St. Davids boxer Mckenzie Wright took another step Saturday on the long road to fighting for Canada at the 2028 Olympics.

Wright showed her dominance in the ring again, winning her fifth career national championship, a phenomenal accomplishment, says the head of Boxing Canada.

“Mckenzie’s performance was fantastic,” executive director Christopher Lindsay told The Lake Report after the championship bout in Winnipeg.

“Her athleticism and skill continue to set her at the top of our women’s 51-kilogram weight class and among the top of our national team pool of athletes.”

“And her five-time national champion status brings her into a rare position within the history of Boxing Canada,” Lindsay said.

But Wright says she still has unfinished business.

She narrowly missed the chance to fight in the 2024 Paris Olympics but has the Los Angeles Games in 2028 squarely in her sights.

And she’s taking concrete steps to make that a reality.

She is now ranked 24th in the world in her weight class by World Boxing, one of only two North American fighters in the top 25.

Considering the fact that at 35 she is much older than a lot of the other top boxers, that ranking is a testament to her talent and the gruelling training that Wright puts herself through.

She’s just 5 foot 4, tops out at about 112 pounds, but she sure can pack a punch.

The Elite National Championships last week in Winnipeg decided who would represent Team Canada for the coming year and with her win Wright will remain a member of the national squad.

“I was the number 1 seed, so received a bye straight through to the semifinals where I faced provincial champion Jade Delgado from Ottawa,” Wright told The Lake Report.

That bout was “very one-sided” and put her through to the final on Saturday against Alberta champion Amber-Jane Wall.

The fight was “very competitive and close going into the third, but I dug deep and my experience showed. I found her timing, pushed the pace and found a home for my right hand and check hook. When the final bell went, we knew we had it.”

This means she maintains her position on the country’s Elite A team for 2026.

“There will be a few international competitions next spring with the big focus being the Commonwealth Games in Scotland next summer,” she said.

Team Canada doesn’t get to send a full team to those Games. “Only three women will be chosen, so the tournaments leading up to the Games will be the deciding factor” in who attends.

Wright’s success is all the more remarkable because, after first winning the national crown in 2010 and 2011, when she was barely out of her teens, she stepped away from the ring for five years.

She came back in 2022 and has now been national champ again from 2023 through 2025.

So, while she is older than many opponents, as she likes to say, “Yeah, I’m 35 but I’m only 30 in boxing years” thanks to those years away from the sport.

Earlier this year she split with coach Jesse Sallows of City Boxing Club in Niagara Falls and has been under the tutelage of Faisal Ahmadi — “Coach Sal” — from Niagara Falls, N.Y. He was on hand for the Winnipeg tournament.

She also trains regularly in Montreal with the national team.

Wright still works part-time as a nurse at a cosmetic medical clinic in Niagara Falls.

And she will continue to split her time between training with Ahmadi and travelling a couple of times a month to Montreal to work out under national team coaches Vincent Auclair and Samir El Mais at the Olympic Stadium.

“An important part of training in Montreal with the team is I have more sparring and training partners that are closer to my size and skill level,” she said. That allows her to implement the strategies her coaches have her working on.

It’s key for her to improve and develop.

Lindsay noted the 2026 season will be focused on building Wright’s international experience and refining her style to best suit international judges.

“This deepening experience will mean several trips across the world with World Cups, Commonwealth Games and Continental Championships on the schedule,” he said.

“This investment in exposure will give her confidence and an understanding of her direct opponents come the start of Olympic qualification in 2027.”

As the head of Canadian amateur boxing, he had high praise for Wright.

“Boxing Canada is privileged to have such a strong athlete in our ranks and the national team benefits from Mckenzie’s leadership, hard work and unflinching desire to be a world-best, Olympic-style boxer.”