Don't call her an underdog, this 13-year-old Kanien'keh:ka boxer is a 'wolf' in the ring

Beth Harris-Smoke, 13, has almost 3,000 hours of boxing training under her beltand recently won a national boxing championship.

She said her drive is to be "stronger."

"I don't want to be like those people who just do nothing all day," said Smoke.

Her grandfatherBilly Loganand her former trainer Anthony Lenkdescribe her as compassionate, not someone for whom throwing punches comes naturally but who still has great instincts for combat sports.

Harris-Smoke is Kanien'keh:ka(Wolf Clan) from Six Nations of the Grand River, near Brantford, Ont., but now lives in Sanborn, N.Y., close to the Niagara Falls border.

Harris-Smoke and her younger sister Brooklynn have been raised by theirgrandparents since they were toddlers. Loganalso doubles as her coach.

He has her aiming for 10,000 hours of training before she competes for an Olympic spot in her late teens. She trains two and half hours a day, five days a week.

"You need that person pushing you, no matter who you are. There are very few people that can do it themselves," said Logan.

Harris-Smoke started training in taekwondo at age seven, then a year laterstartedboxing. A tournament in Toledo, Ohio, in July was her first.

"I was nervous at first and then I got the hang of it," said Harris-Smoke.

She walked away as theintermediate female champion in the 80 kilogram and up division, winning all of herthree matches in the tourney.

Logan said he first got her involved in combat sports for self defence and to deal with bullies.Harris-Smoke said she gets to see new people through boxing.

She's also training to be a setter for her school's volleyball team andlikes to listening to music, scrollingTikTok, hangingoutwith friends and playingvideo games.

She describes her boxing style as counter puncher and likes to trap her opponentsby dropping her hands and baiting them in. When Harris-Smoke needs an extra push in the ring, her grandfather yells out "wolf," meaning to "basically be a beast."

Lenk, Harris-Smoke's former boxing trainer, said he was proud watchingher Toledo fights on livestream.

"Don't look at her as the underdog because she has a lot of fight and she's got a lot of spunk in her," said Lenk.

"She's very timid, she's very bashful and shy but I know that there's a beast in there."

Harris-Smoke is preparing for the USA Boxing tournament in Louisiana this December, which coincides with the USA Olympic boxing team trials.

National champions in the youth and junior divisions will be invited to evaluation camps where they can potentially earn a spot on Team USA.