The Knockout Journey of Kambry Risner

The Knockout Journey of Kambry Risner

Ellen Keaton

The Ashland Beacon

Kambry Risner is the daughter of Kem and Sherry Risner and graduated from Boyd County High School on May 23, 2025. She plans to continue her education at ACTC and pursue a degree in accounting, with hopes of landing a position at a large company upon graduation.

Kambry has an infectious smile and quiet demeanor, but don’t let the innocent looks and shy voice fool you! Just over a year ago, she found her true passion…boxing. Kambry tells me, “I had a friend that was boxing and asked me to go with her. I thought I was just going to go for the training and to get in shape. But then Tom Hanshaw, my trainer, said I should fight and so I tried it and love it!”

Kambry fights for the Westwood Boys & Girls Club and is now trained by Travis Hanshaw, a former professional fighter himself. Kambry has quite the following and is known to her boxing friends as “Bam-Bam.” She was one of three from the club to win state and regional matches and advance to the Silver Gloves in Independence, MO this past January, where she finished in third place nationwide.

Travis Hanshaw says, “Kambry is our team captain and leader. We are one big family, and she is the big sis that holds the group together. She has a bright future in boxing. It just shows you that smart girls can fight too.” Kambry hopes to continue boxing for many years to come and perhaps go into coaching in the future.

During her time at Boyd County, she served on the yearbook committee, pep club, was certified in culinary food safety management, and participated in choir. “If I had to choose a favorite teacher it would be Mr. Bowling, my choir teacher,” she said. “He has always been supportive of us. If we had a bad day, we could always talk to him. He’s just been a great teacher.”

The students graduating this year spent the last months of their 7th-grade year and much of their 8th-grade year doing schoolwork online during the COVID shutdown. She said, “We lost so much during that time. All of the things we should have learned…we didn’t. Our freshman year, the teachers worked really hard to catch us up and teach us the things we missed…especially like in math and English, so it kinda set us back. It also affected our social life. I went almost a whole year and didn’t talk to anyone but family, so when I went back to school it was like I didn’t know how to talk to people…it was really awkward.” She went on to say that the clubs at school and choir really helped her to make friends and gain her footing socially again.

Kambry also said her parents were very important to her success. “They have always been very supportive of anything I wanted to do. If I needed help with my schoolwork, they would help me…or at least try to help me,” she laughed, continuing, “It’s a little out of their time to learn new math and all that.”

Sherry Risner, Kambry’s mom, shared that she was a miracle child. “Even though the odds were against her being in this world, God had a bigger plan. She has always been our happy-go-lucky girl and has a heart of gold. She brings a calmness to our lives…except maybe the boxing adventure, which is a little stressful for me to watch sometimes. It’s been such a blessing and privilege to be her mom. I have tried to teach her to never let the bad in this world change her and to keep her faith and trust in God.”

Kambry’s parting thoughts were for incoming freshmen: “Take part in all the clubs, sports, and activities you can. You meet so many people and make lifetime friendships. You get to know not just the ones in your class/grade but people from other classes too. Just soak it all up—it goes by really fast.”

Best wishes, Kambry, for your future—wherever it may take you.