Two weeks ago, Hilo boxer JoBette Nabarro returned from a more than seven-year hiatus to collect her third USA Boxing belt — at the Battle of the Crown tournament in Austin, Texas.
At Battle of the Crown, Nabarro defeated Florisis Gutierrez by unanimous decision to win her division.
“I was nervous,” Nabarro said, “I was worried, and of course I’m older now, so the body takes a lot longer to recover.”
Stepping back into competing as an athlete was a big step for Nabarro, who — for the past nearly eight years — has been on the other side of athletics, coaching youth soccer.
“Now that I’m coaching,” Nabarro said, “I just box to inspire people. I believe that people should be the best them they can be — and not let age, or being from Hawaii or whatever people tell you prevent you from reaching your dreams.”
Nabarro took up boxing in 2013 as cross-training while playing professional soccer for Santos FC — a club Pelé once played for. Women’s soccer paused for the 2014 World Cup, so Nabarro saw boxing as a way to stay active and competitive.
“I liked the training,” she said, “It was hard. My coach was like ‘you’re a natural, why don’t you go in?’ I said ‘no, I’m not a fighter, I don’t wanna hit nobody.’ Then I went in and I thought ‘wow, this is pretty cool.’ Individual sport versus team sport, totally different. In individual sport, what you put in is your result — team sport, you gotta make sure everyone else is good.”
In 2014, Nabarro boxed at nationals and made it all the way to the 152-pound class semifinals, where she fought future national champion Danielle Wolf. Nabarro lost, but her efforts obtained her the No. 5 national rank for her class. This would have qualified her for the Olympics, but the minimum fight requirement to qualify was raised from five fights to ten, and Nabarro only had seven.
Now that she has returned to boxing, the Olympics are back on the table for Nabarro.
“My coach really wants me to go for the Olympics again,” she said. “He’s pushing me to go to the Olympics, but I’m 38 — that takes so much work. Right now, I’m indecisive if I want to go to Olympic Trials, or just call it. I got three belts, professional soccer player — I already made Hilo proud, I feel.”
Competing in the Olympics also carries financial concern for Nabarro. Though competing — and especially, winning — at the Olympics can provide massive career opportunities for amateur boxers, they are not paid for the rigorous and time-consuming training that it takes to get to there.
“It would have to become my life,” Nabarro said. “If I made the Olympic team, I’d have to move from Hawaii to the Olympic facility on the mainland — and you don’t get paid. My bills ain’t gonna stop.”
Despite the risks, Nabarro is still open to the opportunity. She said that instead of worrying, she will keep doing her thing and see if the Olympics are truly in her cards.
“I’m a woman of God,” she said. “So I’ve been praying, and seeing what direction he wants to take me in. If he wants me to do that, he will try.”
Nabarro founded Hilo Soccer Club with the intention of using her experience to give back to the community. She donates her time coaching girls who are in high school.
“I really wanna make an impact on our community because this is where I’m from,” she said. “I try to lead by example, showing the girls that you can always reach your dreams. ‘If I did it from Hilo, then you guys can do it.’”
A week before her boxing competition in Texas, Nabarro brought her team to a showcase in Las Vegas. The Waiakea High School alumnus — who played for the school’s soccer team and went on the play in college — gets joy from seeing her players get the same opportunities.
“A whole bunch of colleges came in and looked at them,” she said. “My girls got all kind of offers. When I was there — I was like ‘guys, coach gotta go around,’ so I’m running, they’re like ‘coach you cannot eat cookies.’ They’re all happy I won the belt, they’re like ‘see coach, your hard work paid off.’”
Nabarro said that one of her biggest goals is to inspire local youth athletes to shoot for the stars.
“My advice to young athletes is don’t let anyone stop you from your dreams,” she said. “Don’t let any label that anyone puts on you stop you from what you wanna do. You’re gonna fail a whole bunch of times, but don’t let it define you. Keep trying.”