“I was expecting a bum rush, I was just thinking that this is gonna be a dogfight in the beginning.”

Boxing is a sport of toughness, determination and endurance. To become the best, you must be willing to continuously trade fierce blows and outlast the strongest of competitors. Through years of training and dedication, 28-year-old Kennedy Contreras did just that as she turned dreams into reality on March 29 in Macon, Georgia, becoming the first woman in Texas to win a championship title at the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association’s National Tournament.

Originally from Midland, Texas, Contreras’ boxing journey began over two decades ago, in her aunt’s house at age 6. Oscar De La Hoya had a big fight that night and while most of the kids just wanted to play, Contreras had something else on her mind. “I was the only child that sat there and was just completely drawn into the boxing match.”

With both her grandfather and father being Golden Gloves boxers, Contreras’ family was well-grounded in the boxing community. However, when it was her turn to put on the gloves, her father was initially hesitant about the idea.

“Being the baby girl of my family, my dad never wanted me to box. They didn’t want me to get hurt,” explained Contreras.

Contreras kept her focus on academics until her boss at the Christus Spohn Cancer Center introduced her to cardio kickboxing. That eventually led her into training for regular kickboxing; however, academics would again be prioritized as Contreras took time off from training to pursue a degree in dental hygiene at Del Mar College.

Little did Contreras know that this would only be the beginning of learning how to balance school with fighting. She found the South Texas Fight Academy in Corpus Christi and began training with mixed martial arts Coach Roger Reyes. “He really kind of upped the bar for my strength. I did kickboxing for almost four years total, and then sometime last year I met my boyfriend.”

Her boyfriend, Noe Mendoza Jr. who is now a three-time USIBA champ and 2025 USIBA Hall of Fame inductee, introduced her to the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association.

“I never knew that college boxing existed and seeing that he competed and he won and he’s still pursuing his education, that really spoke to me,” she said.

For decades, there was no college boxing, as the NCAA discontinued the sport in 1961. USIBA filled that void in 2012 to provide full-time college students with a safe and competitive boxing environment. USIBA emphasizes safety, implementing eight-second counts as well as using headgear. Contreras believes that it is important to make USIBA more publicly known. “USIBA is so important to put out there for everybody, so they know that you don’t have to stop being an athlete to go to school,” she said.

Despite training in kickboxing for years, Contreras’ training to become a USIBA national champion was still a long road.

“During fight camp, I had no days off. I would wake up very, very early trying to get some assignments out of the way, and then I would go straight to work. Right after work, I would go straight to training for about two hours.” She explained that Mendoza became her coach as it was easiest for them to keep a bag packed and train whenever they had the time. “It was very hard, but I still prioritized my education, and I feel like that’s very important because it’s a very slim chance to go pro and what am I going to have to fall back on and support myself.”

While training in 2022, Contreras had to persevere through rehab and fatigue from a separated left shoulder. She used cryotherapy treatment in her recovery.  “That helped me with my mental toughness,” Contreras said on using the negative 165-degree chamber. “It brings you to a whole nother level of what you can push your body to.”

In addition to that, she ran three to five miles a day to maintain a high stamina while recovering. All the hard work took a toll on her mentally, forcing her to decide if all of this would continue to be the right path to put her time and effort into.

“I had a bunch of talks with myself, like, can I really do this? But I knew how hard I worked. I knew how hard I wanted to be in boxing, and I wasn’t gonna let a little fatigue keep me from what I wanted to do.”

In 2023 Contreras received an associate degree from Del Mar and is currently enrolled in online classes for her bachelor’s degree while working as a dental hygienist. This would be the birth of her nickname: Tooth Fairy.

“Clean teeth by day, break them by night,” Contreras explained.

After training with her boyfriend for over a year, and over half a decade of training overall, Contreras finally got the opportunity to shine, representing Del Mar College with her first professional boxing matches at the USIBA National Championship. Fighters are split into divisions by weight and number of career fights then seeded within their division. “Being the one with zero fights, they fed me to the top city which was Illinois-Champaign,” she said.

 After a hard-fought first round battle in the 125 lb. division against the top-seeded competitor Jillian Rae Cuartero, Contreras knew that she had to dig deep and dominate the final two rounds if she wanted to earn her spot in the championship bout. “I went south paw a couple times. I saw that she wasn’t expecting me to do that, and then I used a lot more lateral movements and I just kept the pressure, my stamina helped me a lot.”

After three two-minute rounds, the judges declared Contreras the winner. “I was very happy, but I knew that the job wasn’t over, there’s one more that I still have to do and the pressure was still very high.”

After a day of resting and anticipation, Contreras stepped back into the ring for the championship match against another highly seeded opponent, Western Colorado University’s Ysabella Bellotti. With all the matches livestreamed on YouTube, Contreras was able to watch footage of Bellotti’s first fight to get an idea of what was to come. “I was expecting a bum rush, I was just thinking that this is gonna be a dogfight in the beginning,” she said.

Knowing that her opponent was aggressive, Contreras decided that she would have to step up to the challenge and match her energy. After trading shots in a closely matched first round, Contreras found a key to attack Belloti during the second round. “I knew she didn’t like the body shots, so that’s what did it.”

Bellotti eventually had enough as she refused to continue after stopping for back-to-back eight-second counts in the middle of the second round, giving Contreras her first TKO victory as well as her first championship belt. “I actually had to talk to her after, and she said that I knocked the air out of her, and she wasn’t able to get her breath back.”

This championship isn’t the end of the line for Contreras’ boxing career, but feeling accomplished, she now feels accepting of wherever the future takes her. “I would love to keep going, but, of course, with my career, I don’t know where that’s going to take me.”

She also wanted to thank the many people who supported her and encouraged her to live her dreams throughout the journey including her family, friends, and coaches along with her boyfriend, as well as the members of South Texas who extended support to her such as the University of Rio Grande Valley.

If the opportunity to go pro arises, Contreras will be committed to the call. However, until that day arises, her life as a dental hygienist will remain a priority.

“If that opportunity runs true, of course I would go,” she said. “But I love my career so much, that’s why I’m going for my bachelor’s.”

Contreras’ story is one that anyone can relate to, as overcoming mental and physical obstacles to reach your dreams is inevitable, and she wants to use it to encourage others and show that you can get an education and live your dreams.

“Just remember why you wanted to start doing it. Don’t forget your why, and yes, your education.”