ATLANTA — The sport of boxing began as a way for Duluth’s Alissa Boltz to stay in shape, but in the years since she first laced up the gloves, it has grown into something much, much bigger.
Boltz was already a highly accomplished amateur fighter around this time last year when she stumbled upon a social media promotion while preparing to run the Atlanta Marathon.
The ad sought fighters interested in trying out for the Atlanta Attack, one of 12 teams in the Team Boxing League (TBL), a first-of-its-kind team-based professional boxing competition.
As the sixth-ranked amateur fighter in the featherweight division seeking the next step in her career, it was an opportunity too good to miss.
“I went there to try out with no expectations, not really thinking I would make the team, and they ended up needing someone in my weight class,” Boltz recounts. “So I got a call about one week later after tryouts and was offered a spot on the team.”
Today, Boltz is in her second season with the Attack, which completed its first match of the season on Friday, March 27. Boltz, one of four females on the team of 16 boxers for Atlanta, used her superior reach to score big-time jabs in an eventual split decision victory over Jennifer Clausius of the Nashville Smash.
Duluth professional boxer Alissa Boltz has her hand raised in victory after defeating Jennifer Clausius of the Nashville Smash in a Team Boxing League (TBL) match on Friday, March 27 in Atlanta.
Contributed / Team Boxing League (TBL)
In the TBL, fighters compete in one or two three-minute rounds to earn points for their team, with a judges’ decision victory worth one point and a knockout or technical knockout worth four points. A total of 24 rounds compose a match.
Due to the brevity of the individual bouts, fighters must immediately engage, leaving no time for a feeling-out process.
“You don’t have that time in this league,” said Boltz. “You just have one or two rounds, so it’s a higher pace. We’re getting busy right away, as opposed to traditional boxing.”
Add in the fact that opponents aren’t prearranged like in the typical professional boxing format; the mystery adds an additional layer of complexity to each match.
“She has zero control over who she fights, and so every match is a new puzzle,” said Zach “Jungle Boy” Walters, a decorated former professional fighter who owns and operates Jungle Gym Duluth, where Boltz trains and coaches.
Boltz, originally from Dassel, a small town in central Minnesota, arrived in Duluth in 2011 to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth. While working on the west side of town, Boltz routinely passed by Lorenzi’s Boxing Gym, where her curiosity about the sport of boxing was formed.
Duluth professional boxer and Atlanta Attack team member Alissa Boltz throws a punch in this posed photo.
Contributed / Team Boxing League (TBL)
“I always had an interest in going in there, but I was like, nah, I’m kind of intimidated,” she admits. “I felt like it was just a bunch of dude fighters.”
When Lorenzi’s Gym moved to Proctor, Boltz was urged by a friend working at the adjoining HerbaLife to try out a kickboxing class. Over time, after caving in and giving it a try, her interest in actually competing began to grow.
“Eventually it’s like, yeah, I kind of want to get in the ring,” she recalls.
Under the tutelage of owner Joe Lorenzi, Boltz began sparring and eventually became skilled enough to break into the amateur ranks and qualify for nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah. She compiled over 40 amateur fights and finished runner-up in the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves competition.
It was around that same time that Lorenzi reached out to Walters about having Boltz train at his gym on Observation Hill as a way to prepare for an upcoming competition. Walters immediately came away impressed with her ability to hang with the gym’s male fighters in the same weight division.
“Wow, she’s tough,” he remembered thinking. “She can throw with the best in my gym.”
Duluth professional boxer Alissa Boltz of the Atlanta Attack shadowboxes for the camera in this posed photo.
Contributed / Team Boxing League (TBL)
Eventually, after Joe Lorenzi sold his gym in 2019, Boltz made Jungle Gym Duluth her new home. Though COVID ultimately marked the end of Jungle Gym on Observation Hill, a new opportunity quickly arose when Walters opened a 24/7 gym in a new location in downtown Duluth and invited Boltz to be the gym manager.
The position has since blossomed into coaching amateur fighters from the gym as well.
“She’s really kept the competition (side) of boxing going,” said Walters. “A few years ago, I came into a place in my life where it was difficult for me to take weekends off to travel with the team and enter the competitions and national competitions and so forth, and so she kind of filled that void for me.”
When she’s not coaching up the next young crop of up-and-coming boxers in the Twin Ports, Boltz works part-time at the Northwoods Children’s Home, where she hosts a boxing group.
“I like to be active with them and kind of just show them a path and that they can focus on as opposed to some of the struggles that they’re going through,” said Boltz. “Helping them find an outlet for that is really cool.”
While Boltz maintains Duluth as her home base and Jungle Gym Boxing her training headquarters, the professional fighter will spend the next handful of months on the road competing for the Attack with eight total fights before the league playoffs.
Duluth professional boxer and Atlanta Attack team member Alissa Boltz flexes for the camera in this posed photo.
Contributed / Team Boxing League (TBL)
The opportunity with the TBL is one that she doesn’t take for granted, as it offers her a chance to get paid doing what she loves while building camaraderie with her fellow teammates.
“It’s cool to have your team behind you cheering you on,” said Boltz. “Boxing is a kind of lonely sport. But with the team aspect, you have those other people to lean on, people to train you, train with you, and push you during training.”
Boltz and her Atlanta Attack team will return to the ring on Sunday, April 19, to take on the Miami Assassins.