Lia Lewandowski: “I’m ready to come back better than before.”

Lia Lewandowski: “I’m ready to come back better than before.”

Lia Lewandowski was cruising along in her boxing career. The super-flyweight prospect turned professional in 2024 and was unbeaten in three fights heading into the new year. Lewandowski told me last September, “The endgame is to be number one in the world.” Lofty ambitions, but the American was seemingly moving in the right direction to achieve that goal.

Lewandowski headed into Atlantic City and her latest fight earlier this month against Indeya Rodriguez, and was widely expected to remain unbeaten. But Rodriguez didn’t read the script, and caused the major upset by outpointing Lewandowski over six rounds.

After losing her unbeaten record, Lewandowski is now in a period of reflection, trying to find out what went wrong. “Once I’m back in the gym, there’s definitely a number of things I need to work on to prevent this outcome from happening again against an opponent like her,” she told me. “It’s a combination of strength, cardio, but most importantly, I think it’s a matter of training my eyes better and really seeing what my opponent is throwing at me so that I can be more technically sound.”

Defeat can be an extremely lonely place. Fighters lose in the amateur ranks, but a setback as a pro can carry a whole different meaning, where an unbeaten resume is so important to some. “My first professional loss felt immensely different from any amateur loss I’ve faced,” Lewandowski says. “Since professional boxing is now my career, it’s not something to be able to brush off easily, since every small detail can affect your paycheck at the end of the day. At the same time, it is what it is, and I can’t let it stop me from obtaining my end goals. I spent the following week catching up with family and friends that I haven’t been able to see much during the fight camp, and it’s been a nice reset before I get back in the motion. Defeat is definitely a lonely experience, but for once, I decided to put myself above all else and take a step away from social media for a few days despite the pressure from everyone to see how I’m doing and wanting your word on the situation. In this sport, everyone wants to be with you every step of the way, which I love and respect, but a moment for oneself really helps to keep grounded before being ready to jump right back in. I can’t change the results, but after some reflection in solitude, I’m ready to come back better than before.”

Despite the end of her unbeaten start to life as a professional boxer, Lewandowski still believes that she will reach the pinnacle of her sport. “A defeat can definitely cause one to have self-doubt, that’s for sure. But many undisputed world champs have a few losses under their belts as well. It makes me think that maybe it’s better to have this loss early in my career so that I can use that pain to fuel me even more so that I can make sure it doesn’t happen again. Having a loss is an awful feeling, but I now have a motivation in me that I haven’t had before.”

Lewandowski might have to take a bit of a detour now. A gentle rebuild, and another fight with Indeya Rodriguez is already in her thoughts. “I would absolutely love a rematch in the future,” Lewandowski relayed to me. “My opponent was a great fighter, but I do believe I can defeat her. She has a ton of experience over me and has faced many great opponents, and even then, it was a close fight between us. Just some fine-tuning will do the trick.”

There are no excuses from Lia Lewandowski. Only a determination to put things right. “I’ll be right back in the gym and working on every weakness I had before, so I can assure it won’t happen again, even if that means changing up my entire craft. Whether a win or a loss, the plan stays the same, and it’ll be just another day in the office.”