Anchorage youth boxer finishes first at Junior Olympics

For the second time in less than a decade, an Alaskan has emerged victorious at the Junior Olympic Boxing Championships. And for the first time in state history, the champion is a young woman.

Last week, 14-year-old Maliyah Schmid and two of her teammates from the Alaska Boxing Academy set out to make a name for themselves and put the boxing community in the Last Frontier on the map at the national tournament.

Schmid etched her name in the record books after a dominant showing that resulted in her winning her third national championship, the most significant title of her promising young career thus far.

Schmid did so with her uncle and head coach, David Carey, in her corner instructing her and cheering her on.

“I was a proud uncle and a proud coach at the same time,” Carey said. “It felt really good because I know the sacrifices she had to make.”

[Trio from Alaska Boxing Academy hope to make a mark at Junior Olympics]

Schmid said she cruised to finals. Her biggest struggle was one she fought internally — the fear of not living up to the high standard she has for herself.

“My hardest match was going against myself,” Schmid said. “I’m not scared of anybody that I get in the ring with but I’m scared of my own fear getting in the way of my victory.”

Carey believes that her toughest match came in finals where she fought a southpaw.

“She’s never faced a left-handed fighter before,” Carey said. “She spars here at the gym occasionally with left-handers but she’s never fought against a fighter that’s left-handed.”

Even though her opponent in the finals was a “little tricky,” Carey says that Schmid still dominated in every round of the match.

“She probably got hit maybe one time in the whole fight,” Carey said.

Schmid joins Arthur Tauiliili, a 2016 champion, as the only Alaskans to ever be crowned a Junior Olympic champ. Her uncle hopes that it inspires others to pick up the sport after seeing the tremendous success that she has had.

“I feel like this is something that could be an inspiration to young people all over Alaska, especially the young girls,” Carey said. “It just shows that if you put your mind, hard work and dedication into whatever it is, you can achieve it.”

In October, she will be heading to California to take part in an elite training camp that trains young aspiring Olympians in an Olympic training facility. In the meantime she is going to play basketball while still keeping up with boxing.