This rising boxing star is headed to Mexico to train with top competition

Suri Pafford may only be 14, but she packs a punch. She has big career aspirations, and she's doing whatever she can to make them a reality.  

The teenage boxer from Quispamsis is headed to Mexico in January for the Adelita Championship, and she will stay there for another month to train with elite competition. 

"Honestly just to get a different experience, like different coaching styles, different boxing styles," said Pafford. "I think it would … make me perform better."

Pafford describes her boxing style as patient, but explosive. Last year she won her first gold medal at the Brampton Cup in Ontario, and has travelled to international competitions in Ireland and Mexico. 

Between boxing training, strength and conditioning, and running, she says she spends 11 hours training each week. It makes for a rigid schedule. She does her homework right after she gets home from school, and then goes to train, mixed in with some off days to hang out with friends. 

Pafford's coach, Chris Peters, says she has an advantage over lots of other athletes her age. Since she was six, she's been doing strength and conditioning training. 

"Suri's got, definitely, some great potential," said Peters, owner of East Coast Boxing & Performance Center in Saint John. "She's years ahead of most, to be quite honest."

She realized about four years ago that she really wanted to put the time into her boxing career, and now she's dreaming big. She wants to make Team Canada, and then be part of Canada's Olympic team. But she says just training isn't enough. 

She often goes to Nova Scotia to train, because there is more competition there. In Saint John, there are only a few boxing gyms nearby, and there aren't enough women at her level that she can fight against. 

"There's not many sparring partners … so that's kind of tough for me to get training in," said Pafford. 

She's picked up some wins at the international competitions she's been to, and even defeated a two-time Irish national champion.

"They were pretty good. I gained a lot of experience from it, just getting to know different boxing styles from different countries," said Pafford. 

Peters says female boxing is fairly new, and still gaining popularity, compared to places like Europe. The most recent Canada Games, hosted by Prince Edward Island in 2023, was the first time women's boxing was included in the event.

It's one of the reasons Pafford is going to spend a month in Mexico in the new year. She's one of three athletes from the East Coast Boxing & Performance Center who will stay in the country for a month, but the other two are in their 20s, says Peters.