Photo by: Jackie’s coach | Sent from: Brooklyn, NY
Aspiring boxer Jackie Geronimo is truly a timeless heroic mother figure. You could kidnap this woman and her children, put them on a fancy time-traveling bicycle, and send them to the Paleolithic era with all those big lizard birds and cave people, and Jackie would say, “Whatevs” and just handle shit. She’s going to get by and protect her babies, no matter what ancient hairy elephants or modern-day muggers and would-be rapists get in her way.
“If I can avoid it, I’ll walk away from a fight. But there are times where someone comes at me and I have to beat some butts.” Jackie talks like a real fighter—not boastful, but with a courteous tone that still says “I could whup your ass in an instant.” She is raising two beautiful children, and she speaks adamantly about the importance of being able to protect them under any circumstances. “You have to be ready for anything,” she says. “You don’t know whether a person is a fighter or if they’re crazy, but when my children are in danger, I just go into attack mode.” And when that happens, it’s watch-the-fuck-out time. Ms. Geronimo isn’t alone in her Balboa-esque quest. The rate of women joining boxing gyms in American cities rose by a stunning 27% between 2001 and 2002. Maybe women are strapping on the gloves more often because their cowardly men are too busy shuddering in the bathroom, hiding from the mailman (see page 90 for more on that).
Jackie started boxing in 2000. So far she’s only fought in white-collar matches, but she’s now training for the female division of the Golden Gloves. “I’m going to get there, and I’m going to win,” she says, and we believe her. Miss Geronimo is a picture of athletic determination. She trains five days a week at Kid Kelley’s Boxing and Fitness in Williamsburg, and is surprised how few other women are there with her. In fact, she uses one word to sum up the skinny hipster girls that have been moving into the neighborhood lately: vulnerable.