International Women’s Day may already be behind us, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop celebrating women. In fact, it’s giving us even moreincentive to commemorate the everyday women of the world. Our latest inspo? Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon, a New York City-based boxer who shows off her strength in and out of the ring.
Although Napoleon spends her days throwing ones and twos around the ring, according to the athlete, she didn’t always envision life as a boxer. “The very first sport I fell in love with was baseball,” she tells Allure. “But I was told at five years old [that] I couldn’t [play] because I was a girl.” But despite constant criticism from classmates—Napoleon was told her legs were “too big,” called “thunder thighs” and nicknamed “Big Al”—she preserved. “I was the only girl on the team,” she says. “And I was the only one who hit home runs out of all those boys.”
