When is a dream worth everything especially when the dream repeatedly breaks your nose?

When is a dream worth everything especially when the dream repeatedly breaks your nose?

For Shelley Burton of Kalispell, her dream of winning a world boxing title has been worth the pain, the sacrifice and the cost. Her dream pushes her out of bed early in the morning to run wind sprints; her dream makes her tired arms keep punching the heavy bag at night.

Since she was 5, Burton has dreamed of being a professional athlete and a champion.

Two years ago, Burton crossed the first goal off her list and became a professional boxer.

On Nov. 18 in Edmonton, Alberta, Burton hopes to accomplish her ultimate athletic dream of becoming a world champion boxer.

Her road to next weeks title fight began July 11, 2003, when she taped her hands, tied on her gloves and fought her first pro match in St. George, Utah. Her junior middleweight opponent was Rita Turrisi of Italy a former world kickboxing champion.

Turrisi caught Burton with a stiff uppercut, and Burton, her vision blurred, had to climb up the ropes and back into the match. Burton eventually won a four-round majority decision.

Although she won the fight, Burton said she cried afterward, both from her swollen face and the emotion. She also lost her voice because she took a punch to her windpipe.

I thought, What the hell am I doing? she said. That hurt much worse than club boxing.

Her mom tried to wipe what she thought was smeared makeup off Burtons face, but the smear was a black eye.

For weeks after the fight, cartilage still was falling out of her nose, a ritual that has followed each of her eight pro fights, six of which she won.

Becoming a champion

Burton, 28, trains in a dimly lit, piecemeal gym that she and other boxers have put together in the back of the Jaycees building a space Rocky Balboa could be proud of. After cardio in the morning and then working all day as a communications manager at Penco Power Products, she comes to the gym and trains for hours.

Like a giant cold-blooded creature, the training area has temperature swings that fluctuate with the weather. Walls of plywood and plastic sheeting provide little protection from the hot summers and cold winters.

After Burton warms up, she wraps her hands in black cloth and puts on her black Everlast gloves.

Heather Blush, her partner and trainer, waits in the donated ring. She wears red padded mitts that Burton punches while working on accuracy and footwork. Red, white and blue covers hide the fact that the rings ropes are really just garden hoses.

When Burton begins punching the mitts, sounds like gunshots pepper the chilly air. She bobs and weaves and unloads combinations, causing Blush to rock back. She winces when Burton accidentally connects with her wrist.

Blush has been training Burton for only two months. The former gymnastics teacher researches boxing regimens and keeps in touch with a trainer with whom Burton worked in Las Vegas.

Ive had three trainers, and Heather is by far the most dedicated, Burton said. She keeps me motivated, which is tough. Its not always fun knowing you are going to get hit in the face. You take a chance every time you get hit in the head.

Blush is devoted to Burtons dream because she is devoted to Burton. An aspiring author, Blush has put her own plans on hold to train Burton. When the mornings are cold, Blush even gets up early and drives behind Burton while shouting encouragement as she runs.

Adding to Blushs schedule of working full time and training Burton, she spends extra time reading about training and watching videos of drills.

I worry that Im not what she should have [as a trainer] because this is life threatening, Blush said. She could get better.

After mitts, Burton moves to the 50-pound heavy bag. Her punches send the cracked and worn bag swinging. Her cut biceps flex as she pulls her arm back, and she exhales sharply as her gloves meet duct-taped canvas.

She dances and swings, dances and swings, only stopping for short breaks when Blush calls time.

By now, her ponytail has come loose, and her hair is sticking to her sweaty forehead.

You have to keep your hair braided at matches, she said.

Braids keep her hair out of her face and help the fights judges. When a boxer pulls her head back to dodge a punch, a ponytail bobs backward, creating the illusion that contact occurred.

Burton mimics her two-minute rounds on the heavy bag. After six or seven rounds, she is breathing like she ran 10 miles.

This dancin makes me more tired than hitting, she said. I dont think Ill have a problem going 10 rounds.

I can win this fight

At first glance, Burton doesnt fit the stereotype of a boxer. With her shoulder-length blonde hair and easy smile, she looks as if she should be swinging a golf club rather than her fists.

But her muscular frame confirms that she belongs in the ring. She fights in the 154- to 160-pound weight class, and at 5 feet 6 inches tall, shes not carrying any flab. Shell have to be in the best shape of her life for her title fight against Leatitia Baby Girl Robinson.

Robinson is 13-0 with nine knockouts. She grew up fighting in Cabrini Green, one of Chicagos roughest housing projects, and she brings her street grit to the ring.

In February, Robinson knocked out Monica Nunez in just 36 seconds. In June 2004, Nunez, with a six-round majority decision, was the first woman to defeat Burton.

The only other woman to defeat Burton was Akondaye Fountain, with a seventh-round technical knockout in March in Laughlin, Nev. The match was a brutal bomb fest before the referee stopped the fight.

Robinson likely will be an even tougher opponent.

The odds are completely against me, Burton said. But I really think I can win this fight. Everyone is beatable, and I hope she underestimates me. I feel like this is an opportunity. I dont pass up fights.

Burtons humble attitude seems a strange fit in a sport that thrives on hype and crazy comments.

Im not a trash-talker, Burton said. I just laugh that stuff off.

Burton might be too nice.

Ive always been tough, but I really have a hard time hurting somebody, she said. I definitely want to knock her out, but I want to have her wake up and be OK.

Blush said that she has seen Burton take some of the power off her punches in a fight.

That is her downfall, she said. She pulls punches. If she would hit the opponent like she hits the bag, she would score more knockouts. She spars with the guys and they all think she hits hard.

Robinson wont have the benefit of a kinder, gentler Shelley Burton. Burton plans to swing with a knockout force. If she connects good night Mrs. Robinson.

Path to a title

Burton grew up playing sports. In high school, she was an all-state basketball player for the Bigfork Valkyries.

When she was 24 and living in Missoula, she decided to box at a Tough Man contest in Butte at the prompting of her friends. She wound up defeating Leah Stucker, a Tough Man world champion, and won $500.

Burton was hooked.

Every sport has come real natural to me, she said. But there is so much to boxing. Boxing has been the biggest challenge.

She began club boxing at the Wilma in Missoula and racked up a 17-0 record. People kept commenting on her natural talent and encouraged her to consider turning pro.

I thought, where is this natural talent? she said. Ive just got a chin. I can take hits.

She initially hid the fact that she was boxing from her family, especially her parents.

Family members get nervous about her boxing, but they have attended every one of her professional fights. Her identical twin sister, Kelley, sometimes watches the fight with her hands over her face.

I have faith that Shelley can do it, she said. She has the heart for it. Shes the most sincere, honest woman youll ever meet. Her whole family is proud of her.

Burtons jump from Tough Man to pro was less than traditional. One night she typed boxing in Las Vegas in her Internet search engine and found an e-mail address for a man named Butch Gottlieb who worked for the Nevada boxing commission.

I kind of box, and Im looking into going pro she wrote. How do I do that?

Gottlieb told her that she had to move to Vegas and receive real training. In summer 2002, she flew to Vegas and met him.

He dropped her off at the Golden Gloves gym and disappeared.

I didnt see Butch again, Burton said. He just left me there.

Joe, an amateur trainer, worked with her for the day. He told Burton she was strong but she didnt have a clue. Her brawling Tough Man style would not work in the professional ranks.

After three months, the Las Vegas lifestyle began to wear thin, and Burton moved back to Montana. She returned the next summer to meet with Joe again, and she managed to set up her first pro fight against Turrisi.

Her trainer for the fight was an ancient man named Doc. Doc had worked with George Foreman when Foreman was still an amateur. Burton had to help him get into the ring.

After her win, Burton contacted Gottlieb again. This time, he was interested. He signed her to a four-year contract.

As a rising star, Burtons anonymity quickly faded in the boxing community. Women began to refuse to fight her, and fights that she had trained for were canceled at the last minute.

Although the last two years have been successful for Burton, a series of events caused her to decide to take some time off last spring.

I was going to take a year off, she said. My dad had cancer removed, my sister was in a car accident and I had hurt my shoulder in a motorcycle accident. With boxing, you dont have a life. Work and boxing are it.

After a summer of little exercise and a few extra beers, Burton was not in fighting shape. Then Gottlieb called and said he had a title fight lined up for her, and she began training like mad.

People spend a year to do what Shelley does in two weeks, Blush said.

Fighting for peanuts

Win or lose in Edmonton, Burton will receive just $5,000 for the fight. By the time she subtracts 25 percent for her manager, 10 percent for a trainer, her time off work and travel expenses, shell be lucky to break even.

Womens boxing is on the rise, but the prize money is nowhere near what men make. The womens fights arent less exciting, though. Because the fighters have two minutes per round instead of three, they have to give everything theyve got. Time is too short to play it safe.

In the ring, Burton hasnt completely forsaken her Tough Man roots. She is aggressive and not afraid to trade punches. She smiles a little when she connects.

You can tell what shes thinking, Blush said. When she gets hit, she gets mad and goes after them.

Burton still gets nervous before matches.

I keep thinking, why am I doing this to myself? she said. Im going to get hit in the head and hit someone else in the head. I start yawning bad.

Fans love to root for Burton. At the last fight she lost against Fountain, she still had the longer line for autographs.

Shelley is always the crowd favorite, Blush said. People can see she has heart.

Burton has had limited success in attracting local sponsors. But those who do sponsor her are extremely supportive.

Leila Cabral, owner of Montana Beach Club, sponsors Burton and has her picture and glove hanging in her business.

I admire Shelley, Cabral said. She has been striving for this. She is unbelievable. Im betting on Shelley.

Local support financial and verbal means a lot to Burton, who has passed up many chances to leave the town she loves. When she is announced before a fight, she makes the announcer say she is from Kalispell, not just from Montana.

Burton leaves Wednesday to train in Las Vegas before her fight. She will spar twice a day with men to prepare for Robinsons power.

After the fight, who knows? She may continue to train and box, or she may move on to other dreams she has left on her list. She might get her promoters license and help other local boxers turn pro. She also likes helping younger athletes grow in the sport.

But with the probability that her best boxing is yet to come, Burton is unlikely to retire just yet.

Sometimes I dont know why I want to keep doing it, Burton said. Im a pro athlete. Ive wanted this since I was 5. I want to be a world champion, and I want my town to be proud of me.

Ive worked so hard for this.

Sports reporter Mike Richeson may be reached at 758-4463 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com