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The wit and wisdom of the sweet science! Check out http://girlboxing.org

Women’s boxing from around the amateurs!

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Women’s boxing from around the amateurs!

 

AIBA Women's World Championship 2010 in Barbados

Cuban women’s boxing

It seems that Women’s Olympic boxing in 2012 will be minus one potential powerhouse team:  Cuba.  Why?  Well as noted in a piece on Reuters yesterday, “Cuban head coach Pedro Roque was quoted as saying in 2009, when women’s boxing was added to the Olympic programme, that Cuban women “are made for beauty and not to take blows around the head”.

Hmmm.

Meanwhile, AIBA (International Amateur Boxing Association) officials stated yesterday that they are confident that the lure of gold will eventually sway Cuban officials to support women’s boxing at the elite amateur level, perhaps in time for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.  The link to the full article is here.

 

Team USA to compete in prestigious Feliks Stamm Tournament in Warsaw, Poland, April 6-8

The United States along with 15 other nations will take part in three days of competition at the Feliks Stamm Tournament in Warsaw, Poland beginning tomorrow.  The team sported by USA Boxing will consist of 2010 USA Boxing National Championship Silver medalist Tyrieshia Douglas, the 2010 National PAL and USA Boxing National Championship Bronze medalist Stephanie Han and the 2009 National Champion & 2010 National Golden Gloves Champion Alyssa DeFazio.

The team has been training at the Polish Olympic Training Center with the Polish and Italian Team readying for the competition.  As noted by USA Boxing, “the event is the first international competition for the trio of women since the Women’s International Dual Series in Oxnard, Calif., in November and will provide valuable international experience for all the competitors prior to the Olympic debut of women’s boxing in 2012.”  The link to the full article is here.

2011 USA National Championships!

 

2010 USA Boxing National Championships

 

The 2011 USA National Championships are set to run from June 19 – June 26, 2011 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.The published schedule is:

June 19: Arrival/Event Registration
June 20-24: Preliminary – Bronze medal bouts at the Colorado Springs Christian High School
June 25: Championship bouts at the City Auditorium
June 26: Departure

Participant forms are due by June 1st!  The link to USA Boxing’s information sheet is here.

REMINDER: New York City’s own 84th annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Finals!

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REMINDER:  New York City’s own 84th annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Finals!



The Golden Gloves finals will be on April 7 & April 8 @ the Madison Square Garden Theater!  Come on out for two great nights of fighting — no doubt you’ll be watching some future Olympians and world champions!

The fight roster is listed here.

For more information on tickets click here. You can also contact Gleason’s Gym. They’ve set aside a nice block of tickets and still have some available, but you’ve got to act fast! Call (718) 797-2872 or email info@gleasonsgym.net.

>>>>PS:  Nice piece in 4/6/11’s Daily News here.

Under the gun: Or how I learned patience from the ring!

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Under the gun: Or how I learned patience from the ring!

“I don’t see you studying,” I say.

The prodigal says, “Did you know that the French Revolution started in 1789?”

I say, “yes, but what’s that got to do with biology???“

Prodigal says, “but Mom, I thought you’d like the fact that I know a random fact.”

Ugh!

I hate 6th grade biology.

I hate tests and I hate having been chained to my beloved youngin’ variously cajoling, pushing, pulling, commiserating and otherwise attempting to aid and abet her as she has variously studied, grumped, whined, drifted and finally studied some more for her very b-i-g test tomorrow.

Getting the picture?

We’re talking ten rounds of constant battle and I am up-against-the-ropes losing … badly!

So, what’s to be done as she pushes up from her book to organize a deck of playing cards … PLAYING CARDS?!?!?

BUT … we also have a eureka moment, viruses, bacteria, and now protists done!

And wait … ah ha.  The cards are down and its fungi time — and not only that, I can see that somewhere deep in the recesses of her brain she is thinking, “but I really do want to get a good grade!”

Yep, I’m off the ropes.  She’s quiet, and focusing, fingers flying across the keys of her mac book as she confidently says, “Mom, I’ll be in bed by ten.”

Seeing through the noise

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Seeing through the noise

Sometimes when life is really, really busy and bogged down with minutia, it’s hard to see through the noise.  We get so wrapped up that we find ourselves wrapped up in our wrappings.  We don’t remember what our intentions were in the first place — and how to get to where we intended to go.

To place it terms of the ring, we get so hung up the business of boxing whether as an amateur, a pro or a Saturday boxer like myself, that we lose site of the work itself.  We forget the lovely feeling of pushing our bodies to the limit; of feeling the grace of the fundamentals; and importantly remembering that being in the gym is a lot of fun.

I guess reading about Rola El-Halabi has upset me a lot — I cannot begin to imagine the dynamic that led to the horrific actions of her stepfather, but it does put me in mind to be very thankful indeed for the opportunities that I have, that many of us have, to be able to practice our sweet science in relative freedom.

So next time you’re feeling tied up in knots, take a deep breath and whether your passion is writing, boxing, running, cooking or throwing clay on the wheel — have a go at it again, only this time nice and slow so that you can remember just how wonderful a feeling it is to practice the thing that you love.

 

 

What’s up with this?

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What’s up with this?

 

Rola El-Halabi (11-0, 6-KO), Lightweight Female Boxer

So what’s up with this:  “Female boxer shot before fight” !?!

The AP wire had it this way, “German female boxer Rola El-Halabi‘s career is in doubt after she was shot by her stepfather and former manager before a title fight on Friday. The undefeated 25-year-old was preparing to fight Irma Balijagic Adler of Bosnia for the vacant IBF lightweight title, when the 44-year-old man entered her dressing room and shot her in the hand, knee and foot.” (link here & link here)  Also shot were two security guards both of whom are expected to make a full recovery.  Rola El-Halabi had reportedly ended her stepfather’s role as her manager back in January.

As WBAN points out, this is the second shooting of a female boxer, following on the horrific assault Christy Martin endured late last year.  (link here)

Am I missing something here?  I know people get shot, but this is really too much.

Girlboxing sends heart-felt wishes to Rola El-Halabi for a swift and full recovery.

Here’s a great video of Rola El-Halabi and Mia St. John from last year.  This is really tragic.

My gym day

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My gym day!

Saturday is my gym day.

I walk my daughter to her Aikido Dojo — where she usually does her three hours split between the open and advanced classes — and make my way over to Gleason’s Gym for my own sweet 16.

Today’s practice will entail a straight no-chaser kind of morning:  four rounds of shadow boxing, four rounds of pads, four rounds on the double-ended bag with four rounds on the speed bag to finish the circuit.  Then it’s off to two-rounds of easy crunches on the sit-up chair as I mentally drift into a nice tired feeling in between catching glimpses of folks sparring in one of the boxing rings.

It’s become a kind of bliss.  My shirt half-soaked with sweat.  My face flushed.  Perspiration matted in my hair. My legs a little shaky as I make my way into the locker room to change; today kind of special, because instead of three hours, my prodigal will be spending her day at a seminar so free until 5:00 PM, I can tarry at the gym before taking my time walking home.

Reflecting as I walk; I know I’ll feel like summer: slow, deliberate, easy.  My body supple and warmed and ready for anything on my lazy meander up the hill near Gleason’s; smiling at the tourists under the Brooklyn Bridge overpass and finally returning to my usual self somewhere near Cadman Plaza where the rush of people will start to catch me back into the flow of a busy Saturday.

 

 

 

Women’s WBO Jr. Middleweight Rematch Results: Hanna Gabriel v. Melisenda Perez

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Women’s WBO Jr. Middleweight Rematch Results:  Gabriel v. Perez


 

Before a sold out crowd of excited fans at National Stadium in Costa Rica where the WBO Women’s Jr. Middleweight championship heralded the return of professional boxing to the Central American paradise, champion Hanna Gabriel defeated Melisenda Perez with a vicious seventh round knockout to retain her title.  The fight was stopped by referee Luis Pabon in the seventh round of the rematch after an unrelenting barrage of by Gabriel.

84th Annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Finals: April 7 & April 8 @ Madison Square Garden Theater!

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84th Annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Finals:  April 7 & April 8 @ Madison Square Garden Theater!


April 7th Bouts, 7:00 PM Start

106 Lb. Women
Brittany Delgado – Veterans Memorial
Natalie Gonzalez – Main St. BC

119 Lb. Women
Lindsay Tolpa – Main St. BC
Misato Kamegawa – Atlas Cops n Kids

114 Lb. Novice
Christian Castro – Ardon Sweet Science
Oscar Moreno – Brotherhood BC

123 Lb. Open
Jaime Estrada – Newburgh BC
Frankie Garriga – Morris Park BC

165 Lb. Women
Christina Jensen – Veterans Memorial
Jennifer Egan – Gleason’s Gym

165 Lb. Novice
Joseph Scalafani – Veterans Memorial
James Clarke – Unattached

132 Lb. Women
Bertha Aracil – Atlas Cops N Kids
Camille Currie – Gleason’s Gym

141 Lb. Open
Cristino Ceballo – Mendez BC
Patrick Day – Freeport PAL

Intermission

125 Lb. Women
Sylvia Yero – Willis Ave. BC
Heather Hardy – Gleason’s Gym

152 Lb. Open
Christopher Galeano – Mendez BC
Jeremy Fiorentino – Win or Die BC

132 Lb. Open
Louis Cruz – Atlas Cops N Kids
Marcos Suarez II – Atlas Cops N Kids

178 Lb. Novice
Anthony Pegues – Main St. BC
Michael Fischetti – Tiger Schulmann

201 Lb. Novice
Daniel J. Girace – Ray Longo’s MMA
Max Tassy – Redemption BC

201+ Lb. Open
Elijah Thomas – Willis Ave. BC
Iegor Plevako – Win or Die BC

April 8th Bouts, 7:00 PM Start

141 Lb. Women
Christella Cepeda – Yonkers YMCA
Kathleen Walsh – Heavy Hitters BC

123 Lb. Novice
Steven Garrido – Cornerstone BC
Michael Stoute – Veterans Memorial

114 Lb. Open
Hamzah Alnuzaili – Atlas Cops N Kids
Juan Roman – Win or Die BC

152 Lb. Novice
Kamil Abdulshanov – Win or Die BC
Obafemi Bakare – Rustam’s BC

178 Lb. Open
DeVaun Lee – New Legends BC
Marcus Browne – Atlas Cops N Kids

132 Lb. Novice
Prince Slaughter – Heavy Hitters BC
Luis Mancilla – Long Island BC

112 Lb. Women
Christina Cruz – Atlas Cops N Kids
Susanna Mellone-Spence – Mendez BC

Intermission

141 Lb. Novice
David Green – Gym X BC
Julio Arce – Tiger Schulmann

165 Lb. Open
Herve Duroseau – Freeport PAL
Raul Nuncio – Glen Cove BA

152 Lb. Women
Nisa Rodriguez – Mendez BC
LaTarisha Fountain – Unattached

201 Lb. Open
Mark Sinatra – Brotherhood BC
Joseph Williams – Rockaway Ropes BC

201+ Lb. Novice
Gary Burrell – Gleason’s Gym
Eugene Russell – Unattached

 
For more information on tickets click here.  You can also contact Gleason’s Gym.  They’ve set aside a nice block of tickets! Call (718) 797-2872 or email info@gleasonsgym.net

A Tale of the Tape: Lisa Creech Bledsoe v. Mischa Merz @ Atlanta Corporate Fight Night 2!

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A Tale of the Tape:  Lisa Creech Bledsoe v. Mischa Merz @ Atlanta Corporate Fight Night 2!

So how exactly do two amazing women with awesome blogs meet up as the Main Event for the Atlanta Corporate Fight Night 2?  While not exactly the rumble in the jungle, the two dueling scribblers will provide some “real deal” women’s amateur boxing at Atlanta’s huge annual corporate charity fund-raising gala on Saturday, April 23rd! The brain child of champion boxing trainer Terri Moss, ACFN2 will support small charities in and around Atlanta, plus offer a terrific evening of entertainment and great fun!

Main Event Tale of the tape:

Lisa Creech Bledsoe

Writing chops!

Mischa Merz

Lisa: Professional online media, writer of the popular The Glowing Edge blog where boxing, rock & laundry meet in a perfect harmony!

Mischa:   Journalist for the Melbourne Herald & the Herald Sun, author of the boxing memoir Bruising, and soon to be published, The Sweetest Thing (and for those of you in New York City, come check out her book signing event at Gleason’s Gym on April 12th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM).

 

Boxing or how I found myself in the ring!

Lisa: “I stumbled into boxing entirely by accident.”  A happy accident for Lisa and her many fans who read her stories about life in an out of the ring as a 40-something amateur.  More to the point, Lisa writes, “the single biggest catalyst in my transformation into an amateur boxer was watching my trainer Bonnie ‘Queen B’ Mann.”  In working with Bonnie, Lisa came to understand the kinds of commitment, heart and soul it takes to get into the ring, and in crossing the ropes has never looked back.

Mischa: Mischa started boxing in the mid-1990’s at around the same time she returned to University to study creative writing.  As Mischa writes, “I started boxing and that was when all my activities began to converge and I began writing about my experiences.”  Along the way, Mischa published her first book, Bruising, and picked up some serious boxing chops, winning national championships in her native Australia, and more recently participating in USA Boxing Master’s Division competitions, winning the National Women’s Golden Gloves in her weight class.

Opponent’s corner!

Lisa: “I will be deeply honored to step into the ring with Mischa. I’ve seen her box and I think she’s incredible. The match is a privilege I have worked hard for, and am very much looking forward to.”

Mischa: “Lisa is a true warrior and I love her ‘can do attitude.  That’s the ingredient you can’t teach anyone in the gym.  You’re born with it and it’s called character.  It will be an absolute honour to fight Lisa.”

For further information on this exciting night of boxing in support of a great cause click here or here.  You can also email info@atlantacorporatefightnight.com or call 678.334.8204. Tickets are priced as follows:

$100 VIP Ringside (front row for VIP only)
$50 Gold Ringside
$40 Silver Ringside
$25 General Admission
Don’t miss this GREAT show where Atlanta’s business class go toe-to-toe for one incredible night!

Off my feed

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Off my feed.

I’ve been a bit “off my feed,” so to speak over the last couple of days with deadlines all over the place, lots of work and way too much on my mind.  My hope is to get back into a more regular pattern beginning tomorrow.

Great women’s championship fight night in Uruguay!

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Great women’s championship fight night in Uruguay!

Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales

In another women’s main event fight featuring two South American boxing sensations, UBO Women’s Lightweight champion Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales (7-1-0, 5 K.O.‘s) of Uruguay will take on Adriana “A Garota” Salles (11-6-1, 5 K.O.‘s) of Brazil for an exciting evening of women’s boxing at its best.

Adriana “A Garota” Salles

The bout will be held on April 19, 2011 at the Rio Uruguay Amphitheatre in Parasandu, Uruguay and will feature an exciting undercard to include:

-Light Middleweight division, undefeated John Jackson (9-0-0, 8 K.O.‘s) from the Virgin Islands, U.S.A. vs. Welson Alves De Oliveira (14-4-0, 12 K.O.‘s) from Brazil.

-Super Middleweight division, undefeated Julius “The Chef” Jackson (10-0-0, 6 K.O.‘s) vs. Roberto “Pit Bull” Oliveira De Jesus (9-6-0, 4 K.O.‘s) from Brazil.

-Light Middleweight division, undefeated Samuel Rogers (8-0-0, 3 K.O.‘s) vs. Idiozan “Chibata” Matos (14-12-0, 8 K.O.‘s).

The boxing event is being promoted by Sampson Boxing in association with Sergio Marquez Producciones — as part of the annual Easter Week celebration in Paysandú, Uruguay and will be broadcast on Uruguay’s largest sports network, Vtv.    For further information please visit the Sampson Boxing website here.

Upcoming fight! Sonya Lamonakis to fight on April 16, 2011!

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Upcoming fight!  Sonya Lamonakis to fight on April 16, 2011!

Sonya "The Scholar" Lamonakis, Photo Credit: Claudia Bocanegra

Always exciting Sonya Lamonakis (4-0, 1-KO), four-time golden gloves winner, and currently ranked #3 women’s heavyweight fighter in the world will be fighting on the upcoming Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz undercard scheduled for April 16, 2011 at the MGM Grand, Foxwoods Casino.  Promoted by DiBella Entertainment, the Berto/Ortiz bout will be broadcast live on HBO — and with any luck, HBO will throw some video our way of what we know will be another crowd-pleasing Lamonakis event.

Coming off her decisive win over Tanzee Daniel by unanimous decision on March 12th, Sonya will be fighting Gigi Jackson (2-1 by KO) in the scheduled six-round bout. This will also be Sonya’s fifth fight since turning pro in June 2010.

In Girlboxing’s estimation, Sonya’s ever-growing popularity is part and parcel of the non-stop action work ethic she brings with her into the ring; no doubt a reflection of the effort she puts in day-in and day-out as a New York City middle school teacher.

>>>>>UPDATE>>>>>

To facilitate attendance for this exciting evening of boxing at its best, Gleason’s Gym is selling $75.00 $65.00 tickets without the usual fees.  For further information call (718) 797-2872 or email info@gleasonsgym.net.

My own sweet 16!

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My own sweet 16!

I was not one of those girls that had a sweet 16 or a sweet teenage anything for that matter.  To put it charitably, my adolescence was challenged, and of course, it was the late 60’s so the best of circumstances were fairly topsy-turvy.

Flash forward to my future — 2011 and here I am touting the joys of my Saturday gym days where my sweet 16 consists of four rounds of shadow boxing, four rounds of hard work with Lennox Blackmore on the pads, four rounds circling and boxing the double-ended bag, and four rounds to wind things up on the speed bag.

We are talking the perfect morning.  Not to mention seeing the likes of Sonya Lamonakis and Belinda Laracuente going through their paces.  Inspiring to say the least — not to mention the countless men and women, old and young working their hearts out!

This is all a long way of saying whatever may have brought you down in your life — you have it within your power to reinvent it all to give yourself a sweet life.  And really, why not, what have you got to lose except some bad crap that happened so long ago it doesn’t matter anyway.  So be a champ to yourself with your own special brand of sweet 16, you deserve nothing less!

Why women box: Kiesher “Fire” Mcleod-Wells!

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Why women box:  Kiesher “Fire” Mcleod-Wells!

Keisher "Fire" Mcleod-Wells, Credit: Andrea Mohin/NY Times

The New York Times has a fabulous piece out about Keisher “Fire” Mcleod-Wells (4-1, 1-KO).

In the article Fire was asked about her plans following her stint on Todas Contra Mexico, the Mexican reality TV show now in production in Chiapas pitting women boxers from Mexico against a team of International fighters.

In talking about the financial side of women’s boxing she said for a title fight, she’d get, “Maybe $8,000, $10,000,”  continuing, “it’s pennies compared to a man.”

Where Fire zinged my heart was when she added, “I think that’s why we fight harder, because we do this for the love of the sport. There’s no money really to be made.”

Way to go Fire!

The link to this must read article is here.

Life in snippets

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Life in snippets

I had my annual visit to the accountant yesterday.  He’s a friend, but one I only see 45 minutes a year managing to catch-up on our lives in between questions about expenditures and dividends.

Those kinds of snippets of conversation; however, can be very affecting.  This year’s catch-up was no exception. He’s gone through the break-up of a long-term relationship and I’m in still in that one year period following my mother’s death.  That’s a lot of momentous change for one year, and yet I observed that he was happily going about transforming his life in wonderful new directions — just as I have found new outlets for expression.

It got me to thinking that gym life is kind of similar.  We make friends and share wonderful emotional moments, but only in small intervals.  Life in a boxing gym is no exception, yet the pursuit is often solitary.  Sure in a boxing class, their may be a circle of a few people all warming up together; but the majority of time for a boxer is spent moving in and out of contact.

Shadow boxing, pounding on a heavy bag, bobbing and weaving around the double-ended bag, and moving along the slip rope are all fairly solitary experiences.  The interactions tend to have to do with keeping out of each other’s way as on a busy evening, four, five or even six boxers shadow box in the ring, each carving out a bit of solitary space while dancing around without colliding or impeding the others.

And yet those conversations happen.  In the locker room; in the intervals between rounds; and in the occasional acknowledgment in the mirror as both boxers bang away at imaginary opponents.  It’s one of the things I have come to love about going to Gleason’s Gym.  The chance to feel embraced by a community of friends I may or may not see for periods of time, and yet are always there in my corner as I am in theirs.