On March 28, Ronica Jeffrey, former IWBF World Super Featherweight champion, will make her debut with the NYC Attitudes of Team Combat League (TCL). The Brooklyn native is making her return to the competitive ring after five years. Despite not having bouts, Jeffrey has not been away from boxing.
“I’m also a personal trainer at a boxing gym, so I’m always boxing,” said Jeffrey, who works at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. “I have a trainer myself and he has amateur fighters, so he’s always asking, ‘Can you work with my girl?’ Even though my last professional fight was in 2019, I’m always in the ring.”
TCL teams include male and female boxers. Each match consists of 18 three-minute rounds, with each round scored individually with additional points added for knockouts and knockdowns.
Jeffrey said a number of actors train at Gleason’s Gym. In season’s past, the “Real Housewives of New York City” television show featured cast members working out at a boxing gym, and Jeffrey let it be known she is available to film if asked. “Bring them my way; I will get them together real quick,” she said.
Her own entry into boxing came in her early 20s when she wanted to change her body. Growing up in a West Indian family—Grenada and Trinidad—she fully enjoyed traditional food. “The plate is very full,” she recalled. “I wanted to feel better in my body—how I wore my clothes and how I felt about myself. Also, it was a way for me to challenge myself.”
As part of her weight loss journey, a friend brought her to a boxing gym, where she felt happy finding a means of protecting herself. She fell in love with the technical nature of boxing and acquiring new skills was exciting. As she improved, her trainer suggested she try fighting competitively, and Jeffrey figured why not. It went well, and she’s ready to give it another go with TCL.
“Once again, it’s the challenge of something different and actually being a part of something new that has to do with boxing,” Jeffrey, 41, said. “It makes me feel like my very first time when I wanted to challenge myself and see what I’m capable of. That brings a sense of empowerment. It’s something I can share with other women and give to other women who would look up to me. We all need to test ourselves.”