Man tried to rob a woman in the street—he had no idea she was an undefeated boxer

The woman was just walking to her gym for training when the robbers started forcing her to give away her phone.

PUBLISHED AUG 6, 2025

(L) A robber trying to rob a woman. (R) A female boxer punching someone. Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Antonio Diaz; Mike Raabe

Sometimes, people decide to mess with the wrong person without a clue. A robber had no idea what he was doing either when he tried to attack a Golden Glove boxer. The then-26-year-old boxer, Clare Quinn, was walking on the street when a robber baffled her and tried to take her phone away. His one action crossed the limits, according to her. So, she decided to fight back in a way that left the robber in total distress, per ABC 7 News.

Woman walking on the street while looking at her phone. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Luis Alvarez

Quinn was on her way to the gym, according to the Chicago Tribune, when the incident occurred on a street in Bucktown. She was walking with her phone in her hand when a teenager asked her for directions to the Nike store. But then an older man walked up behind her and punched her in the head before asking for her phone. The boxer decided to hold onto her phone with her left hand and punched the person with her right hand, known for being her dominant arm in boxing. "I was like, 'Aw, heck no.' He punched me the one time really hard and then after that, I just kept throwing my right hand into his groin." The man kept trying to grab her phone, but eventually gave up and ran away in pain because of the strong punches.

A robber trying to take away a woman's belongings. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Boonchai Wedmakawand

"Eventually, I connected enough that he stumbled away from me," Quinn recounted. The Chicago police confirmed the attack and that the two men ran away in a green sedan afterwards. They hadn't been arrested at that time. The boxer felt that the robbers saw her as a target because she answered the teen's question about the directions and seemed "nice." She added, "One of the reasons I love Chicago is, if you are lost, someone will help you. I’m not a mean person, but after this — literally, all I said to them is, 'It’s a block away,' and with that simple statement, they decided I was their target. That’s something I’m going to remember. I hate it, but I feel like from now on I’m not going to respond, I’m just going to keep walking."

Woman getting ready for a boxing match inside a ring. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Mike Harrington

The woman explained that she didn't think of handing over her phone even once. "A man literally thought he could assault me and get away with it. I was angry and wanted to make him regret picking/targeting me." A pregnant woman helped her and took her to a cafe with other people's help. There, Quinn waited for the police and paramedics. She declined an ambulance ride to the hospital, but woke up with blurred vision and a headache and decided to get checked on. The doctor told Quinn that she had suffered from a concussion. So she went back to her family in Florida for some time to recover. She hoped to get back to boxing soon.

"The sooner I can get back into the gym, the more life will feel normal," Quinn expressed. She had gotten good at her game really quickly and started working at the gym she trained at. She had been undefeated the entire year that year in 2019. "It takes a special kind of person to be able to do what she did. I know many fighters, mostly men, who wouldn’t have been able to do close to what she did. She went all out and I’m very, very proud of her," Trinidad Garcia, her coach and the gym's owner, told the outlet. "I hope she did some damage and it'll teach them a lesson to not do something like that again," he continued, per WGN News. In most situations, people are advised to run and not fight back, according to the police, per the Chicago Tribune.