Isis Sio makes Las Vegas home as Mayweather club feels familiar

Isis Sio, 19, has made Las Vegas her home after years of travelling from North Dakota to train in the city. The move has placed her closer to the gyms, fighters and trainers she previously experienced only during visits.

Mayweather Boxing Club is already a comfortable part of that new routine. Sio had trained there on earlier trips and knows several people at the gym, giving her a familiar place while she adjusts to a new city, schedule and boxing community.

That familiarity has not led her to commit to the club permanently. Sio intends to visit different gyms, work with a range of people and decide over time which environment suits her best. She is approaching the move as a period of exploration rather than making an immediate long-term choice.

Las Vegas has also widened her access to the sport. Sio has attended the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame and met former world champions James “Lights Out” Toney and Antonio Tarver while continuing to train around the city. She has described the local boxing network as far larger than the one she knew in North Dakota, with more opportunities to learn from experienced fighters and coaches.

The move carries a cultural dimension as well. Growing up in North Dakota, Sio had limited contact with a large Polynesian community. Las Vegas offers her more opportunities to connect with Samoan and Polynesian people and to spend greater time around that part of her identity.

For now, Sio is concentrating on training, meeting people and settling into life in Las Vegas. She has not fixed a specific role or direction for her future in boxing, and the Mayweather club remains one familiar part of a wider search for the right fit.