The Plant City boxer, fresh off of a Sept. 21 win, has big plans for the remainder of 2019 as well as 2020.
Chevelle Hallback’s famous “Fists of Steel” haven’t been rust-proof, and much of her Sept. 21 comeback fight with Szilvia Szabados was spent shaking it off.
“Not just a little bit of ring rust,” Hallback said. “Five years’ worth of ring rust. Within those five years, besides preparing for this fight, didn’t really have any type of sparring or anything. Just hitting the weights here and there. Coming in and hitting the mitts here and there. I really wasn’t training like I was preparing for a fight and that really took a toll on me.”
But it wasn’t enough to keep her from getting back to her winning ways, though, as Szilvia Szabados found out at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Marriott. Hallback’s comeback to the sport ended with a unanimous decision in her favor after six rounds with the Hungarian pro, who was then ranked No. 9 in the world (per BoxRec).
“I’m not making excuses for my performance,” Hallback said. She came in with a game plan and that was to smother me… either way, I conquered the storm.”
Szabados, she said, spent a good chunk of the fight hanging on to Hallback and snuck in a few illegal blows. It took Hallback some time to get her rhythm back but, once she did, she said she got as comfortable in there as she was when she was more regularly in the ring.
“Near the end, like the last round, I finally found myself getting back to the old me,” Hallback said. “I was throwing a little more shots, picking my shots a little better, moving a little better. Throughout the whole night, I was avoiding shots. I didn’t get hit clean.”
Now the Plant City native herself has climbed up the rankings in a big way: Hallback is currently the top-ranked super welterweight in the United States and No. 6 in the world in that weight class.
“We knew it would put us back in the rankings because she was ranked No. 9 in the world… we didn’t think No. 1 in the U.S.A. and No. 6 in the world, though,” Hallback said.
Before the Szabados fight, Hallback talked about using a win as a launching point for the rest of her career. Fighting Olympian Clarissa Shields was and still is her main goal. She also talked in August about wanting “three or four” fights and a title in 2020. That’s still the plan.
But there is one difference this time: Hallback is more open to talking about the end.
“Next year, in February, we’re going for a title,” she said. “I’m thinking maybe three, no more than four fights, hopefully, next year. I’m thinking about retirement. The goal is Claressa Shields before I retire. We have a strategy, we have a goal and I’m working toward that goal… if it pans out that way, great. If it doesn’t pan out that way, after three or four fights next year I’m gonna call it quits. But I’m going for the belts. I’m going for title holders. I’m going for it. That’s the goal.”
There is one more fight on the horizon for 2019. Hallback is booked to fight on Nov. 2 at the Yuengling Center, though her opponent had not been finalized at press time. Who that is won’t matter to her — Hallback’s training method has always been more “ready for anybody” than tailored for one specific fighter, just in case — so she’s excited to get the next phase of her plan rolling next month.
“We’re on go,” she said. “We’re on go go.”
Hallback is once again selling tickets for the fight. General admission costs $30 per person and VIP ringside seating is available for $80. Contact her at 813-270-4375, at chevellehallback@gmail.com or link up with her via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to buy tickets.
