For the Washington Post magazine, a story about one of D.C.’s greatest and least-heralded athletes, 42-year-old champion boxer Tori Nelson: her improbable journey and her reluctance to quit.

Outside the ring, Nelson is, in the words of her friend and fellow boxer Tyrieshia Douglas, “a nice churchy lady.” She spends half an hour each day reading and discussing Bible verses with her longtime boyfriend. She’s a hugger, a baby nuzzler, a bestower of silly nicknames. Then she enters the ring and something terrifying emerges, something that won’t let her stop punching until she has annihilated the person in the opposite corner.

Photo by Calla Kessler for the Washington Post.