A former Blackburn Media personality will soon be enshrined as a contributor to women's boxing.
Kara Ro, who dominated in the ring as a women's lightweight champion, and has since been a trainer, ring announcer, and boxing commentator, will soon take her place in the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame. She will be enshrined in Las Vegas in April 2025.
Ro, whose real name is Kara Rheault, told WindsorNewsToday.ca that she got into the sport by accident. She came to Windsor from her native Sudbury to play volleyball at the University of Windsor and began training with a Windsor Spitfire player she had been dating.
"I remember suggesting to him, 'Hey, some of your teammates go boxing to get stronger, get tougher on the ice, be comfortable fighting on the ice, maybe it's something we should look into'," said Ro. "And we went and started at Border City Boxing in Windsor, and it kind of went from there."
Ro, who is also an occasional radio host and worked on the "Mitch and Kara" show at Windsor's Country 95.9 FM a decade ago, developed a reputation as a competitor in the ring. Classified as a women's lightweight, she went 18-0 in competition between 2002 and 2011. In 2005, she was the world's women's lightweight champion.
When it came to training, Ro said there weren't a lot of differences in regimens for men and women, except a glaring one.
"You don't have a plethora of women necessarily in the gym, and so, oftentimes you're just working with men daily," said Ro. "So, I always felt that I had to work harder, and I'm not saying the guys didn't work hard, but I felt that you never really came out of training."
Injuries caused Ro to retire from active boxing in 2011, a year before women's boxing became a regular Olympic event. Windsor native Mary Spencer competed for Team Canada at the 2012 London Olympics.
As far as the health benefits go, Ro said there are plenty, both physical and psychological.
"I think it just empowers people when they go through boxing, and they go through boxing workouts. You just feel better after," said Ro.