the great milestone of the Catalan boxer Tania Álvarez

CastellbisbalPum, pum, pum. A punchy Charlie brand punching bag hangs from the gym’s ceiling. Double training session from Monday to Friday. And another session on Saturday. In the mornings, at the gym; in the afternoon, cardio. That’s when he doesn’t have a fight in sight: then training is seven days a week. Tania Álvarez is only 21 years old, she misses sweet food and since she was 14 she has been going back and forth from Sant Esteves Sesrovires to Castellbisbal. At 18, it didn’t take long to get his driver’s license. I used to have to take the train and bus to get to the gym. “We all know how Renfe goes… I had to make a connection with a bus that passed every hour, and when the train was late, I missed the bus…”, he explains without losing his smile.

The same smile with which she responds to those who cannot imagine that a girl who weighs just under 60 kg can be a boxer. And not just any one: she is the first in Catalonia and the whole of Spain to compete at Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of boxing. He did it in the featherweight category. With only seven bouts as a professional and eight more as an amateur, Tania Álvarez has already become a reference in this sport.

In February he arrived at the New York meet undefeated. It’s burning stages fast. There, however, he lost for the first time as a professional. Australian Skye Nicolson, 27 years old, Olympian and with the experience of almost 200 amateur fights, prevailed in ten rounds. He used his experience. Despite tasting the bitterness of defeat for the first time, Tania takes it as a learning experience. In retrospect, she was in awe of this experience. “Seeing your name on the Madison sign, the press conferences, the atmosphere, the people who recognize you on the street and stop you… I remember a fan who came with a small boxing glove for him to sign,” he says excited as she opens her eyes wide, as if she wants to transport herself back to those days.

“She competed very well, but this fight came too soon for her. Anyway, it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. If she remains as consistent and persevering as she is, she can really fight to be champion Europe and who knows if the world. She is very strong mentally, and disciplined,” explains Toni Moreno, her trainer and owner of the Castellbisbal Gym, where she has been practicing boxing for 21 years.

Boxing Management, Tania’s representation company, was the one who offered her to compete against Nicolson. The seven consecutive victories as a professional had placed him in the top ten worldwide, despite its short career. The doors of Madison were opened to him, the experience he needed to make it clear that, despite the sacrifices – strict diet, non-negotiable training and rest – he will fight with all his strength to make a career as a professional.

The passion for boxing came to him almost by chance. At the age of 14 and after trying several sports, her mother signed her up, along with her brother, who is two years younger, for lessons in this sport: “I didn’t want us to be doing nothing.” First, no contact. All three signed up. “I didn’t know anything about boxing. The only thing, the Rocky movies – he smiles -. But I loved it and wanted to continue. What I like most is that it leaves me exhausted. Don’t ask me why, but I enjoy it when the sport pushes me to the limit. The first time I took the gloves off, my hands and arms were shaking.”

The meteoric rise of Tania Álvarez

In 2019, he started competing as an amateur. In October 2021 he already entered the professional circuit. In 2023, the fight at Madison Square Garden. A film career. Without being afraid of the pain involved in a contact sport like this. “I’m not afraid of getting hit. When I said at home that I wanted to fight, my father locked me in the room and spent three hours showing me news of injuries and sequelae from boxing. In the my mother didn’t like it either, especially so that I didn’t distract myself from my studies – at the time, I was in high school – but I didn’t pay much attention to them. I started competing and kept getting good grades.” Now they have their necks down that this is what their daughter wants to do: “They see the enthusiasm with which I do it and how involved I am.”

Tania is taking an online nutrition course because it allows her flexibility with her schedule, and she works Saturdays at the gym’s front desk to make some money to help support her passion. His parents also help him financially. What is most difficult for him, however, is having to follow a strict diet. “After boxing, what I like most is cooking. But now I have to do it for others,” she explains as she carries a bag almost as big as herself on her back, where she keeps her gloves and her clothes training We just talked, but he hasn’t left the gym yet. Before that, she will shoot a collaborative video for an organization fighting breast cancer. “Tania competes in pink, and we thought we could help them,” explains her coach. She is 21 years old and is a reference for many girls in the gym. In and out of the quadrilateral.