Savannah Suitter is a fighter.
“I'm a boxer," she said. "I do MMA. I love it.”
For Suitter, who goes by the nickname "Sky," boxing taught her how to defend and love herself.
“I was bullied back in elementary school, and that sucked," she said. "And my dad got me into boxing, and I changed so much because of that confidence boost. Like, I was sure about myself and who I wanted to be.”
In 2016, FOX 13 News featured Suitter when she was a high schooler training to become a professional fighter. Flash forward almost seven years later, the young woman keeps proving the "Sky" really is the limit; the student became the teacher.
“We had so many people coming to us asking us, ‘Hey, will you train us? It looks like fun. We always see you in your garage training with your dad. Please teach us,'" said Suitter. "And so we decided to make a business out of it.”
After five years of training people out of her garage, Sky’s very own boxing gym was finally born in January of this year.
“it used to be like us jogging around this little garage," said Mavaney Burnham. "Now it's like, a full on fitness regime.”
None of this would've been possible if Suitter's dad hadn't been in her corner since day one, she said.
“She wants to be a professional boxer," said Brian Suitter. "She wants to be the best, and I know she can be. I want to be right there in her corner when she's raising that belt above her head.”
Learning how to fight, from a woman builds a different kind of strength--mental strength, said Burnham.
“I struggle with anxiety, depression, even body dysmorphia," she said. "Boxing has allowed me to become, one, more confident in myself, and it also has become this consistency in my life that I so desperately needed.”
Whether someone just wants to get a good workout in or learn how to throw some real punches, Sky and her dad welcome all.
“We want to encompass everyone who wants to fight, who wants to train, who wants to become better," she said.
Suitter is redefining what it means to fight like a girl.
“I know that I'm way stronger than I was before.”
