Submitted photo Zion Hensley fights during the Budo Canada’s Women’s Reign 4 International Female Tournament in Toronto. Hensley won her first international title after defeating Olive Syme.

AUSTINTOWN — A six-time national champion at just 15, Mahoning Valley native Zion Hensley has been a champion many times now. Earlier in June, Hensley earned her seventh title, this time, however, was her first international crown, taking the top spot at Budo Canada’s Women’s Reign 4 International Female Tournament in Toronto.

Hensley won back-to-back fights by unanimous decision against a set of Canadian twins, Grace Syme and Olive Syme, respectively.

This marked Hensley’s first time out of the country, something she was thrilled to experience. It also won’t be the last, as the young fighter has another international tournament coming up, this time south of the border.

“It was amazing. I loved it so much. It was my favorite thing ever,” Hensley said of getting to travel internationally. “Next time, though, I also have another tournament in October that’s going to be in Mexico. It feels just like a great experience, especially getting out of the country, because (winning) in the country is one thing, but now getting out of the country (and winning) is just a whole new experience.”

That win also bumped her up the world rankings. As of February, Hensley was ranked 71st in the world in the bantamweight class and is the fourth-highest ranked American in the class. She’s ranked 46th worldwide in the light flyweight class and is the second-ranked American per BoxRec.com.

Like always, Hensley is already chasing what’s next.

“It’s so special, because last time, I was ranked 71st or something and now I’m in the top 50,” Hensley said. “I’m gonna try to go by 15’s. I’m at top 50 right now in the world, so being top 35 is probably my next goal.”

Hensley has started working with another prominent Youngstown athlete, former Cardinal Mooney star Desmond Marrow, as her strength and conditioning coach.

Marrow owns and operates BTO Fit in Austintown. So far, the pair have complemented each other well.

“It’s actually fun. It’s exciting,” Marrow said. “I gotta do research, it makes me sharpen my tools. Iron sharpens iron. I’m learning from Z, she’s showing me new things that add to my training skills, it’s helping my business as well, so I just appreciate it.

“It pays off a lot. (You look at) social media and you got this little innocent looking girl, but she’s a killer in a ring. Some people don’t believe it when I was posting her. Sometimes the drills look good, but then people want to see are you winning your fights, or are you winning your game, so does it translate to a sport? … Everyone around here admires her because she’s the smallest person in the gym, but she’s the toughest.”

Marrow and Hensley are helping each other grow. Coming from a football skillset, there are some immediate translations to the boxing world. Marrow’s experience in the defensive secondary has given Hensley a great tutor on her footwork, something she’s often talked about wanting to improve.

“I played corner a lot of times, and at corner, they called it ‘the island,’ so you’re literally out there by yourself, one-on-one. In a couple ways, (boxing is) like that. It’s me versus this person, it’s her versus whoever she’s in the ring with, so it’s just like that one-on-one mentality,” Marrow said. “That Kobe mentality, that mamba mentality. ‘You got to lock in. It’s me versus this person. There’s no one else to depend on. I’ve got to come out of this ring victorious.’ I like it.”

With no fights on the schedule until the October bout, Hensley is taking some time to enjoy her summer.

But once that time rolls around to start training, it’ll be back to the “all gas, no brakes” training that’s propelled her up the boxing ladder.

“I’m going to be getting into training like the middle of August, probably until October,” Hensley said. “So I’ll be preparing and working even harder than this last time. I would like to really be on my ‘A’ game because, of course, I need to be. I’m gonna be training even harder, I’m gonna be sweating more and getting more work in.”

Hensley will attend Cardinal Mooney High School in the fall as she works toward getting into Youngstown State University.