Boxing is Nelson’s baby

“It was like having a baby, so much pain,” Nelson, 35, said. “But when they put that belt on me, it was like when you hold your baby for the first time, all the pain goes away.”

Nelson hopes to have the same feeling — albeit with less pain — Saturday night when she defends her title at Patriot Center. Nelson (5-0-1) takes on Vashon Living (8-7-1) of Houston, Texas, in a preliminary fight before Jimmy Lange’s junior middleweight bout with Ruben Galvan.

Nelson is one of the more intriguing combatants on the card. She is a single mother of two teenagers who works three jobs. Her duties as a bus driver, cafeteria worker and waitress at IHOP keep her going for 62 hours a week.

In the busy days leading up to fights, she trains two hours every morning and three more on the nights she’s not at the restaurant (Sunday through Wednesday). On a typical weekday, she’s home with son, Q., 16, and daughter, Simone, 13, for about 45 minutes in the early evening.

“I get home, put their dinner in the microwave, take a quick shower, and when I get out, their food is ready,” Nelson said. “It’s a busy day. No time to waste.”

Nelson’s life changed at age 29. Tired of being overweight at 185 pounds, she signed up at LA Boxing in Ashburn, intending only to get in shape. One day, a female boxer at the club needed a sparring partner.

“I asked Tori, ‘Do you mind helping us out?’ Tori, she put it on the girl,” veteran trainer Craig Fladager said. “What she had was boxing instincts. She came forward. She wasn’t afraid to get hit. Her first reaction when she got hit was to hit back. You can’t teach those things.”

Four years ago, Nelson was a winner in her first amateur fight. In May of 2010, in her first professional fight in the hometown of her opponent, Baltimore’s Shelly Seivert, Nelson fought to a draw. Seven months later, Nelson beat Seivert decisively.

According to Fladager, Nelson has improved in each fight, relying on her aggression, punching power and boxing instincts. Her weakness is her footwork.

Still, it wasn’t an impediment in her first title match in July of last year when Nelson received a surprise invitation to face champion Lorissa Rivas. Nelson had never boxed more than six rounds, but outlasted Rivas in 10.

“I was there to lose,” Nelson said. “There was nobody there who knew me but my corner. My trainer said, ‘This is nothing. You do this every day.’ I believed him.”

Saturday night at Patriot Center, the roles will be reversed. Nelson is the champion and will be cheered on by her kids, her neighbors and her friends from the bus stop, the cafeteria, the gym and the IHOP.

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