Local 15-year-old girl hopes to follow dad's footsteps into boxing ring

MEDFORD, Ore. — A local 15-year-old girl is training hard to reach her dreams of becoming a professional boxer.

Luckily for her, her coach is a former professional boxer and the owner of Spartan Boxing.

He’s also her dad.

North Medford High School sophomore, Malaya Wohosky, recently won 2nd place at the National Silver Gloves tournament in Missouri.

“Growing up, she was just a gym rat. She was always around it, always giving people water just to help out. You know, I asked my wife if I could train her and she goes, well, I don’t know if I want her competing. Turns out, she loves it and wants to compete,” said Malaya’s dad, Troy Wohosky.

Boxing, running, weightlifting, compete, repeat.

While only at the beginning of her boxing career, it’s a part of her everyday life.

“I am a part of a team, it’s like a competition team and we all train 5 days a week and we run at like 5 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so yeah, it’s a really big commitment,” she told me.

Troy says Malaya’s been competing since she was 8-years-old, but she began training at age 4.

“The hard work, the training and the confidence I see in her, really gives me hope that I’m doing the right thing as a father,” Troy said.

Malaya is currently training for a competition called ‘Beautiful Brawlers’, but her aim is set on more prestigious competitions, “I hope to go pro one day and get a title shot.”

She’s got it all planned out, with her dad right by her side.

“You can fight for the USA team and travel the world and get ranked, get placed on an Olympic team to work your way up – and I think those are the goals we’re going to try and hit,” said Troy.

In the short term, after ‘Beautiful Brawlers’, she wants to compete at state, then at regionals, nationals, and finally, the Junior Olympics.

She has her eye on the prize… competing in the 2028 Olympics.

“When I’m in the ring, I depend on myself. There’s no one else to blame. If I lose or anything, it’s all on me… but at the same time, I have a team supporting me outside of the ring,” Malaya said.

Wohosky says she’s probably put in over 1,000 hours of training with her dad so far.