Mischa Merz
Mischa’s story
Mischa worked full time as a journalist and author for 30 years from the late 1980s until she opened her own boxing gym, Mischa’s Boxing Central, in Melbourne’s inner west in 2013. During her career she worked as a news reporter and feature writer for major daily newspapers as well as publishing essays and short fiction in national journals and literary magazines including Meanjin, Griffith Review and Overland.
She completed a Grad. Dip in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne in the late 1990s and began boxing at that time too, becoming a pioneer in the emerging world of female fighting, breaking taboos and challenging long held views about gender. She started writing about her journey, publishing feature articles in The Age and various Magazines including HQ and Overland. When she started competing in 1998 she wrote a book about it. Bruising, published by Picador in 2000 was shortlisted for the Dobbie Award, received critical acclaim. It was republished in 2008 by Vulgar Press.
She won the Australian title for boxing in 2000 and was a two time silver medallist before retiring in 2002.
In the mid 2000s Mischa embarked on a Bachelor of Fine Art majoring in Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts which she undertook while still working at the Herald Sun Newspaper as a sub editor and feature writer. She held several small exhibitions of her work during that time.
Although she had stopped competing in boxing she continued to train and kept relatively fit sparring and running.
But everything changed after a trip to New York City in 2007.
She went primarily to visit the city’s great art galleries, but while there she also trained with one of her female boxing idols, multi world champion and boxing hall of famer Alicia ‘Slick’ Ashley, at Brooklyn’s world famous Gleason’s Gym. She connected with the many women who trained there and decided to return to reignite her fighting career at the age of 45 after several more boxing focussed trips. This experience, competing in the summer of 2009 across the United States, which included being part of the Gleason’s Team at the Women’s National Golden Gloves in Florida, resulted in another book, The Sweetest Thing, which was published in the US by Seven Stories Press and in Australia by Hunter Publishing.
Mischa trained under former and current female boxers on her many trips to the US, including world champions Lucia Rijker, Bonnie Cannino, Terri Moss and Melissa Hernandez. They all inspired her to eventually leave her staff job at Herald Sun in 2010 and start working as a personal trainer and boxing coach which lead her eventually to opening Mischa’s Boxing Central in 2013 which she still runs today while continuing to paint and write.
Mischa’s Boxing
Mischa Merz wins the Australian Title in 2000
Mischa Merz began her amateur boxing career in 1998. In a dozen fights she contested three national championships in the Australian Amateur Boxing League, winning silver in 1998 and gold in Launceston in 2000.
Mischa's gleason's fight April 30 2011
She last fought in Australia in 2002 but boxed many exhibition bouts after that.
She resumed her competitive fighting career in the United States in 2009, in the Master’s Division of USA Boxing, winning five out of five fights including the National Women’s Golden Gloves 138lb title, the Georgia Games championship and the Ringside World championship.
She last competed in New York, at her home gym, Gleason’s in Brooklyn and although she lost in a close decision to Natalie Davilla, considers this one of her best performances and best opponents.
Mischa has visited gyms around Australia and the US and Cuba and trained with some of the key figures in the international women’s boxing scene who inspired her to eventually open her own gym, Mischa’s Boxing Central in 2013, leaving behind a 30 year career in newspaper journalism. The gym is situated in Melbourne’s inner West and was the first boxing gym owned and run by a woman in the state.