“Havanna slipped an overhand right and countered with the straight right herself, knocking her mouthpiece clean out of the ring. First time I’ve seen one fly that far, so that was kind of cool,” he said.
“The referee thought that Brijhana knocked Havanna’s mouthpiece out, so there was a little bit of confusion there. Havanna started figuring her out a little bit. She weathered the storm and she started to land punches. Havanna landed as many punches on her as Brijhana did on Havanna, so she exposed some chinks in her armour. It was pretty exciting to see that.”
Holding her own against a boxer of Epperson’s calibre gave Havanna confidence she can step into the ring with anyone and have a chance to win.
“I’ll take a fight with anybody, you know? If you can get in with the best girl in the world, I’ll get in with anybody.”
Quenten also praised Havanna’s mindset heading into the fight, calling it “absolutely amazing.”
“Most people wouldn’t have taken this fight. We had coaches from the United States coming up to me and saying, ‘That was amazing. We’ve never seen anybody compete with her.’ I had the opportunity to watch Brijhana in Thailand when we were there boxing. I watched her four times, and Havanna’s the first one to have exposed any chinks in her armour.”
“Epperson’s a super-solid competitor. Comes from a really great family, really good boxing pedigree. She’s got amazing footwork. Just the fact that Havanna was able to rise to the occasion, weather the storm — I mean, this is a feather in her cap.”
Havanna said the biggest lesson she took from the fight was the importance of staying relaxed.
“Finding the right mindset going in. I’m just continuing to get better and better every fight. I’m just sharpening my skills in every way, mentally, physically, and I’m constantly learning.”
Havanna will take some time off before returning to the ring Oct. 18, when she welcomes Colorado’s Braylynn Ramirez to Meadow Lake.
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