“In that moment, and I still think about it, it brings tears to my eyes,” said Holm. “By him saying that, right then, it gave me no room for my mind to be in the gutter and keep entertaining those negative thoughts. It put my mind right back on a positive track.”
Positivity has always been a hallmark of Holm’s personality, but it was then that anyone who needed a reminder found out that she was all-fighter.
Holm, a former UFC women’s bantamweight champion who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022 in June, got her rematch with Mathis, who had no hesitation in returning to Albuquerque for the return bout less than six months later. And while Holm’s coaches, family and close friends and teammates were firmly in her corner, there were more doubters than believers that she could turn the tide back in her favor.
“I don’t judge anybody for it, but there were some people that were really close to me at the time, not so much anymore, that doubted me. And I can’t have someone telling me, don’t do this, you don’t have to do this. By you telling me that, you’re telling me that you don’t think I can do it. That means you don’t think I’m good enough and if you don’t believe in me, that makes me feel weak and I don’t need to be around people who are trying to drag me down. I need to be around people who are telling me, ‘Hell yeah, get in there – you can do it.’ Some people were like, ‘You’re gonna retire, right?’ In my head, I was like, yeah, because you would. It gave me confidence in a way that I was doing something special. You wouldn’t, but that’s what separates me from you.”
That confidence, grit, and heart, along with plenty of skill, took Holm to the top of the boxing world and established her as one of the best to ever do it. And if the three divisional titles weren’t enough, how about recognition as The Ring magazine’s female fighter of the year twice and a 21-1-1 record in world title fights, the biggest of which came on June 15, 2012, when she scored a clear-cut unanimous decision over Anne Sophie Mathis.
“That was definitely my most defining moment in boxing, one hundred percent,” said Holm, who went on to defeat Diana Prazak and Mary McGee before retiring from boxing to make mixed martial arts a full-time endeavor. At 40, Holm is still in the hunt for another world title in the UFC, and as she sits at the number two spot in the 135-pound rankings, she could be a win away from a crack at regaining the title she took from Ronda Rousey in 2015.