by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

Back in the Saguenay, Jennyfer was a misfit. She weighed in at 230 pounds at age 15. She was turfed out from soccer. “They said I was too rough.” And she was a classic hyperactive kid. “They wanted me to take Ritalin, but I didn’t want to.”

Ten years later, Grenon has become the pride of LaSalle, as the top ranked Canadian female boxer - and third-ranked in her 75-kilo class. When she returned to Lac St-Jean her old chums didn’t know her. “I went to discos and they didn’t recognize me. The same guys that were teasing me as a kid were cruising me in the nightclubs.

The captain of the Canadian women’s boxing team attributes her 24-3-1 record to her quickness. But the star of the Legends Boxing Club is taking it slow career-wise, already having turned down her chance at instant notoriety. “I was offered $30,000 to fight Leila Ali (Muhammad’s top-ranked prizefighting daughter), but I turned it down because I want to remain an amateur so I can fight in the Olympics.” But Grenon wouldn’t have been phased by Ali. “I’ve fought better than her.”

Among the very few who topped Grenon were a Chinese boxer who edged her in the recent world championships in Turkey. “She was big and fat like a Sumo wrestler, but was very good. She moved and hit a lot.” Grenon, however, believes she could have taken the title in Turkey had she not fallen ill at the last moment with a stomach bug. Although the fight ended 7-7, judges declared Grenon second best in the battle. Had she won, she would have fought for the title. But she’s anything but bitter about her fate. “They made me captain of the team because I’m constantly laughing all the time,” she says.

The main downside of the sport that she started dabbling in at age nine is the restrictive food consumption. “Three-quarters of the year we have to be on a diet. Boxers like to eat so much, especially when you train five or six days a week for three or four hours a day,” says Grenon, who admits to avoiding the muscle-building exercises.

Her regimen also includes a lot of male-bashing. “I fight against men in practice, because they hit a lot harder. I tend to get a lot of bruises all over. My right arm was entirely black not long ago and I had a monster bruise on my face from a headbutt I took in Hungary.”

Her continued efforts at world pugilistic dominance recommence on Jan. 16 in championships in Pointe Claire, where she’ll be battling again to maintain her ranking. “I’ll train hard, and there are good boxers there, but I will win.” :