013. She became part of a pioneering cohort of female boxers when she started competing in 1998 long before women were included in the Olympics. Over the years she has been determined to help grow the female branch of the sport and has prepared and coached women and girls to enter competition as well as men.

Career

Merz won an Australian Amateur Boxing League national title in 2000 and silver in her first year of competing 1998 and in 2001 in Mackay Queensland. She resumed boxing in the Masters Division in the United States in 2009 where she won the National Women's

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

. She also won her fights at the Georgia Games and the Ringside World Championships, taking home the belt in the Masters Division at that tournament. Her last fight was in New York's famous Gleason's Gym in 2011 where she lost a close decision against Natalie Davila.

Bibliography

* ''Bruising: A Journey Through Gender'' (

Pan Macmillan Australia Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, 2000) * ''Bruising: A Boxer's Story'' (second edition) (

Vulgar Press Vulgar Press is a publishing house based in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1999, the publisher's stated aim is "the publication of working-class and other radical forms of writing". Vulgar Press publishes a number of books and magazines for ...

, 2009) * ''The Sweetest Thing'' (

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpora ...

, 2011)

References

External links

Mischa's Boxing Central

Mischa Merz's blog
Australian women boxers Australian women journalists Australian journalists 1967 births Living people Australian women painters 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian artists Place of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-boxing-bio-stub