Before most of us have even awakened, Claire Prince has already completed her 4am workout, the first of the day. She then heads off to her clients to personally train them at the gym for around eight hours, then after, spars in the ring with her own boxing trainer. Afterward, she heads home, preps her organic meals for the next day to start the process all over again.
She has to say no to most social outings and doesn’t drink alcohol. As an Olympic hopeful, a life of strict discipline isn’t atypical. But Prince knows that the price tag associated with it, however, is something many onlookers don’t think about enough.
“It takes a lot of money to try and make it all the way,” she tells ESSENCE. At 32-years-old, she said she’s considered a late bloomer in the boxing space, since she began to take it seriously in her mid twenties. “I was inspired by the lead character in Million Dollar Baby,” she says, referring to the Academy Award-winning film about a thirty-something year old woman who turned to professional boxing despite all odds against her.
Similarly, Prince turned to the sport despite having her own doubts but pushed relied on her already keen athleticism to carry her through. Always athletic, she played sports as a child and went to play college basketball. Boxing, however, felt like a calling.
“It gave me something else to work towards,” she tells ESSENCE. “When I was coming to a close in my senior year at college, it’s like, well, it’s done. T.