Wordless Wednesday, 1/25/2012
Fire in the Ring, June 2011
Wordless Wednesday is a group of bloggers who give words a rest once a week.
Wordless Wednesday, 1/25/2012
Fire in the Ring, June 2011
Wordless Wednesday is a group of bloggers who give words a rest once a week.
“Hey pretty,” and other stories from the battle of the bulge!
A Girlboxing reader wrote about the problem of looking into the mirror and shaking her head a bit at the body that stared back at her. That is a hard one to reconcile. There we all are working our bottoms off, eating one pea at a time and going through all the truly difficult work-out stuff, yet because we don’t look like the women adorning the cover of Self magazine we steel ourselves with a sharp intake of breath every time we look at ourselves in the mirror.
It reminds me of the Mighty Aphrodite speech I used to give my friends back in the day when I was — heck, in my early 40s and really full of things! (That’s another story for another day.)
I was going through a breast cancer scare at the time (luckily negative) — but went through one of those moments after the first mammo, when air seemed to be sucked out of the room into a kind of hush as the Radiologist and the Technician came back in to take yet another film. Days later in the waiting room before surgery to remove a bunch of nasty looking calcifications, my two oldest forever friends we’re trying to distract me with tales from their love lives (never a good thing, I can assure you).
Now both were in my estimation beauties. One had long blonde hair a body honed by a lifetime of tennis, racquetball, running, weight lifting and the most perfect shiksa legs you ever saw. The other one had more of an “exotic” beauty and happened to be in one of her thinner than thin stages. To remind you, we were all in your early 40s and yet all these two gorgeous women could talk about was how they hated dating because eventually they’d have to “show” their bodies to a new man. What?!?
Well, to say that I launched was an understatement, my basic point being you are Mighty Aphrodite, hear you roar! Truly. That body staring back at you in the mirror, the one with character and stories and loving feelings. The one that bore children or heartache. The one that fought illness. The one that gained and lost. The one that worked out at five o’clock in the morning and ran in the rain. The body with hints of ripples on your arms from slinging dumbbells or the fabulous movements of a Zumba class is, my friends, BEAUTIFUL.
Even when you hate that extra tire around your middle or my personal favorite, the “You’ve become one of those women,” statement from your doctor. In my case it meant confronting how I’d become my grandmother. However, there is still deep beauty in the saggy skin and cottage cheese that combine to make YOUR fabulous thigh. And to channel my grandmother even more you can go through the three stages of grief according to Lillian Miller: first you cry, then you get up and wash your face, and then you do. None of the seven stages nonsense for her. Life is too damned short and has a way of making you 57 before you know it.
So Girlboxing friends please give yourselves a round of applause for where you are in life — and the next time you look in the mirror blow yourself a kiss and say, “Hey pretty,” it’ll work wonders for you! I know that it did me.
Getting back in the swing!
Whether it’s perfecting your left hook or flexing your mind (as in keeping a “daily” blog) – getting back to a regular regimen is tough going when you’ve been away from it for a while!
Having stepped into the gym on Saturday for the first time in three weeks was a case in point. I’m nursing sore abs, a creaky shoulder and a mindset that is less focused on perfecting the minute shifts of tuned-up training, than just getting to the gym at all.
So my job is to push my momentum, meaning, getting myself back on a weekly gym schedule that *builds* rather than maintains! I’m also trying to talk myself out of the neat excuses for not going such as, “I’ll be out of town on Saturday” or “I’m tired” or “it’s raining out” … you know the drill!
I can say the same for writing! When I don’t write every day I get out of the habit — so, starting today, I am bound and determined to get back on the writing stick! And yes, I’ll even give myself some slack for having finished up my degree, et alia, but a daily blog is just that, a daily blog. That means putting fingers to the keyboard with a mindset that can get past the range of reasons *not* to do something.
Meanwhile, it’s 2012 and I’m already over three weeks behind in getting my resolutions in order for the year! So here goes!
1. Write a daily entry for Girlboxing!
2. Gain more strength, endurance and flexibility. Being in my late 50s means I need resistance training and a lot of it to keep my bones strong. I also need to do more aerobic training, and yoga. That means getting back to a training schedule that has me doing at least one thing a day and on some days all three!
3. Eating better! Yikes. This one is tough. Having been diagnosed with LPR (Laryngeal Pharyngeal Reflux) and GERD (Gastric Esophageal Reflux Disease) PLUS having Barrett’s Esophagus (the cells in the esophagus near the gastric junction actually CHANGE due to acid erosion), I’ve been living a low-acid/low-fat life! What I have to get to, however, is better balance in selecting meals and foods and how they are combined. This one is a tough to sort out – and I’ll actually do a column on it sometime soon, suffice to say that I’m getting there. I’ve lost nearly 25 pounds since the change in my eating regimen in July 2011, now the trick is to go the rest of the way (another 10 pounds), while continuing to build muscle (which has suffered as late) so that when I eventually meet my goal, I’ll be a healthy and toned – rather than depleted and weak.
4. The next project: now this is the tough one! I’m thinking book and just have to move into the space by DOING rather than angsting about it. And therein lies the sticky problem: getting to the DOING part. Again, it’s a matter of starting and once in the habit continuing the process until it is concluded. Easier said than done? No, probably not ‘cause we all have goals that we set and follow. It’s that pesky issue of getting started!
What it all comes down to for the year: Doing!
So, day one in my reforecast New Year means putting the fingers to the keyboard to say thanks so much to my Girlboxing friends for listening and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
And how nice that it happens to coincide with the Chinese celebration of the Year of the Dragon!
GONG XI FA CAI
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The ultimate weakness of violence
is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate….
Returning violence for violence multiples violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sonya Lamonakis: Working to make it a lucky 7!
Girlboxing had the chance to interview Sonya Lamonakis (6-0, 1-KO) ahead of her upcoming heavyweight bout on January 21st, 2012 against Carlette Ewell (15-7, 9-KO’s) at the storied Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The fight is being promoted by DiBella Entertainment as part of the Broadway Boxing series.
2. You’ve had six successful outings since your debut as a pro in June 2010 — having most recently defeated Tiffany Woodard in August 2011. Ewell on the other hand has a 15-7 record with 9-KOs since her pro career started in 2002. How are you preparing to meet the challenge of such a tough, seasoned opponent.Yes, I have read her comments about what she has been saying and I feel fighters that are scared or intimidated talk trash. I have never been a trash talker I’m not that type of athlete. I save it all for the ring. I would rather be a positive example for my students and look like a classy athlete more than one that trash talks. I have been fighting for 9 years and it’s just not me. I have never been a trash talker. For her to say that I lost all my fights and they were just handed me is pretty rude to me. Especially, being that she has not been at one of my fights and two out of the three were not on tv either. But it’s ok. Some people talk trash to make themselves feel better. It feeds their ego and helps them survive. So carry on Ewell. I’ll see you in the ring.
That was a great video. I was proud to show off my school and both of my careers in one. My students were very happy to be a part of my boxing career. I think I’m a special fighter because I have two careers as a fighter and an educator. To be a role model to children is a gift in itself.
Tickets are available for what will be an EXCITING night of boxing priced at $45 and $65. Ringside tickets are available upon request at $125.
Contact Gleason’s at 718 797 2872 or info@gleasonsgym.net if you want tickets.
Your great-grandmother was a boxer too!
Having spent the better part of four months living and breathing women’s boxing from the perspective of gender (i. e., the only “acceptable” female boxer is a “girly-girl” boxer in pink and other such canards) — I thought it might be fun to remind folks that female boxers have been around for a LONG time. Here are a few samples from newspaper articles published around the country in the early part of the 20th century (click on the links).
An uppercut from the fair fighter’s fist
This article from The Hartford Herald was published on May 1, 1912 and describes a 7th round knockout by Myrtle Havers, 18 over Mabel Williams, 32 in a 10-round professional fight in Saginaw, Michigan. In declaring Havers the winner, she was also named the girls champion of Michigan.
“The two fought with eight-ounce gloves and under straight Queensbury rules. Miss Williams, who has been known as the best woman boxer in Michigan for several years, was knocked into dreamland with a stiff uppercut after she had severely thrashed Miss Havers in the early part of the seventh round.”
This woman boxer weighs 105 and has met two champions
An article advocating women’s physical culture appeared in The Tacoma Times on November 27, 1917. The article is about boxer Helen Hildreth. When asked if she had ever been hit hard she replied, “Yes, but that’s part of the game. The excitement and nervous tension you are under when you are boxing makes you forget the pain of a blow almost as soon as you feel it.”
Published in The Ogden Standard-Examiner on March 22, 1922, this article chronicles Elkhart, Indiana’s hope for a female boxing champion in the person of Gertrude Allison, 25 who challenged New York’s Laura Bennett to a fight! Check out the photo in the article. Allison is quoted as saying, “I know I can lick her!”
Birthing the baby, the “MA” that is …
First off Happy New Year!
I’ll add that it’s great to be back to Girlboxing! This last month has been a whirlwind of finishing my master’s thesis and prepping for my oral defense. With both behind me I am excited to announce that my master’s thesis entitled Boundaries in Motion: Women’s Boxing has been accepted. Next step??? Who knows, suffice to say I’ll begin blogging in earnest again tomorrow.
One upcoming event to watch for, Girlboxing friend Sonya Lamonakis will be fighting on Saturday, January 21st on the Broadway Boxing Card! I’ll be posting an interview with her in the coming days!
Thanks for your kind indulgence over the last few weeks. I’ve missed this tremendously and appreciate that folks have been coming to the site even though I have been on a hiatus.
Again, best wishes for a fabulous 2012!
The boxing gym.
My daughter had an assignment to write an essay using imagery for her 7th grade English class. She rocked my world with it!
When you walk into Gleason’s, what you see are boxers that are young or old, the heavy bag swishing back and forth. People are skipping and sliding trying to dodge the fast perfect jabs from their sparing partners. I hear the speed bag that sounds like a helicopter, the encouraging loud criticism from the trainers.
In Gleason’s Boxing Gym all I can smell and taste is the stench and sweat that comes from lots of hard work. However, as soon as I start to train I can feel the cotton of my hand wraps, the linen covering the ropes. I can feel the pads that I hit, the concrete when I try to strengthen my hands. I can feel the leather speed bag hitting my hands and then coming back, as if asking for more.
In conclusion, I think and believe that Gleason’s Boxing Gym, home to many pro-fighters, is an amazing place filled with imagery. At Gleason’s everything that happens sets your mind into a frenzy of images that will come back when you think about the moments that you have had at Gleason’s Boxing Gym.
Flash Update! >>>
Anne Sophie Mathis knocked out Holly Holm in a stunning victory last night at 1:38 in the seventh round. Photographer Chris Cozzone described it as a “big right”!
More here. Plus GREAT shots of the fight by Photographer Chris Cozzone here.
Reminder! Holly Holm v. Anne Sophie Mathis 2night! (12/2/11)
The World Dominance fight card is finally here! Let the boxing begin!
In their much anticipated main event bout, Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (30-1-3, 9-KOs) will face France’s knock-out queen Anne Sophie Mathis (25-1, 21-KOs) as they battle for the IBF Welterweight and WBAN Championship belts.
Both fighters weighed in “lean and mean”: Holly Holm @ 145.6 lbs. and Anne Sophie Mathis @145.4 lbs.
On the undercard female flyweights will also do battle. Brandi “Baby Doll” Montoya (0-2) weighed in at 111 lbs. and her opponent Tonia “TNT” Cravens (2-6-2, 2-KOs) weighed in at 111.8 lbs.
The card is promoted by Fresquez Productions and will be held at the Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albuquerque, NM. Doors will open at 5 PM/MT with the first bout slated to begin at 7:00 PM/MT.
***Oh, and one more thing, from what I’ve been told, the fight will *NOT* be televised live*** Talk about an outrage! I have found an online resource for the fight here: boxing.trueonelinetv.com
If any one else knows of any, please add to the comments!
Golden Girl Promotions Women’s Fight Night in Georgia on 12/3/11!
This coming Saturday night, December 3rd, Ijeoma “The Praise” Egbunine and her Golden Girl Promotions will feature a night of boxing with count em’, three women’s bouts at the Mableton Banquet Hall, 6114 Mableton Pkwy., in Cobb County Georgia.
The main event of the evening will be a ten round WIBC welterweight championship title bout between Lisa Garland (7-5, 4-KOs) and Sara Kuhn (3-2-1, KO-1).
On the undercard of the card, Jackie Breitenstein (6-1, 5-KO) the Georgia Female Fighter of the Year will be fighting Kerri Hill (3-21-1, 1-KO).
Welterweights Karie Contraras (1-0, 1-KO) and Lacey Crawford (1-2 ) will round out the evenings events.
Weigh-in for the event will take place on Friday, December 2 at Ijeoma Egbunine’s Team Praise Gym in Austell, Ga, west of Atlanta.
Ijeoma (17-2, 10-KOs) is also hard at work training for her upcoming December 26 rematch against Gwendolyn O’Neil (18-7-1, 7-KOs). The match will take place in Ijeoma’s home country of Nigeria for the vacant WBC heavyweight title, and the WIBA and CODA titles.
Ijeoma plans to promote another all women’s card in late February or early March 2012!
The big fight in New Mexico! Holly Holm v. Anne Sophie Mathis
December 2, 2011 may well prove to be one of those seminal nights in women’s boxing when two of the great pound-for-pound boxers of the sport will face off at the Route 66 Hotel & Casino at the Legends Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Touted as the World Dominance fight card by Fresquez Productions, Albuquerque’s own Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (30-1-3, 9-KOs) will face France’s knock-out artist Anne Sophie Mathis (25-1, 21-KOs) for the what will arguably be called the bragging rights to the number one position in women’s boxing.
The bout will ostensibly be for the IBA Welterweight title and WBAN Championship Belt, but for fans of the sport, the evening represents the best of what women’s boxing has to offer.
The undercard includes the following bouts (subject to change):
Joel Vargas (3-4-1) vs. Josh Torres (5-1-1);
Eleazar Loya vs. Christian Cabral;
Brandi Montoya (0-2) vs. Tonia Cravens (2-6);
Matthew Baca vs. Daniel Gonzalez;
Leonardo Sanchez (1-0) vs. Devon Simmons;
Joel Gonzalez vs. Antonio Garcia (1-0)
For ticket information contact startickets.com or purchase tickets at the casino. Tickets run from $25 – $200.
Thankful? You bet!
Being a vegetarian, the turkey thing is not exactly my idea of Thanksgiving. What the holiday does bring is the run-up to my annual heathenish/Jewish/I love Christmas anyway month of reflection on why, with a nod to Lou Gehrig, I am the “luckiest” person “on the face of the earth.”
I could start with the blessings of an amazing daughter and fabulous husband — or that I even have the opportunity to wake up each day with enough food to eat, the ability to work, hot running water, and an iPad, iPhone and Macbook to play with.
The point being that whatever sorrows and triumphs I may experience over the course of a day, a week or what has become the sum total of my lifetime, the process of saying “thank you” to the folks who make those experiences possible is one that requires more than just a day to sit back, overeat and watch football. Rather the point of it all is to live in a realm of “thank you,” where common courtesies, extending oneself to others even when one doesn’t have to, and otherwise being mindful of the other seven billion on the planet is a way of life.
So if I haven’t said so lately, thank you to all the friends who have extended themselves to me by reading Girlboxing. You’ve all made it a place where I feel comfortable enough to jot down my thoughts and opine to my heart’s content on the little things and big things that have meaning to me. Most importantly, you’ve all helped to expand my world and my way of thinking — something that has been an incalculable gift.
Please also accept my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Orange Cranberry Relish
(1) 12 oz. package fresh cranberries
(1) cup sugar
(1) navel orange
Grated orange peel from one orange
(2) – (3) cups orange juice
Rinse and pick over the cranberries.
Place in a heavy 2 – 3 quart saucepan, and cover with orange juice under medium flame.
Add in sugar and grated orange peel.
Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. (You should be attentive at the stove as the cranberries will start to pop.)
Reduce flame and simmer for about 40 minutes or until mixture reduces and thickens, stir occasionally throughout.
Place in a festive bowl and allow to set and cool (about an hour or so).
Cover tightly with plastic wrap before refrigerating. Will keep for three – four days.
USA Women’s Boxers getting ready to rumble!
While most Americans will be at home enjoying their Thanksgiving feast with friends and family, five members of USA Women’s Boxing will be participating in one of two events: the Olympic Test Event set to run from November 24 – November 27 at the ExCeL Olympic Stadium in London or in Surgut, Russia as part of the squad competing in the World Cup of Petroleum Countries. That second squad will also go on to compete in Ukraine for a head-to-head dual competition.
In total there will be five women and thirteen men competing.
Olympic Test Event Roster
132 lbs/female: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash.
141 lbs/male: Jamel Herring, Coram, N.Y./Camp Lejeune, N.C.
165 lbs/female: Franchon Crews, Baltimore, Md.
201 lbs/male: Joseph Williams, Queens, N.Y.
201+ lbs/male: Lenroy “Cam” Thompson, Lenexa, Kansas
USA Boxing National Coach: Joe Zanders, Long Beach, Calif.
Coach: Gloria Peek, Norfolk, Va.
European Tour Roster
108 lbs/male: Eros Correa, San Jose, Calif.
112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas
114 lbs/male: Shawn Simpson, Chicago, Ill.
123 lbs/male: Tramaine Williams, New Haven, Conn.
132 lbs/female: N’yteeyah Sherman, Barberton, Ohio
132 lbs/male: Jose Ramirez, Avenal, Calif.
141 lbs/male: George Rincon, Carrollton, Texas
152 lbs/male: Errol Spence, Desoto, Texas (2012 Olympian)
165 lbs/female: Tika Hemingway, Pittsburgh, Pa.
165 lbs/male: Jesse Hart, Philadelphia, Pa.
178 lbs/male: Marcus Browne, Staten Island, N.Y.
201 lbs/male: Jordan Shimmell, Hudsonville, Mich.
201+ lbs/male: Laron Mitchell, San Francisco, Calif.
Coach: Ron Simms, Stafford, Va.
Coach: Ken Porter, Akron, Ohio
Coach: Ed Rivas, Abilene, Texas
Technical Advisor: Bruce Kawano, Pearl City, Hawaii
Team Manager: Ken Buffington, Marshalltown, Iowa
Women’s Boxing Results: IBF Championships 11/20/11
In a stunning evening of women’s boxing at its best at the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas, Ada Velez (20-2-3, 6-KO’s) retained her IBF Female Super Bantamweight championship belt in a hard-fought contest against Melinda “La Maravilla” Cooper (21-2, 11-KOs). The judges scored the bout 98-92, 97-93 , 95-95 giving Velez a majority win. People on the scene found the third judges score surprising as they otherwise had Velez decisively dominating Cooper throughout the bout.
In what was an upset win, Dominican fighter Dahiana Santana (28-6, 12-KOs) soundly defeated former champion Stacey Reile (10-4, 4 KOs) to become the new IBF Female Featherweight Champion. Both boxers fought a hard tough fight with the final decision scoring noted as 98-90, 97-90, 97-91.
The undercard bout with Las Vegas’ own Tatina “Lil Tyson” Anderson (5-1-1, 4-KOs) was no less exciting with her third round stoppage of Victoria Cisneros (5-13-2, 1-KO).
Sue Ti Fox of WBAN covered the fight along with photographer Mary Ann Lurie Owen. I highly recommend checking WBAN for some fabulous photos and cover on the bouts. The link for the quick results is here. I’d also recommend checking back later for her longer piece.
Chris Cozzone also covered the fight for Fightnews.com. His piece is here.
Women’s Boxing and the Media
With large kudos to CNN, ESPNW and even media outlets such at USA Today, women’s boxing has been hitting the media of late — and the perspective has actually been positive.
Case in point has been the skirts issues which has seen a surfeit of pieces in mainstream media running the gamut from BBC to Huffington Post.
There have also been lots of profile pieces of up and coming Olympic hopefuls alongside their sisters on the professional side of the sport, as well as pieces on the world-wide participation of women in boxing from Afghanistan to India to Uganda.
Here are some links to pieces. Have a read and show your support if you can. The more we advocate and respond, the greater the opportunity to keep the trend going — and maybe even find women boxing’s bouts back on ESPN, Showtime & HBO. Hmmm, about time wouldn’t you say??
Skirts issue
Drawing a (hem)line in the sand by, Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN
Skirting the issue: boxing’s step backward, Kathryn Bertine, ESPNW
Skirts won’t make women’s boxing any more ‘womanly’, Christie Brennan, USA Today
Boxer profiles
Latina Olympic hopefuls (Marlen Esparza), Soledad O’Brien, CNN
Christy Martin a fighter at heart, David Picker, E:60, ESPN
Queen Underwood is fighting for a cause, by Meri-Jo Borzilleri, ESPNW
Women’s Boxing – World Wide
Afghan women strike blow for equality, Mike Thomson, BBC
Uganda’s women step into the ring, Nicole Dreon, ESPNW