Story and Photos by Hilary Nichols
“That’s life,” Jasmine Hampton reports cheerfully from training camp. If she is anything, she is a good sport. Hampton is a two-time Junior Olympics champion boxer and 11x national champion with a record of 106-17 or so. She was enrolled in the Olympic Training camp with US Boxing in Colorado Springs as an alternate, even though she won her weight class. The selection process can seem arbitrary, but she is happy to train in any case. Born and raised in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, I met Hampton as the cool high school kid who lived down the street. I got to know her as she became a champion basketball player and track star first. It has been a treat to witness her devotion to the task every step of the way.
She has had an impact as an athlete, a student, and as a friend—always giving her all. Her teammate, Torianna Jackson, from Pioneer High School’s track team affirmed, “There is no stopping, Jasmine. She was a triple threat. First, she’s running sprints and then I turn around and she’s throwing shot put. She is just good at everything she does.” Jackson beams. “I just love her. I would do anything for her, ‘cause that’s the way she is, too.” Jackson continued, “She is there for her friends. She will drop her entire day to help someone if she can. She’s all heart, and it shows up in everything she does.” Her Pioneer high school psychology teacher and coach, Jodi Smith, remembered Hampton as “always extremely resilient and determined. No matter how hard things were, Jasmine was determined to outwork it and outlast the hardships. She humbled herself to ask for help and advice when others may have been too proud.” Smith boasts of her former student, as she points to a framed photo of Hampton included in her gallery of student heroes on her office wall.
School years weren’t always easy for Hampton. Moving between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti schools had its own challenges. When I asked her how she got into boxing she said, “The kids in Ypsi used to beat us up ‘cause we were from Ann Arbor. I had to learn to stand up for myself.” Hampton’s mother, Claudia, signed up her youngest daughter at the age of 10 to train at the A-Square Fight Club. She took to it right away. “Jasmine is a true champion, very competitive and deserving of the title,” club owner Eric McGuire said of Hampton’s 19 -16 Junior Olympic National Champion win, as a 15-year-old. “She has a very high boxing IQ and responds to instruction very quickly.”
Hampton’s drive is her defining characteristic. I asked her how she found the motivation and her answer came quick. “My mom.” Claudia Hampton made every effort to be at her daughter’s games and catch all her matches whenever she was able to. “She was always my biggest fan and supporter,” Hampton reported with pride. “My mom always talked me up. She told everyone that I was a nurse, when I was a medical assistant, and that I was the champ, even before I qualified.” That devotion was clear and coveted even though it wasn’t always easy for her mother to make it to the ringside. “She caught my events even if that meant having to get wi-fi from her hospital bed to catch a bout.” Her mother passed away in January 2022. Hampton was devastated, but she channeled her grief and got back to work. She qualified for Olympic trials that March, even with the loss of her biggest fan as her fuel. That was when she claimed the #DoItForClaudia hashtag. Her career has been unstoppable ever since. As I write this, Hampton is ranked number one in the US at the 119lb (54 kg) weight class, and she is qualified and climbing at her 125lb (57kg) weight class, where she packs a real punch. In 2023 she joined Detroit’s Superbad boxing gym. Her new coach LJ Harris was quickly impressed. “Jasmine has always been a great boxer, but since training her I can say she has matured and understands more, that hard work is taking her talent to another level.” Harris said, “She works extremely hard. She needed a hard push and that’s what she is getting now. I have no doubt she will be a world champion.” Hampton and her team have a plan, and she is on point: to train, fight, and win in each and every opportunity that comes her way. All to build her resume on the road to becoming an Olympic champion and then a professional boxer.
However, success comes at a cost. US Boxing training and competing is an expensive pursuit. Hampton has to take on a lot of travel to be able to advance, and shifting her full focus to boxing has meant that she hasn’t been able to maintain a traditional job. At training camp, the alternates are not paid for their grueling five months of full-time participation for the team. From reading an article on MLive, a neighbor took notice and offered to host a fundraiser for Hampton. It was there that Jeff Hauptman of Oxford Properties Group got involved. “I met Jasmine through a city council person who was asked to help her raise the funds necessary to enter competitions. After meeting with Jasmine, it was clear that she was someone worth helping out.” Hauptman shared that “Jasmine’s determination and strength of character are inspiring! With help from Mike Schmidt and Kelly Davis, David Barfield, Greg Rose, and Nick Suino from Oxford Properties, we bought Jasmine a car.” Now Hampton could keep up with her training and travels. “We worked on helping her in her athletic pursuits, but Greg Rose and his wife, Tonya, are the real saints.”
With a busy traveling competition schedule, Hampton needed to find a home for her dog Nacho while she was away. Greg Rose and his wife Tonia welcomed Nacho to join their many dogs. And then they realized that Hampton was couch surfing, so they welcomed her into their home as well. Tonia Rose proposed, “The dog’s already at home here, you need to be at home here, too.” They had a guest suite with its own entrance. “It was supposed to be short term, but I wouldn’t let her leave. She is my kid now we just love her.” Rose gushed. “She was a little lost soul after she lost her mom,” Tonia Rose continued. “We just know we were meant to cross paths. We support her in every way. It was meant to be. She is the baby of the family now.” Jasmine Hampton calls her Mama T. and even while she’s away training, they talk every day. Mama T sighed. “It really solidified [the idea that] this kid needs me, and I need this kid.”
Being on team Jasmine can be really rewarding. As friends, neighbors, supporters, and fans gather to fundraise, uplift, and cheer her on, Hampton passes out t-shirts to her donors. They are black with red and blue boxing gloves that read, “Big Jas - All Grit.” Since her mother passed amongst a series of other tough losses, Hampton had to dig deep to find what it takes to go on. “All Grit” is more than a tagline. “If she stumbled, she used it to learn, to get back up, and outright refused to fail. She’s an inspiration to all,” said Pioneer Dean of Students, Jodi Smith. This young woman knows what it takes, and she won’t stop short on her way to achieving her goal.
You can cheer for our local champion and support her road to Olympic gold at gofundme.com/f/jasmine-hampton-road-to-gold.
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“That’s life,” Jasmine Hampton reports cheerfully from training camp. If she is anything, she is a good sport. Hampton is a two-time Junior Olympics champion boxer and 11x national champion with a record of 106-17 or so. She was enrolled in the Olympic Training camp with US Boxing in Colorado Springs as an alternate, even though she won her weight class. The selection process can seem arbitrary, but she is happy to train in any case. Born and raised in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, I met Hampton as the cool high school kid who lived down the street. I got to know her as she became a champion basketball player and track star first. It has been a treat to witness her devotion to the task every step of the way.