It’s been exactly three years and one month since Chevelle Hallback’s last boxing match — and not for lack of trying. Though the Plant City native could say she went out on a high note, having defeated Victoria Cisneros by TKO at Amalie Arena on Aug. 22, 2014, her body has told her otherwise.
So the woman dubbed “Fists of Steel” has continued training — and waiting — for the next fight, whenever that may be. If Hallback, 46, gets her way this time around, she may find herself toe to toe with one of mixed martial arts’ most notorious women.
Cris “Cyborg” Justino, Ultimate Fighting Championship’s current female featherweight champion, was granted a boxing license by the California State Athletic Commission on Sept. 6. By Sept. 13, she had a willing opponent in Hallback.
“I don’t think she’s no better than I am,” Hallback said. “I don’t think she’s no stronger than I am. Intimidation factor is out the window.”
Hallback took to Facebook Sept. 13 to publicly announce her desire to fight Justino, 32, whenever the UFC fighter is ready. In person, she lights up at the mention of Justino and is quick to elaborate on her Facebook comments.
“They say it’s hard for her to find fights in MMA because people are afraid of her and whatnot,” Hallback said. “I wanted to put the word out right away that I’m not afraid.”
She said a fight with Justino would likely happen at the 154-pound junior middleweight/middleweight level, one weight class above the welterweight level Hallback last fought at.
Though Justino did recently test for her boxing license, she has not yet announced a timeframe for when she’d like to get in the ring with a live opponent — she’s currently lobbying for a UFC bout with former bantamweight champion Holly Holm, whose popularity surged when she became the first fighter to defeat Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in 2015.
Coincidentally, Holm and Hallback have fought twice in the boxing ring. The former UFC champ won both matches, one in 2007 and the 2010 rematch, by unanimous decision. Hallback said Holm is the only fighter to have both beaten her and granted a subsequent rematch request.
The reason Hallback was so quick to push for this fight, she said, is because she believes she and Justino have something in common: an intimidation factor. Hallback said that neither woman has an easy time getting fights these days, most likely due to their reputations, but Justino hasn’t had as hard a time finding opponents. She last fought in July, winning the vacant UFC featherweight title with a third-round TKO stop of Tonya Evinger at UFC 214.
Meanwhile, Hallback has had just two sanctioned matches since 2011 — both in 2014. Her pro record, which spans from her 1997 debut through 2014, stands at 30-8-2 with 13 knockouts.
“My career, a little bit, is in limbo because I can’t get fights for whatever reason,” she said. “I don’t want to say that people are afraid of me but, for whatever reason, I can’t get any fights … she’s feared. Some say that I’m feared. Two feared females in the fighting game — let’s get it on.”
Hallback trains at boxing gyms all over the Tampa Bay area and lifts weights at Power Shop Fitness in downtown Plant City to stay in what she described as good enough shape to where her conditioning could be ring ready in “two or three weeks.” She also offers a personal training service for clients and, upon retirement from the ring, hopes to open her own boxing gym in Plant City.
Retirement is something she’ll talk openly about these days, but not as something she’s currently considering. Hallback said “one of two things are going to happen.” She’ll either have a fight televised on HBO — which would make her and her opponent the first women to have that honor — or her body will finally tell her it can’t cooperate any longer. At the moment, Hallback said she feels good and brought up the fact that Bernard Hopkins was able to fight at a high level through his early 50s, even winning a championship at age 49 in 2014.
Even if a Cyborg-Hallback bout doesn’t make it to HBO, the Plant City native is determined to get back in the ring and show someone why she earned the nickname immortalized in ink on her arm.
“If she’s crossing over to the boxing world, I’m here,” Hallback said. “I’m ready and I’d love to fight her.”