Step 1: Acquire Coach
The last time we saw Mechelle was back in 2018 having been knocked senseless by Heather Barker back in February of 2018.
The Canadian took a full year off of boxing, stung from the loss of getting so close to winning the Canadian title, but falling short. In fact her coach, Sylvie Chouinard assumed that she would never see Mechelle back in the ring again. But in June of 2019, Mechelle walked back in to Sylvie’s Montréal-based gym. After sharing some pleasantries, Mechelle and Sylvie got down to business.
Sylvie: “So why did you come by the gym today? Want to see some old friends?”
Mechelle: “I’m here because I want to talk to you about my comeback.”
Sylvie: “Mechelle, I love you, I loved coaching you. I wish all of my students listened like you, but why would you want to come back to this?”
Mechelle: “I never told you how I started boxing, did I?”
Sylvie: “No.”
Mechelle: “Boxing came to me when I needed it. When I went off to university, I went to school in Ontario, I wanted to get away from my parents. So, York University. Good school, subpar city as it is in Toronto and they wouldn’t know culture if it hit them in the face. But, I met a boy, and he seemed super sweet, super nice. Second year of my studies, we moved in together. That’s when he showed his other side. Whenever I did something he didn’t like, he would yell at me, he would throw things at me, and he would hit me. I never felt so helpless. I was isolated from all my friends, and I didn’t know what to do. I mean I should have left him, but I didn’t know how.”
Sylvie: “I’m so sorry Mechelle.”
Mechelle: “Thanks. So, one day I went to the gym, as I usually did, but that day there was a boxing class. And it was just basic. How to throw a jab. But for the first time, I felt a little bit of confidence. So I took a class at the local gym. And it took me some time to build my confidence, but I did. Then I told some people at the gym that I needed to move to get away from my boyfriend and they dropped everything to help me move. We came in, packed everything up and moved out in like 2 hours. Never saw that lowlife former boyfriend of mine again. But if I didn’t find boxing, I could have been trapped. Boxing saved me. So I gave back to boxing. I would give everything for this sport.”
Sylvie: “I understand your passion for the sport, Mechelle. But maybe you can channel it towards becoming a referee or a judge. You were never the best boxer and you never had the most durability in the ring. Maybe if you want to come back and get a few easy wins, I can help.”
Mechelle: “No. I want to win the Canadian title.”
Sylvie: “Mechelle… do you see who the Canadian champion is right now? That girl is killer. Heather knocked you out, Virani knocked Heather out. You would be a rank underdog against her.”
Mechelle: “Well, this is what I want. Look, my boyfriend talked about our future. He’s the one. Great job, great smile, a total sweetheart. We decided that we want kids. But before we can get married and get started on that, I want to have one more try at boxing. I can’t live with myself if I just walk away. When I’m happy I gave it all, I can walk away and be a mom.”
Sylvie: “Mechelle, this is a dangerous sport, and I don’t know why you’d want to risk anything when you have so much. You have a degree, you have a good job, correct? A loving husband-to-be? Just walk away. It’s easier.”
Mechelle: “I want to live a life with no regrets. If I don’t take this chance to continue doing what I love, I’ll always regret it. One more thing? I can train full time, thanks to the support of my boyfriend. I can give you everything. Plus, you’ll get paid this way. You still are a boxing coach, correct? Or was I misinformed?”
Sylvie: “I’ll do it, because I have a feeling if I say no, you’ll find someone with less scruples than me that won’t protect you like I always have.”
Mechelle: “You always were logical, Sylvie.”
Sylvie: “We start training tomorrow.”
Step 2: Back in the Ring
Working off more than a year of ring rust was not an easy task. Working in a gym with an elite talent like Heather Barker probably helped though. By January of 2020, it was time to get back in the ring. Sylvie picked a decent, well-travelled journeywoman, hoping that a tough fight might persuade Mechelle that winning a Canadian title was impossible.
Mechelle dismantled her opponent and knocked out in 2 rounds.
enlarge
After the most emphatic stoppage win of Mechelle’s career, Sylvie decided that she wanted to keep momentum high, but she also needed Mechelle to get a decent number of rounds in. Sylvie found a tough fighter for her to face off against in a ten round contest.
Mechelle struggled at times with her opponent’s aggressive style and in-your-face attitude, but with Sylvie’s adjustments between rounds, Mechelle slowly but inexorably began to gather momentum. The late rounds become a showcase for Mechelle as she used her new favourite weapon, the uppercut (no doubt learned from sparring against the master of the Heathercut, Heather Barker) to punish the Mexican. A late knockdown confirmed the victory, although Mechelle could not get the stoppage. A unanimous decision for Mechelle confirmed her as a fighter on the rise again.
enlarge
Step 3: The Final Test
Finally in July of 2020, Mechelle would face a local opponent that had become a bit jealous of the fact that Mechelle had been gifted this second chance, and had good support from local promoters. Sofia Caron would be Mechelle last test before hopefully fighting for the title – one that had recently been vacated by Virani MacVicar.
The fight against Sofia started out poorly, as the young fighter’s aggression seemed to take Mechelle out of her gameplan. Sofia tried to rile up Mechelle by taunting and trying to make the fight an ugly brawl.
enlarge
Mechelle’s often suspect chin held up through the worst of the barrage, and uncharacteristically, Sylvie decided that the best way to win this fight was to give Sofia the brawl that she seemed to want. Sylvie also called for a tactical use of the uppercut, thinking that Sofia might be able to dish it out, but not take it.
The 4th round was a total war between the two French-Canadians, who seemed to both take this fight personally. But by the 6th round it was clear Mechelle’s cleaner punching was pulling ahead. In the 7th round, a desperate Sofia had to go for a knockdown. And that’s when she made her mistake. A well-timed right hand caught Sofia flush on the chin.
enlarge
And that was all she wrote, as Sophia collapsed to the canvas, deprived of her senses. The referee was quick to call a halt to the fight, with Mechelle declared the winner!
enlarge
Having strung together 3 victories in a row, the Canadian Boxing Federation was quick to make Mechelle one of the fighters that would fight for the Canadian title. The other, eventually would become Emma McGale.
Well looks like Emma isn’t the only one I’ll be cheering for in this fight, both her and Mechelle have good reasons for winning the Canadian title.
Her and Emma really are the same, both suffering from hard defeats but wanna try t prove they are worthy for a title which will be happening soon. This fight is gonna be hard to watch, yeah I still obviously want Emma to win but Mechelle I can’t really cheer against her, why you make this hard on us?! ?
Speaking of Mechelle glad that she’s been back in the ring again and has been doing well, she might not have a good chin like Emma and V but she has a nice uppercut! Don’t know if I said this before about her but she really reminds me of Virani, really because of the hairstyle, V had something similar to it the first time I saw her. But you can tell there’s a difference.
But anyways best of luck to both ladies in the upcoming fight ?
Well it was my intent to make this a fight between two ‘good girl’ characters. So I succeeded there I think :D.
Her and Emma do share a lot of similarities, and so we have a battle between two very similar fighters. That means it could be a very close fight upcoming.
Pretty is a good word to describe this warrior. She’s elegant! I believe she looks better than before, with your current light set being a good fit for her style. I like the red and black colour scheme as well. It’s a match.
Sylvie’s response to Mechelle coming to her with a hunger to fight is reasonable, if a tad harsh. Boxing is dangerous and while you may not need it, you may still want it.
The harsh part is when she presents the defeat to Heather, and the Swan’s subsequent loss as “I don’t see you winning the belt”. Independently of who’s the title holder, you make champions by backing fighters who have that self-belief, and there are plenty of people who never get that backing in boxing gyms. Emma’s devastating knockout by Tanille could have been seen as a career-ender, but now she’s back in the game with a shot at the title. With a little help, so is Mechelle.
Speaking of that, she makes a good case for herself by having “absorbed” Heather’s uppercut to make it a key part of her game plan. Three tests and she’s there after dispatching Sofia. Sometimes, boxing is counter-intuitive. Giving an opponent what they’re looking for might just be the solution to smash them to bits. Poor Sofia learns that lesson the hard way.
My fave render is, without a doubt, the victorious pose at the very end. Mechelle’s wink is oh-so lovely ?
Well they don’t call her ‘The Average Looking Warrior’ do they? :D. I agree that her colour scheme adds a lot to her and helps ‘The Pretty Warrior’ live up to that name.
Sylvie is a very pragmatic coach. She knows that boxing is a cruel sport, even though it is her profession. She wants Mechelle to know that this isn’t a fairtale, and even if she wins, she’ll endure a lot of hurt. And not even just in the fights, but sparring etc. It’s a lot. As Sylvie says – Mechelle has a lot to look forward to, why fight? It’s not like she seems desperate for money.
The similarities between Emma and Mechelle are there, and they’ve both come back from big losses to prove that losing isn’t the end of their story.
I think Mechelle might have learned a bit of that uppercut from Heather. Maybe Sylvie is the Canadian uppercut master 😀