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Women’s Boxing: Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton!

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Women’s Boxing:  Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton!

Ana Julaton signing Topps Trading Cards

Hey, remember Topps Trading Cards?

Well, guess who is getting one?

Give up?

The first female boxer in the history of Topps Trading Cards is being honored with a trading card of her own — and she is none other than the current Women’s WBO Super Bantamweight Champion, Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton.  I guess you could say that women’s boxing is finally coming into it’s own!

The popular Philippine-American women’s boxer has been added to the collection along with fellow Wild Card Boxing denizen and countryman Manny Pacquiao!  

They will be featured in the 2011 Arthur & Ginter Framed Autographed Collector’s Item set to be randomly inserted into Topps hobby and retail trading card packs.

And in case you are unfamiliar with Ana Julaton (8-2-1, 1 KO), here’s a video of her last title defense against  #1 contender Franchesca “The Chosen One” Alcanter (18-10-1, 9 KO’s).

It’s been one of those crazy days …

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It’s been one of those crazy days …

Up too early after going to bed too late. No time for yoga. Everyone in the family really, really touchy by half. Raining … again. Too much work, but not enough time.  Oh … you know the drill … kvetch, kvetch, kvetch!

When in doubt … grab the popcorn and declare it a movie night!

Tonight’s recommendation isn’t even about boxing per se, but, with a hat tip to Girlboxing pal Christopher Shelton, there’s nothing like a terrific John Ford movie to make everything feel great and grand again.

The film in question is his 1946 rendition of the Shootout at the Ok Corral as rendered in the classic film My Darling Clementine.  The movie stars Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Ward Bond, Linda Darnell, Cathy Downs and the great Walter Brennan.

And for those of you who want to know the true history of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and Bat Masterson in Tombstone, check out Christopher Shelton’s interview on the history of the town plus its place in the history of boxing in the “Wild West” (who knew!!!) The link is here. (The interview is entitled “Wyatt Earp boxing referee scandal.”)

Trailer for My Darling Clementine:

Shakespeare in Tombstone:

The famous Barber and Dance sequences — yep, that’s Henry Fonda in his go-to-meeting duds.

The movie is available from Netflix and from other outlets for video streaming online.

PS — if you’d like to see a classic western tonight, here is the great and wonderful Stagecoach starring a very young John Wayne, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Tim Holt, and Clair Trevor!  As the movie is in the public domain, you can watch the entire film for free on YouTube!

Hopkins v. Pascal 2!

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Hopkins v. Pascal 2!

HOPKINS V PASCAL 2

As Girlboxing readers know, I am a woman of a certain age, so watching Bernard Hopkins school young Jean Pascal with skill, tenacity, grit and a master’s knowledge of the game was sweet vindication indeed for the misjudging their first battle received back in December 2010 when Hopkins obvious win was put into the draw column.

Hopkins, a Philadelphia fighter out of the old school, fought his battle with the strength of character and deep understanding of the nuances of the sweet science that has kept him fighting since turning his life around as a young man.  Still, to watch Bernard whose antics in the ring are the stuff of legend was to watch a side of boxing that this generation’s new technicians seem to have lost in translation: that boxing is about heart, soul and bringing oneself into the ring in a kind of symbiotic relationship with the audience who rises and falls with each blistering jab and upper cut.

And so it was last night with Bernard’s right hand leads that towards the latter part of the fight seemed to take Jean Pascal’s breath away and brought the capacity crowd who’d booed Hopkins in the early rounds solidly into his corner.

With this win, Bernard Hopkins enters the history books as the oldest fighter to win a major boxing title, in this case the light heavyweight WBC, IBO and The Ring magazine titles, surpassing only the great George Foreman.  He also improves his lifetime professional record to 52-5-2.

In thinking about it, Bernard has seen a lot of fighting and only he truly knows where this will lead him.  As an elite athlete he has long viewed his body as a temple and in “walking the walk” so to speak has eschewed the pitfalls of life outside of the ring in favor of an ethos of right living. Still, Bernard was rocked more than once last night by Pascal’s powerful rights and lefts, and the cumulative weight of a lot of punches over the years can humble even the greatest of fighters. Hopkins has spent his career avoiding getting tagged, however, in his fights with Pascal, he has had to adjust to the quicker hand speed of the younger fighter by putting more of himself into the game. That makes it particularly exciting for those of us who love a great fight, but it is for Bernard to know and for us to say amen, when he hangs up the gloves for good as Bernard says, when he is “about 50.”

Something about the end of the world …

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Something about the end of the world …

The media, social media included has been all “atwitter,” if you will about Harold Camping’s prognostication that the world will end today at 6:00 PM.

I suppose what fascinates me is the seeming groundswell of fascination with the idea of it.  Does it tweak some secret fear? Remind of us of the many problems we face that might bring about a rapture? Chart our path for how to right our many wrongs?

Meanwhile, we continue to go about our lives.  Some of us happy and content, others in despair.  Not that I actually want to have an end of the world pity party here, but from where I sit, we are always, ultimately at that edge.

Life for all of its incredible force ends all the time.  Some ends are well attended by loved ones others regretful and awful and some even violent and pointless.  And some of those deaths do indeed “end” the world — the world of a family, a village, a nation, until it is reborn into some new configuration.  Not exactly rapture, but change nonetheless.

Is our fascination with the end of the world  really just the fear of a sudden e-n-d — and if so, shouldn’t we be doing something about that?

No, we can’t make it go away, but we can live our lives with a little more intention.  A little more thought to the idea that this really could be a last day and with that in mind, ask the questions about how satisfied we really are with what we’ve designed for ourselves. Are we kind enough? Focused enough? Do we share our largess? Help others overcome pain? And importantly, are we kind enough to ourselves?

Today, I’ll write, do some yoga, box with Len Blackmore, see a friend for lunch, hang with my family, work on a grad school paper and watch the Pascal v. Hopkins fight.  All and all a pretty good last day … and if I’m blessed enough to wake up tomorrow, that last day will have similar features.  A day I can feel good about having pushed for myself and others.  That’s really all we can do until …

Women’s Boxing Upcoming Championship Bouts!

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Women’s Boxing Upcoming Championship Bouts!

Mariana Juárez

>>>UPDATE>>>

In front of a crowd of 5,000 people cheering, “Mexico, Mexico,” Mariana Juarez defended her WBC Flyweight title against Gabriela Bouvier from Uruguay and won by TKO in the 7th round. With the stoppage by the Referee, Mariana’s record improved to an impressive 29-5-2 with 14 KOs.

Coming up this Saturday, May 21, 2011, Mexico’s Mariana Juarez (28-5-3, 13 KOs) will be defending her first Women’s WBC flyweight world title challenge against Uruguay’s undefeated Gabriela Bouvier (6-0-1).  The bout will be held at the Entertainment Center of Morelia Michoacán in Mexico.  The fight will co-feature two other title fights and is promoted by Boxeo de Gala.  For those who might not remember, Juarez captured her title by defeating Simona Galassi on March 11th.  There is no word on a media outlet as yet, however, my guess is you’ll be able to find it as a video streaming event.

Kaliesha "Wild Wild" West

Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West (13-1-2, KO’s 4) is defending her Women’s WBO Bantamweight title as the main boxing event on the “IFS8: Mass Destruction” fight card featuring MMA & Muy Thai bouts!  No opponent has been announced as yet.

The fight, promoted by Red Scorpion Promotions will be held on June 18, 2011 in the Pico Rivera Sports Arena in Pico Rivera, California.  For folks in California, ticket information can be obtained from Team West @ lbchoyas@yahoo.com or (240) 498-1478. There is no word yet on a media outlet for the event, but I’ll bet it’ll be available on streaming video so watch for it!

More rain in BKLYN, but not until the afternoon …

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More rain in BKLYN, but not until the afternoon …

That means plenty of time to run baby run around the block, the park or the gym.  Yep, road work!

In my case, knees being what they are today — kind of stiff and ornery if morning yoga is any indication —  it’ll mean some brisk walks on my short “hops” to work and back, and maybe even a lunch time walk if I can unchain myself (okay that’s figuratively) from my desk.

Mind you, there was a time when I loved nothing better than to run for an hour or so around Central Park.  In those days, my knees where slim and cooperative and full of a lovely bounce, especially up the 110th Street hill!

Oh well.

Still, I miss it sometimes and thought it would be fun to add some links to videos about road work from around the web.

Here’s a YouTube video from Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero:

Road work  in Central Park (in the snow) with Coach Nelson:

Coach Rick from Philly with “La Chica Mala”:

Another rainy day in Brooklyn!

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Another rainy day in Brooklyn!

Whew.  Really hard to do roadwork today!  So … what to do?  Bake bread?

I’d say, shadow box around the living room and feel happy!

Feel inspired??  Here’s some music to shadowbox to!

Things to do about boxing on a rainy day, read “The Sweetest Thing”!

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Things to do about boxing on a rainy day, read The Sweetest Thing!

It seems as if the East Coast of the US is in for several more days of rain.  That might put a damper on roadwork, not to mention flare up old knee aches.  If you decide that inside is better than out and can’t bring yourself to watching yet another network TV show … First and foremost, get on over to your nearest bookstore, or try the internet version of “ring, ring” to buy Girlboxing friend Mischa Merz’s fabulous new book …

The Sweetest Thing: A Boxer’s Memoir.

Part memoir, part wonderful reportage, this must read book about women’s boxing inside and outside of the ring is as engaging as it is insightful about what it takes to be an elite athlete in the sport.

As Lucia Rijker wrote, The Sweetest Thing is, “A beautiful journal-like book [that] documents the ins and outs of female boxing from behind the scene.”

I think you’ll agree that Mischa has captured the heart and soul of the sport as she not only describes such things as the relationship between fighter and trainer, but what it takes to win and lose in a sport that has only recently started to garner a modicum of the respect it deserves.

Mischa is also one of the sport’s champions in her own right and has become an important voice in promulgating what is best about the sport.

So Girlboxing friends, if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to hit your local bookseller (or online equivalent) to get a copy of Mischa’s book and start reading!

Women’s boxing: a couple of stories from around the web!

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Women’s boxing: a couple of stories from around the web!

Head on over to the New York Daily News for a great piece about Sparkle Lee, a renowned boxing referee in New York and New Jersey.  A lover of the sport who took up training in the 1980’s at Gleason’s Gym, Sparkle never took up the gloves in her own right, but the pro’s loss has been the ring’s gain as she has plied her trade as a the “third (wo)man” for nearly twenty years.  Kudo’s to Christopher O’Brien for his inspiring article! The must read link is here.

Over at WBAN, Bernie McCoy has a terrific piece up on Terri Moss.  Known as “The Boss,” Terri Moss boxed professionally before going over to the other side to run the Decatur Boxing Club in Atlanta.  She also recently been named Women’s Boxing Chairman for the Champions of Dignity Association (CODA).  CODA is a new sanctioning organization whose proceeds will be used to support the Retired Boxers Foundation.  Otherwise, Terri Moss pulls off two corporate charity events a year to benefit Atlanta’s many charities.  The link to the article is here.

Ides of May!

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Ides of May!

Bluebell Wood, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

I don’t know about all of you, but this year is going F-A-S-T.  Not that I exactly want to call a halt, but maybe a touch of the pause button to assess where things are and where they’re going!

Meaning, am I on track for where I wanted to be?  Are there things I haven’t gotten to yet that really *are* a priority??  Have I been wasting my time on something to avoid the things I need to be doing???

It figures that I’d hit upon this as the rain is starting to come down in Brooklyn, not exacting “raining on my parade,” but giving me a moment to wonder if I need to reprioritize a little with the snippets of time I do have outside of working and family and all of the rest, to make sure body and soul will get through the year without too much of a sweat.

Things I’ve discovered?  

1. Yoga at 5:00 in the morning is hard to sustain to the point where I’ve been doing it in fits and starts since the end of April. So beginning Monday, I’m cutting it back to three days at week at 5:30 AM for 20-30 minutes at a time to see how that goes.

2. Boxing once a week is a TREASURE, but as my friend YBS Talking notes, Saturday-only boxing means that I’m only treading water physically. Solution?? Pick-up one after-work session during the week. Given time constraints I can build it around three sets of 4-rounds each of activity and do light roadwork (slow jog or fast walk) to aid the cardio.  It’ll mean I have to work on things on my own, but with stamina as the goal, that should be all right.

3. The Daily Something.  I’ve really been trying on that one viewing writing this blog as a sort of sacrosanct bit of my own that I can work on.  I’m also okay with having missed an occasional day — kind of like “gone fishing” moments,  but otherwise still love putting a piece out into the ether on a daily basis. What I’m striving for now is to work through a short list of ideas for more extended pieces which I’ll start to put out over the next several weeks.  Other than that, not only is Girlboxing my daily something, but also a “sure thing” when it comes to the joy department!  So thanks to everyone out there for listening!

4. Balancing out all the rest!  This is the toughest one and I’m not so certain how successful I’ve been at this lately.  Suffice to say, my husband is the true champion for supporting me in all of this, and I mean all of it from me waking up before dawn on through writing papers for school from morning till night on weekends. And he supports me through all of it with a great big smile — even when he feels that I love my computer more than I love him!  My daughter has also been a great booster and I cannot say enough about how proud I am of her and of her accomplishments.

And so it goes … not exactly mid-way through the year, but close on as summer continues to beckon us all along (in the northern hemisphere that is!).

I can only hope that your year has gone as well!

Waiting for the end to come.

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Waiting for the end to come.

Today was one of those gym days when if found myself waiting for the end. Whether it was the end of the round, the end of the set, or the end of the training session, my entire body seemed to be keeping rhythm to the “why are we here?” mantra.

We’re talking muscles yelling at me, head throbbing from a migraine, lungs shouting “wtf!?!” and legs that refused to bend.  Len (bless him) was a sweetheart about it and aside from a half-hearted, “wake-up, wake-up” during our first round on the focus pads, figured it was best to just go with the low-flow of energy.

Still, I did manage to get through the entire circuit, and even picked up some energy towards the end of my last couple of rounds on the double-ended bag and during my speed bag rounds.  By then I realized that by working it all out on the bag, I was finding a way to push through the physical morass and even found myself working a little past the bell on the last two rounds.

On the sit-up chair it was pretty much more of the same, but at least the head-throbbing was gone by then, and now that I’m home and adequately “coffee’d”,  I’m actually starting to feel a smile coming on.

So, what does it all mean?  I guess to haul your booty out the door anyway even if you’re feeling like dog-doo.  In my case, because I’m on a once-a-week schedule, I really feel that I have to go regardless — and let’s face it, while I’m still not at 100%, having made it through, I feel energized if only because I did complete the circuit. And who knows, I might even find the energy for a run later in the day.  I’ll see how it goes.

Saturday night at the amateurs!

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Saturday night at the amateurs!


Girlboxing friend Gleason’s Gym will be sponsoring an amateur fight night show on Saturday night, May 14th!

As usual, Angela Querol has been playing matchmaker to put together a terrific evening of juniors, seniors and master bouts!  The weigh-in begins at 4:00 PM and the first bout is slated to start at 6:00 PM.

The amateur fight card is sanctioned by USABoxingMetro — and will be A LOT of fun so, bring your pals, kids and family for a terrific evening of boxing!!!

Oh, and if you can’t get down to Gleason’s Gym catch it live on the internet on www.gofightlive.tv  with Gleason’s own Champion Sonya Lamonakis providing the blow-by-blow commentary!

For further information contact Gleason’s Gym @ 718-797-2872.  Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20 per person.  All gym members and registered amateurs with their books in hand pay $15 per person.  Kids 6 and under are free.  Gleason’s is located at 77 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY, Dumbo!

Thursday night at the fights!

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Thursday night at the fights!

Well, why not!  It may feel great to train, but it is also fabulous to watch!

I thought it might be fun to find some recent women’s bouts and with a huge shout out to the denizens of YouTube, I’ve linked to a smattering of some of the latest uploads I could find! Who needs Showtime, HBO Boxing or ESPN when we’ve got YouTube, right??   Enjoy!

The first bout is from Gleason’s Gym’s recent all Female Amateur Boxing Card!

Great Boxing from Argentina: Roxana Baron vs. Maria Potenza. The fight starts about 5:00 minutes in.

And another great one from Argentina with two skilled boxers: Debora Dionicius vs. Norma Diza Caucota.

Getting the skinny on Women’s Boxing!

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Getting the skinny on Women’s Boxing!

Women's Boxing, Photo: Nathan W. Armes

Finding resources about Women’s Boxing can be a real challenge!  Take if from me, I google “women’s boxing” and “female boxing” at least once a day under the news tab and often come away with the same three dull stories and barely a word on results.

That’s where our friends at Women Boxing Network Archive (WBAN) come in!  Their website is a fabulous resource for just about everything you need to know about Women’s Boxing from amateur bouts through the latest results of pro-boxing battles across the globe.  WBAN is also a terrific resource for upcoming events, boxer’s biographies and photographs, not to mention their series of wonderful articles on the history of Women’s Boxing.

WBAN is the brainchild of Sue “Tiger Lily” Fox, one of the true trailblazers of the sport.   Sue fought as a professional boxer in the 1970’s, but her love of the sport never abated for a moment and propelled her to start the WBAN website nearly 13 years ago in June 1998.

Chevelle Hallback and Holly Holm at the weigh-in for their March 2010 “Warrior Vengeance” fight

To mark the tenth anniversary of WBAN’s presence on the web in 2008, WBAN created their own “Best of the Best” independent world title belt and chose two of the sport’s greatest, Holly Holm and Chevelle Hallback, as the first honorees.

Readers hankering for access to WBAN’s extensive archive of data can also purchase a membership subscription for unlimited access to boxing records, photographs and even streaming videos at minimum cost.

So next time you have a hankering for everything you can possibly learn about women’s boxing, click on WBAN – Women Boxing Archive Network. (You’ll find a permanent link listed under Boxing Blogs.)

And next time you stop by WBAN, give a shout-out to Sue “TL” Lyon for her steadfast dedication to the sport of Women’s Boxing!

Cool Jerk

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Cool Jerk

I went to my first dance when I graduated from the sixth grade. It was 1966 and, in and of itself, the dance with its steady stream of soul music was pretty amazing as a punctuation mark on my childhood.

Coming out of my school in the early evening, I felt the power of what embarking on a new road meant. Okay, not exactly how I would describe 7th Grade at I.S. 44 on West 77th Street — or the move from my beloved downtown to the upper west side of Manhattan, but I didn’t know that at the time and as tears stung my eyes, I felt elated by the prospect of engaging the unknown.

The next morning, I remember coming downstairs early and sitting on the stoop with my brand new AM/FM transistor radio in hand — a birthday present from my grandmother.

By then I had discovered jazz on WLIB-FM and the other stations on each end of the dial. Those were the cool stations, the ones that played jazz and soul 24-7.

Sitting there watching the world unfold in the light breeze of the early morning air I felt invincible.

It’s a feeling I get from boxing sometimes, when going through my paces I feel completely in tune.  I have it traveling too; walking down a back street in a town, listening to the refrains of life as I pass my, a walking spirit through countless unseen lives.

Later that day, the song Cool Jerk by the group The Capitals came on.  That song was like a hyped-up tonic to me and seemed to optimize the feeling I had of beginning a new journey. Every time I listened to it that summer I felt the thrill of it – and even now if I want a giant pick-me-up I’ll just play that song and something will kick-in to bring on a great big smile.

Yep, I felt like the heaviest cat, the world had ever seen.