Mary Spencer isn’t hanging up her gloves just yet

As far as Mary Spencer is concerned, time flies quickly, so the 27-year-old Ojibwe boxer who lives in Windsor, Ont. does not mind having to wait another four years for another shot at Olympic glory.

Spencer had originally hoped to be a retired boxer by now. But things didn’t go quite as planned for her at the recent London Olympics.

The three-time world champion had been considered a medal favourite—possibly even for the gold—heading into the London games, where women’s boxing made its Olympic debut. Spencer was one of 12 competitors in the women’s middleweight (75-kilogram) division.

Following a favourable draw where she received an opening-round bye, Spencer, who moved directly into a quarter-final bout, had to register just one victory to guarantee herself a medal.
That’s because a quarter-final win would have moved her on to a semi-final. And regardless of how she would have fared there, she would have received at least a bronze medal since those two competitors who lose their semi-final bouts are both awarded a third-place finish. The two semi-final winners advance to duke it out for the gold and silver medals.
Spencer though was upset in her quarter-final bout versus China’s Li Jinzi, which was held on Aug. 6. The pair had fought twice before, in 2009 and 2010. Spencer had won both of those matches.

In London, however, Jinzi defeated Spencer 17-14 in their four-round match.

“Her game plan was something I was afraid would happen,” Spencer said of Li’s frequent holding tactics, which prevented her from mounting any sort of consistent attack. “It threw off any type of boxing I was trying to do.”

Following her loss, Spencer decided this was not the way she wanted to leave the sport. So she’s had a change of heart considering her retirement plans.

She’s now keen to represent the country once again, four years down the road at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

So how will Spencer cope having to wait that long?
“Very easy,” she said. “I think back to when we were included (in this year’s Olympics) and it feels like a week ago but it was three years ago.”

Since the next major competition she will probably enter is the Canadian boxing championships in September of 2013, Spencer is now taking somewhat of a break.
Though she is not waking up to train at 5 a.m. as she had the past few years, Spencer is still remaining active.
“I’m going to ease back into the training,” she said. “It’s nothing structured right now. But me taking a break means sleeping in and then maybe going for a run around noon.”

Spencer said there’s a good chance she will also return to her university studies soon. She was in her second year of Psychology classes at the University of Windsor in 2009 when she heard women’s boxing would be included in the 2012 Olympics.

As a result, she put her education on hold to train full-time for that opportunity.

Spencer has not registered for any Windsor classes for September. And even though she has set a goal of competing in Rio de Janeiro four years from now, she will in all likelihood return to the classroom soon.

“I’m going to be training, but there’s no reason why I can’t take some part-time classes,” she said. “Right now I’m thinking of going back in January.”

While in London, Spencer said she did not attend any of the other sporting activities that were held. Instead she spent a good chunk of her time at Canada House, mingling with other Canadian athletes and officials.
“It was a really great atmosphere,” she said of the facility.

Though she previously knew many of the other Canadian athletes who were participating at the games, two individuals she met for the first time were cyclist Clara Hughes and triathlete Simon Whitfield.

Spencer did not attend the opening ceremonies but was there for the closing ceremonies.

“It was a neat experience,” she said.

Though she was on the ground level with more than 10,000 athletes, Spencer didn’t feel she had the best seat in the house.

“The sound system was designed for the audience (in the stands) to hear it,” she said, adding that she, along with many of the other athletes, got a kick out of watching the audience and their reactions to most of the performers.

As for her favourite act at the closing ceremonies?
“I actually became a Spice Girls fan,” she said. “It was really nice to see them reunite for that show. It’s kind of surprising because I didn’t really like their music when I was growing up.”