Boxer and Tossgirl Interview

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-Lyriene
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As we look at the 10-year history of e-sports, we can easily notice that there have been a lot of people who have protected e-sports as one. Without their efforts, there might not have been e-sports as we know now.
If we were to ignore the efforts of people who built e-sports, it would have crumbled long time ago. BoxeR, who has secured the position as the ‘emperor’ of e-sports, and ToSsGirL, who continues to try her best as the ‘empress’ are perhaps the biggest pillars of e-sports. The two have spread e-sports and stand as the representative among all the players.
Despite the 10-year history, the two are still on top of their fields. Some people even say “even if I don’t follow e-sports, I know Boxer and Tossgirl.” That’s how much they stand above other players.
As people who secured the best spots in 10 years of e-sports, we wonder what they are planning for 2010. Daily Esports has interviewed the two as a Lunar New Year special.



=Already 10-years old

Daily Esports - It must’ve been a while since you guys have met like this

Tossgirl: I think it’s the first time since the Heritage match. Nice to meet you again.

Boxer: We did see each other in the preliminary although we didn’t get a chance to say hi to another. This preliminary was really important for me and Tossgirl. We both wanted to concentrate on the games, so we only acknowledged each other.


- How do you feel now that you’ve met after a long time?

Boxer: Nothing has changed since the first time I saw her. She’s already in her mid-20s (laughs). Honestly, I think it would be worse to say that she has changed in her mid-20s (laughs). I think it’ll be more apologetic to say that she hasn’t.

Tossgirl: Boxer knows me well (laughs). I like being the same person I used to be. As I get a year or two older, telling someone that they changed only means that they look older (laughs). It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him in formal clothes, and I think he became better-looking. As you get older, you become more veteran-like (laughs). I feel a comfortable and relaxing aura around him (laughs).



- Now that I think about it, you both have aged a lot. Do you notice anything different because of your ages?

Tossgirl: When my picture gets uploaded on an article, people write “look at those wrinkles” or “Tossgirl’s so old” in them. It first bothered me when someone write that I’ve gotten chubbier, but now that I’m in my mid-20s, those comments are everywhere

Boxer: My endurance has changed. I can feel myself grow weaker every day. Last year, I was sick very frequently. I got a lot of cold, and experienced for the first time what enteritis feels like. After I noticed that my body wasn’t the same, I began to work out so it’s a lot better now. Other than my health, now that I hit 30, a lot of little things began to conflict with my mind. If I even get a little stress or get sick, my skin gets messed up right away. In the past, it healed pretty quickly, but I really have to work at it for it to get better. The things that used to be easy are now hard and I feel that everything I did easily in my 20’s cannot be done the same way in my 30’s.

Tossgirl: It hurts me to think that you feel that way when you’re not in your 40’s.

Boxer: You’ll know when you’re in your 30’s too. It comes fast (laughs).

Tossgirl: That’s why I’m listening to everything you say.



- You seemed to have changed a lot in your 30’s. What do you want to tell Tossgirl, who has almost entered her 30’s as well?

Boxer: In their 20’s, people tend to play and work, and play and work repetitively. If you do that, you have to work intensely in your 30’s. However, if you work a lot in your 20’s, you can take rest of your life off rather easily.

Tossgirl: I understand that. Although I didn’t think about my future too much yet, I’m definitely working harder than I was in my early 20’s. I didn’t know how to get around this whole age dilemma, but now that I hear from an older progamer, I feel that this is wisdom. Honestly, Boxer has achieved so much in his life that he is like my role model.

=Boxer and Tossgirl worry about e-sports

- To people, Boxer and Tossgirl still are the icons of e-sports

Boxer: You have to bother the rank 1 player. I was harassed so much when I was rank 1 and it makes sense that the representation of e-sports should be its best player. I can’t keep this spot forever. But honestly, this is a really good thing for me. The fact that a lot of places call me up for things is still important for my self-advertisement. But if I were to look at it from broader point of view, this isn’t a good thing. There needs to be someone who should replace me, but none of the players not the teams even bother thinking about it. It’s bad.
We need to put more sense of duty for the rank 1 player. Rather than people simply saying “I want to play as well as him”, there needs to be someone who can act as a role model for progamers and life, but it’s a problem that I’m still in that spot. It’s a good thing to be acting as a role-model for people, but there can’t only be 1. More people with different styles should represent e-sports, and that way, e-sports will become more in depth.
I don’t think players think that they need anything else but skill. Experiencing that records and numbers aren’t everything is important, but there aren’t that many chances for that.



Tossgirl: I agree 100% with Boxer. I worked out of e-sports scene a lot of times as well, and people seem to notice me a lot. Players only worry about their skills and records, so many people who aren’t familiar with e-sports still think that Boxer is rank 1. It’s not something that we can laugh about. If only we as players acknowledge each other, there isn’t going to be any advancement, but many players are satisfied with the way things are now.

- Does that mean there needs to be more advertisements?

Boxer: Simply playing a lot of games to show good results doesn’t have any meaning. I don’t get why people are swimming in a small pond. Rather than playing one or two games to make myself more famous and to raise my salary, I think it’s more important to give one more interview. Although Jaedong and Flash recently have won their individual leagues, they didn’t do much outside of the scene. It feels like they didn’t do something to spread their names around. Progamers should always think to themselves “whenever I’m doing well, let’s spread e-sports”.
It is true that records do affect their salaries, but they mustn’t forget that advertising e-sports and becoming the center of attention also raise salaries.

Tossgirl: I think there are players who need better numbers, and those who need more fame. For me, I’m in the mindset that I can cause an issue if I do well, so I’m practicing hard right now. The best players need to think how they can cause a lot of issues.

= You both aged enough… when are you planning to marry?

- Do a lot of people ask when you are going to get married?

Boxer: It’s starting to annoy me (laughs). The fact that I’m 31 years old makes people question that more. Honestly, my family pressures me a lot more than the public. However, marriage in midst of being a player doesn’t really cut through for me. For a person who plays games while his eyes are open until his eyes are shut, is there a luxury of marriage? I don’t think so. Even when SC2 comes out, I plan to be a player, so due to my greed of being a player, I think it’s right to push back my marriage.



Tossgirl: I remember when January was asked this a lot in the past. But when she got married not too long ago, I was bombarded with these questions (laughs). Marriage for females comes at an earlier age than for males, so it’s obvious that people ask this a lot. But I don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t have interest in marriage (laughs). I think I’ll marry very late. Although it’s a woman’s dream to marry, for ones who have goals to achieve, it’s right for it to come later.

= The emperor and the empress reveal their 2010 goals

- I think there are new goals for 2010 for you two

Boxer: Honestly, after I dropped out of the preliminaries, I’m in a panic mode. I don’t know if I can say this, but I thought this would be the last preliminary that I would attempt as a SC1 player. Therefore, I refused to televise my matches in order to focus despite the fact that a lot of fans wanted to see me. I’m planning to think about this sufficiently to make the correct decision. To continue trying as a Starcraft gamer, or to try something new, I will probably make the decision after this break. I didn’t decide on anything yet. I can participate in the preliminaries again. I hope everyone trusts me with my decision. I won’t decide on anything that will hurt me.

Tossgirl: Honestly, the title “Empress” burdened me a bit. Because I was the only female gamer, all the spotlight focused on me. I sometimes hope a different female player appears to take some away from me (laughs). However, now I’m comfortable. I don’t have the desire to look prettier anymore, and I only hope that I can do well now. I learned that hard work doesn’t betray you. I also learned that you get the results according to how much you try. I think of myself as a student. I hope to rise higher as an STX student, so I will try harder.



- Anything else for fans?

Boxer: I hope to have good time with family whom I haven’t met in a while. Don’t eat too much food at once and become sick, but instead have a safe New Year’s. I’ll come back as a new Boxer.

Tossgirl: I hope this year’s New Year’s leaves a lot of memories for family. I hope you achieve all your dreams this year. Fighting!

-Original Article-
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I have to say.. they actually kinda look good together

2/25/10
Edit: Here's a little bonus that dailyesports uploaded. Eye candy!
Boxer:
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Tossgirl:
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