The Boxer: Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes In & Out of the Ring

mtwadmin - Thu, August 12, 2010

photo credit: Emily Harney

Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes was born in Poland.  She moved to the US when she was sixteen, and competed in tennis, track and field, horseback riding, dancing, and volleyball during her school-age years.  Upon starting high school in the US, she began wrestling on the boys’ team.  She grew to love the rush of combat sports, and after high school she began to kickbox.  During college, though, she started to fall out of the habit of competing.

After college, Magdziak Lopes was in search of a workout routine that would get her back into the shape she had been in in high school.  She joined a local gym and started taking boxing lessons.  The plan worked.  She dropped twenty-five pounds and regained her stamina.  Boxing was a great workout, and before long, she began itching to compete on an amateur level.

In 2007, she won the 140lb Rocky Marciano Tournament in the Novice Division and in 2008 she won the Southern New England Golden Gloves in the same class.  The following year, she decided to turn pro.

She lost her first pro fight in a very close decision to a female fighter whom she had beaten three times in the amateur division.  “I don’t take losing well in general, but this particular loss was tough because it was a fight I could have and should have won,” says Magdziak Lopes.  “It forced me to look at my training and figure out what needed to be done to rise to the top ranks of the game.”  She asked her husband, who had an excellent training record, to take over her training camp.  “My husband and I are an awesome team and have a great time training,” she says.

The new team and training schedule worked.  Magdziak Lopes bounced back from that first loss by winning her next three fights in a row.  Her current record is 3-1, with one win by knockout.  In her most recent fight, she even defeated the fighter who had first beaten her.  “It was an amazing moment for me—the rematch had been on my mind since the second I walked out of the ring after the first loss.  I took her undefeated record away.  I avenged the loss, and I feel good about winning a very challenging fight.”

Magdziak Lopes has been a loyal client at MTW for years.  She believes the bodywork she has received has helped her reach her goals and improve as a fighter.  “Boxing is extremely demanding on my body – I train as much as six days a week, and I run often on asphalt. Frankly, I’m not sure how I would get through training without Richard.”  Magdziak Lopes is also working with several old injuries - lower back problems from a car accident and a replaced ACL.  She has found bodywork to be extremely helpful in overcoming these challenges and improving her ability to train, and even to sharpen her performance during actual fights. 

“[Richard] knows how to loosen up certain muscle groups in my shoulders and legs to give me more speed and snap in my punches, or more spring in my legs.  When I come out of the appointment, I know I am 110% physically prepared for the fight ahead of me – and that’s an extremely comforting feeling.”

Magdziak Lopes, who admits she has never been a great team athlete, loves the solo nature of boxing.  She is also drawn to the strategy and creativity integral to the best boxing performances. 

“Despite people’s perception of boxing being somewhat of a brutal contact sport, to me boxing is an art,” she says.  “It is a very intelligent sport and a lot goes into the making of a great boxer. It is all about timing, distance, creating the right angles, reflexes, athletic ability, staying cool under pressure, speed, smart strategy, and conditioning. Many of these concepts are almost too hard to explain; they are too intangible.”

Not nearly as tangible as, say, Magdziak Lopes’s fist in your face.