A Texas amateur boxer-turned-cheerleader went viral after her father videotaped her shadow boxing on the sideline of a youth football game at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. She hopes the video of Mighty Mia throwing up her hands will inspire young girls around her. glove.
Of course, Mia Pinney, 14, from Ingleside, is no crunch-and-punch queen. She is the top dog in the nation in the 75-pound and 85-pound weight classes for girls her age. According to Channel 3 News in Corpus Christi.
Her father and boxing coach, Jordan Pinney, was cautious when she told him earlier this year that she wanted to become a cheerleader, too.
“She's a national champion, so I didn't want that to interfere with her boxing or her goals,” Jordan said. “She has a lot of talent and has the ability to become a world champion one day.”
But he ultimately acquiesced, and last weekend, a video of the father-daughter duo finding a new way to blend the two sports quickly became a viral sensation.
“I was cheering and my dad said, 'Hey, let's make a video of you,'” Mia told the network. “And I thought, 'Dad, we're in a different time and place now.'
But she overcame her embarrassment and started moving on the sideline of the Dallas Cowboys' field, cutting sharp angles and effortlessly sending combinations into the air.
“I went there and started shadow boxing and thought it was going to be like any other video,” Mia said.
Jordan recorded a 10-second video from the stands and posted it to his Instagram with the caption, “Have you ever seen a cheerleader box like this?”
The Coastal Bend girl quickly became Instagram famous for her deft skills, with the video garnering 380,000 likes and millions of views later shared by ESPN I did.
Instagram commenters marveled at her boxing acumen and joked about her ferocious style.
“If she says, 'Give me the Y!' you better give her that Y,” one person joked.
“Who hasn't been bullied at school?” said another user.
“She's more competitive than the team playing in that stadium,” said a third, mocking the Cowboys' lackluster season.
Her father hopes the clip will inspire other girls his teenage daughter has never met.
“I really think this video is an inspiration to young girls all over the world,” said Jordan, a coach at a nonprofit that teaches boxing to children.
But Mighty Mia, who first laced up the gloves at the age of six, said she hopes the recognition she receives from the video will help her win opportunities and sponsorship in the cutthroat world of boxing.
“I continued to put God first and continued to show up every day, even on days I didn’t want to be there,” Mia said.
Currently, the 2028 Olympic hopeful is focused on his upcoming bout at the 2024 U.S. Boxing Championships in Richmond, Virginia, later this month.
But Jordan said she's grateful her daughter took up the new sport despite her reservations.
“She was able to move on to the cheer team, make new friends and learn new skills,” he said. “I think that really helped her boxing as well.”
