Beyond The Ropes: Alexis Proctor

Beyond The Ropes: Alexis Proctor

Alexis Proctor started her sporting life in gymnastics. But after watching a Rocky film, she made an unlikely switch to boxing. Proctor is now aiming for Olympic gold in Los Angeles.

“I started in gymnastics when I was six, and I competed in that until 2020,” Proctor told me over Zoom. “That year, I watched a Rocky movie, and I thought it was fun. I was doing Zoom gymnastics training at the time because of the Covid lockdowns. I was also playing around with my sister wrestling. But as soon as the restrictions started to lift, I found a boxing gym locally and joined that. I left that gym after two years, and I have been with my current coach ever since then.”

“It was just so vastly different,” Proctor added. “I had this group of girls that I grew up with and trained every single day with. The training was very full-on in both sports, so the transition from the side of things was very good. I just think I needed a big change. Something totally different.

“From the age of six, I had to be up at 5 am every morning, so I could train at 6:30. It was just a breakout from what I had done my whole life up to that point.”

The two worlds are so different. There is little to join the dots of a gymnast and a boxer. But for Proctor, boxing is where she feels she belongs.

“I am super competitive,” Proctor told FightPost. “Super goal-driven. It gives me something to work towards. There is nothing else like it. When you are in the ring, you flick a switch, and you are like a totally different person. You are in there to hurt someone. It sounds kind of weird, but it’s a powerful feeling.”

After just a few months, Alexis Proctor had her first fight. Alana Selak was her friend. They are still friends. Selak was also the first ever opponent for Proctor. The memories are still vivid.

“I remember it a lot because I am really good friends with the girl whom I had my first fight with. We talk about it all the time. It hit me as soon as I got to the gloving area. I saw her shadowboxing, and I thought I had to look good and do that as well. I just thought, what have I got myself into? But it was just nerves and excitement, I thought my whole body was on fire. When I got in the ring, everything kind of went blurred. All the feeling went in my body. When I went back to my corner after the first round, I could not breathe. I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. I was so exhausted. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds, we both ended up falling on the floor. My first fight was just a mess, both of us slugging it out. It wasn’t pretty or skilful. But I got through it.”

The 18-year-old, who was born in California before her family moved to Australia just a few months after her birth, has moved on since sharing the ring with her friend. Only three defeats in more than twenty fights show her potential. Already, there are many highlights for Proctor.

“Going with the Australian Youth and going to America to represent my country,” Proctor says of what moments stand out for her. “It was a crazy experience. We went to Portland and I got a really bad decision. They ended up giving me the belt as a way of an apology. It was just very weird. Even though I didn’t, that was still a big achievement for me.”

But that promising career has been put on hold since last September. A long-standing shoulder injury required extensive surgery to repair the damage.

“I had it last September, so it’s over six months now,” Proctor told me. “I’ve only just started throwing punches again. It was a big surgery. We thought it would be a 45-minute procedure, but it ended up being over four hours. It had to be stabilised, screws, bone grafting, everything was just cooked. That was a very big injury that had been with me for years. I had shoulder injuries for years. It would just pop out, and we had to keep putting it back in place all the time.

“It’s been crazy. I haven’t had an injury that has kept me out before. I have never been that injured before. It was very confronting, and I mindlessly zoned out at times. I took it day by day, but then it would hit me when I didn’t achieve a certain milestone. And not being where I should be at a certain time. I was originally going to be fighting again in April, but that’s been pushed back. So, it has been super frustrating. But it’s given me life experience from building back from literally nothing. It did allow some time for socialising and hanging out with friends, which was good, but it also showed me where I would rather be.”

Alexis Proctor is now making those tentative steps towards a ring return. “I’m hoping to start sparring again in April and to be fighting again three months from now.”

“The Olympics in 2028 is literally everything that I am working for,” Proctor says of what her long-term target is. After the Olympics, I would definitely turn pro, but that is my first goal.

“As an amateur, I want the Olympic gold medal. As a pro, going undisputed and winning all the belts. After that, I want to stay around the sport, either commentating or presenting. My dad works in sports analysis software, so I would love to bring that into the sport. Boxing is a very old-school sport, but I would eventually want to bring in what he does.”