Caen's 1st bout is at LI amateur tourney

Chiara Caen said she was "looking for something new" when she walked into the Heavy Hitters boxing gym in Bohemia for the first time this February.

A former soccer player, Caen, 23, said she missed the excitement of competing every day and was looking a different challenge. "I wanted something that could relate to the intensity of the training and preparing I did for soccer," Caen said. "I actually wanted something that could match or even surpass it. I needed something new to look forward to."

The Islip Terrace resident got all she could handle Saturday night as she stepped into the boxing ring for the first match of her career at the sixth annual Long Island Amateur Boxing Championships and Charities tournament at Gleason's Gym in downtown Brooklyn.

Caen didn't receive the desired result as Alexandra La Vigne emerged victorious with a third-round TKO in the 152-pound, four-round semifinal bout, but the East Islip High School grad was more concerned about gaining ring experience than the won-loss column.

Said Caen: "It was a learning experience. That's what you have to chalk it up to. It was my first fight and you can't hold it against me. From this point everything I do has got to be a steppingstone from here. Everything's got to be that much better for me."

Many boxers begin their amateur careers participating in small club shows not tournaments that feature over 200 fighters.

Diving headfirst into the sport made her trainers Miguel Osorio and Lance Holley a little nervous. "On Thursday I told her I was going to pull her out," Osorio said. "But she said she wanted to do it. She said she wanted that experience."

Holley lauded Caen for the progress she's made in such a short time. "She looks great," Holley said. "And we've only had her for six months."

Caen, who acknowledged feeling a "huge rush of adrenaline" before the fight, knew immediately after the match why she didn't win.

"I know I drop my hands when I throw punches," she said. "I'm going to work on where my hands are, my footwork and by bobbing and weaving."

Despite some blood on her face and a puffy left eye, Caen said she is ready for more. "I'm trying to win the Golden Gloves," said the University of Hartford graduate. "That's what I'm striving for."

It won't be that easy. Both Osorio and Holley said Caen has a lot of work to do before she can even think about winning a belt.

If Caen's postfight reactions are any indications of her future, she'll get that opportunity soon enough.

"This isn't it. This isn't the last of me," she said. "I'm trying to be champion of something."