Chaise Nelson, of Mansfield, is headed to Mobile, Alabama tomorrow to compete in the Junior National Boxing Championships June 26-29. He needs to participate in the event but he already has an automatic bid for the world championship because he is already on the USA Junior Olympic Boxing Team. In September, he will fly to the Ukraine for the Amateur World Boxing Championships as the 125 lb. class representative of the 13-member Team USA.
Open try-outs for the Olympics were held in January and Nelson won. He is an eight-time national champion and his current record is 52-2 after competing in nine national tournaments and winning eight of them.
Nelson, whose given name is Chaise Michael Nelson but prefers Chaise, is ranked number one in the country and number two in the world in the 125 lb. junior class. The 15-year-old is a sophomore. He was a freshman at Ontario High School in 2012, but his boxing schedule demanded considerable traveling, including to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and he completed the year with home schooling. School begins before he returns from the Ukraine, so he may be homeschooled again this fall.
“I box at Friendly House because they train us hard here,” said Nelson at a recent fundraiser held at Friendly House, “I work with Billy and Dad on sparring, strengthening, jumping rope, cardio, and bag work. You dedicate all your time to training: You have to be dedicated. It’s my life.”
They also watch tapes of his opponents in order to plan strategy.
One of Nelson’s coaches, Billy Salser, of Mansfield, said Nelson grew up fighting and has been working out at the gym in Friendly House since he was 11 years old.
Salser lends experience to the team Nelson effort. Salser was an amateur fighter, turned professional in 2006. He fought professionally for five years around Ohio and fought at the World Championship under card fights. Today, he appreciates his wife’s and young daughter’s patience as he spends many hours every week training Nelson. He is a union carpenter for Valley Interiors in Columbus.
Salser spends four days a week working with Nelson. Their work-outs simulate fighting in the ring, and that’s how the Mansfield Police Department’s support pays off. Police Chief Dino Sgambellone reported that the department, through their METRICH funding and the Police Athletic League (PAL), bought a new boxing ring for the gym at Friendly House. PAL is involved in many youth initiatives.
Nelson’s other coach is his father Mike Nelson. He said his son has been fighting since he was three and participated in his first kickboxing tournament when he was four. His mother Kiesha Boone agreed that he was imitating boxers he saw on television from as early as two year olds. Both parents agreed that they saw the future boxer in their son even that early.
“I still get excited when he goes in the ring,” stated Mike Nelson, “The level he fights at is crazy. His speed is unmatched. He overwhelms his opponent with his speed.”
Video courtesy of the Nelson family
Salser isn’t the only other fighter simulating rounds with Nelson. When he and Nelson spar, Salser describes it as “fighting up.” Nelson is fighting someone bigger and heavier than he is.
“When you’re fighting guys way bigger than you are, you’re fighting for your life,” he added.
So Nelson started training with professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Julian Lane, of Mansfield. The 25-year-old has been fighting since 2008 and started wrestling when he was eight years old.
“I was always getting picked on,” said Lane, “so I got into sports. I love to compete.”
“He gives me a different perspective,” said Nelson, “He trains me differently.” But Lane is also learning from Nelson and hopes to make his pro-boxing debut in July.
What does the teenager’s mother think of her son fighting and traveling?
She’s very proud. “It’s exciting that he’s going to the Junior Olympics but I don’t think it hit me till he joined the team and he had to travel. He has been to the Olympic Training Center and it was hard for both of us for him to be gone.”
But the fighting doesn’t disturb her. She explained, “He hardly ever took any hits because he’s so fast. Now he’s good enough that he has taken some hits, but he’s used to sparring.”
Nelson does look beyond his next match. His goal is to be on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing team when they travel to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. But first things first.
As he prepares for the world championship in September, his family and fans are trying to raise the funds to pay the traveling expenses for his two coaches. The Junior Olympics pay Nelson’s expenses but the coaches, both working fathers, will have to pay their own way and the younger boxer hopes his coaches will be in the Ukraine with him.
Read more about Nelson’s Team USA biography at http://www.teamusa.org/Athletes/NE/Michael-Nelson
Police Athletic League on the Mansfield Police Department website: http://www.mansfieldpolicedepartment.com/pal.html
Or to learn more about programs within the Mansfield Police Department: www.mansfieldpolicedepartment.com
