BUJOLD ready for 2012 Olympics
By: Dameon Okposio
© Photo Courtesy Team Bujold
With looks, ability and intelligence, Mandy Bujold’s name should be on a wheaties box and after the 2012 Olympics, it just may be. Bujold continues on her trajectory towards boxing at the Olympics with a dominating performance at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Bujold earned a gold medal after defeating Columbian Ingrid Valencia with a score of 11-5 in the 51 kg (112 lbs) category on October 29, 2011.
Mandy’s story starts with her birth in a picturesque small community located along the shores of Lake Ontario called Port Hope to French speaking parents. The Bujold family moved to Moncton, New Brunswick and that’s where Mandy was raised with her two older brothers. They had a heavy bag set up in the basement which all the kids played with; unaware of how significant it would be to the youngest member of this family. The family moved to Kitchener when Mandy started grade 10 at Forest Heights high school.
Mandy’s older brother boxed for a time until work became a higher priority. Mandy took the figurative baton and at the age of 16 she headed to the Waterloo Regional Boxing Academy to get into shape at the gym everyone in area talked about. After all, it was the gym that produced great Canadian fighters like Lennox Lewis and the Vanderpools (Syd and Fitzroy). Mandy took to the training right away and she stayed committed long after people who joined at the same time stopped going.
When Mandy decided to compete, veteran boxing coach Rick Cadilha took the helm of Mandy’s training. Bujold’s first fight was at the Brampton Cup where she stopped her opponent in the second round. It was an added boost to a lady determined to do well. After high school Mandy attended Conestoga College in Kitchener and completed a two year business course. As she entered her twenties, boxing became a full time job for Mandy and as time went on she accumulated titles, four Ringside World Championships, a six time Canadian Champion and a four time Pan American Champion. She gained valuable fight experience, having fought 88 times to date and continues to improve going 14-2 in 2011.
Aside from a rigorous fight schedule, as a certified level 3 NCCP coach, Mandy teaches the “Box On Program” through Boxing Ontario at schools all over Kitchener and Waterloo. She helps out at the gym with fighters and assists at boxing shows at times as a Boxing Ontario Official. Mandy is now also working slowly on a psychology degree at the University of Waterloo. In her down time, Bujold loves to spend time with her family and travels with friends but her mind is always focused on her Olympic destination. Mandy enjoys being a world class amateur and looks towards having success at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. You can share Mandy Bujold’s journey through her website: http://www.mandybujold.com/ or in French at: http://www.troisboxeuses.com/.
Filed Under: Amateur News
Good luck champ see you in Cape Breton at the nationals
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