Mary Spencer

Mary Spencer (born December 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional boxer who as an amateur won three World Championships and a Pan American Games gold medal.

Amateur career
Spencer competed in multiple sports as a child including basketball, volleyball, soccer and track and field. She began serious boxing training in 2002, eventually linking up with coach Charlie Stewart at the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club.

Spencer won three World Championships taking the 66kg title in 2005 and 2008 then the 75kg crown in 2010. She also won a gold medal at the 2011 Pan-American Games in Mexico defeating Yenebier Guillen of the Dominican Republic in the 75kg final.

Considered a medal favourite at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, which were the first Games to include women's boxing, Spencer received a bye into the quarter-finals where she lost to China's Li Jinzi who she had beaten in the world championship final two years earlier.

Professional career
Having turned professional after the Olympics, Spencer was undefeated in her first six pro-fights and in her seventh contest she won the WBA female International and WBC female Silver super-welterweight titles with a first-round stoppage success over the previously unbeaten Mexican boxer Cynthia Lozano in Montreal, Canada, on 9 September 2022.

Next she took on Belgian boxer Femke Hermans for the vacant IBO female super-welterweight World title losing the bout in Shawnigan, Quebec, Canada, on 16 December 2022 by unanimous decision.

A rematch was held on 11 October 2023, in Montreal, Canada, with the IBO belt and the vacant IBF female super-welterweight World title up for grabs. Once again Hermans got the victory, this time by majority decision.

Spencer snapped her losing streak with a win over Sonya Dreiling on 25 January 2024, taking victory via retirement when her American opponent failed to answer the bell at the start of round two.

Personal life
Spencer was born in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada, and is a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation formerly known as the Cape Croker First Nation. She was an Indspire Award recipient in the sports category in 2014 and was awarded the 2019 Randy Starkman Award by the Canadian Olympic Committee. In January 2024, Spencer joined the Boxing Ontario board of directors.