Great women’s boxing: Torres vs. Nava!
Ana Maria Torres (24-3-2, 14 K.O.’s) vs. Jackie Nava (24-3-2, 11 K.O.’s) … we’re talking a must see Main Event 10-round WBC championship women’s bout fought on April 16, 2011 in Veracruz, Mexico. All three cards had the fight as a unanimous draw — 95-95! We’re talking fight of the year!
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the action live … get some popcorn and enjoy the ride!
Women’s Amateur Boxing Updates!
>>>AIBA’s Women’s and Youth Junior World Championships are set to begin in Ankara, Turkey on April 24, 2011 – May 1, 2011!
As noted by AIBA, “A total of 264 young women boxers from 45 different countries are set to compete.” Junior boxers as young as 14 years old will participate in a total of thirteen different weight classes under official AIBA rules. Interestingly, the United States will not be fielding a team in either division. Participating countries will include Russian, host country Turkey, Ukraine, India, Poland, Sweden and Ireland (with women’s boxing champion Katie Taylor leading the team), among other participating nations.
For further information click here.
>>>Team USA Dual Showdown
Congratulations to Team USA Women’s Boxing for their hard-fought victories and near misses in the two dual showdown events with a superb Mexican team on April 13th & April 15th in Harvey, Illinois.
4/13/11 – Friday’s USA vs. Mexico Dual Results
112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA, dec. Mariana Caballero, MEX, 29-9
132 lbs/female: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA, dec. Reyna Cotija, MEX, 15-13
4/15/11 – Sunday’s USA vs. Mexico Dual Results
112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA dec. Silvia Torres, MEX, 16-12
132 lbs/female: Erika Cruz, MEX, dec. Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA, 21-13
165 lbs/female: Tiffanie Hearn, Louisville, Ky./USA dec. Alma Ibarra, MEX, 16-7
For further information click here.
>>>>>UPDATE Women’s Championship boxing in Uruguay!
Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales continues her “reign” as UBO Lightweight champion after retaining her title with a unanimous decision in her bout against Alicia Susana Alegre. The judges scored the bout 96-93, 99-94 & 98-92 giving Comunales a decisive victory. With this fight, she improves her record to (8-1-0, 5 K.O.‘s).
Reminder: Women’s Boxing in Uruguay tomorrow!
Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales
Yep, Uruguay on April 19th!
Alicia Susana Alegre
Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales Hold the date of April 19th for a great night of boxing in Uruguay promoted by Sampson Boxing.
The main event called will pit UBO Women’s Lightweight champion Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales (7-1-0, 5 K.O.‘s) from Uruguay against Alicia Susana Alegre (704, 7 K.O.’s) from just across the river in Argentina for an exciting evening of women’s boxing at its best.
Dubbed “La Defensa Del Reino” or “Defending The Kingdom”, the event is being heavily promoted in South America and will be viewed on Vtv, in Uruguay. The fight will also likely be video streamed – so do some checking online.
On the road (and I don’t mean roadwork)
Yep, I’ve hung up the old “gone fishing'” sign and found my way up to Montreal, Canada with my daughter for our spring break. We had a terrific flight up this morning — and aside from some wishful thinking on the weather, enjoyed a couple of fabulous long walks through town plus some reasonable eats.
And who knew that one city could have the same name pronounced two different ways: Montreal and Mon-re-al.
We are staying in the old part of the city called “Vieux Montreal” — along the old Port on the St. Lawrence seaway. It is quite beautiful and while it certainly has the feel of a big city, the architecture is decidedly European in the older neighborhoods.
Having not been away for some time — especially with the young one in tow, it’s been quite a treat to experience something outside of our usual routine. Tomorrow, I hope to find out where the locals box to see if we can pay a visit.
Until tomorrow then — bon nuit!
FLASH! Sonya Lamonakis Takes it! Remains Undefeated!
Sonya Lamonakis defeats Gigi Jackson @ Foxwoods, 4/16/11, George Willis, NY Post
In a bruising battle with an opponent who outweighed her by 63 pounds, Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis defeated Gigi Jackson 40-36, 39-37, 39-37 in a unanimous decision @ Foxwoods tonight.
With this win, Sonya brings her record to 5-0 since turning pro in June of last year.
Boxing by myself …
There are times when I find myself training without a trainer. Today was one of those days and I have to admit I missed Lennox who is up @ Foxwoods to work Sonya Lamonakis’ corner tonight for her 6-round heavyweight bout on the Berto-Ortiz undercard.
Still, as I approached my sweet 16 — I found myself luxuriating in the time I had to focus on stuff at my own pace and in my own sequence.
Lately, I’ve been pretty orthodox with my four-round sets — but today, I thought it would be fun to indulge in the things I like so, I did a total of 8 rounds on the double-ended bag, 4 rounds on the heavy bag, and finished up with 4 rounds on the speed bag before I did my first plus 4 on the sit-up chair.
As I write this I have to admit that my upper arms are leaden not to mention a right knee that is feeling pretty inflamed, but … and this is a big one, as an antidote to a pretty tough work week and the specter of yet another paper to write, I am that sort of wasted “noodlish-body” kind of happy that will even see me through the cart-load of laundry staring at me from across the living room.
I’ve also gotten over that momentary by-myself panic I experience in the gym sometimes when I start to feel a bit lost all on my own.
Today though, I fist-bumped my gloved hands in a boxing salute to myself for a job well done.
Boxing Movie Night: Here Comes Mr. Jordan!
I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned movie, and when it comes to feel good movies, Here Comes Mr. Jordan is one of the best.
The 1941 black and white feature film stars Robert Montgomery as the saxophone playing boxer Joe, Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan, Everett Edward Horton as Angel # 7013, Evelyn Keyes as Miss Logan, and the great James Gleason as Joe’s Fight Manager, Max Corkle. The story is also a powerful one full of hope and redemption. For those who are unfamiliar with the plot line, Joe (Robert Montgomery) on his way to fight in a championship bout is plucked from his airplane as it about to crash by a fledgling angel (Edward Everett Horton). Unfortunately, Joe is pulled from the plane moments too soon — and the rest of the movie is Joe’s fight to be given a second chance at the “title” after having been mistakenly taken to heaven way before his “number was up”!
This enduring story of the human spirit overcoming adversity was a lovely allegory for an America on the eve of World War II, where luck, an indomitable will and great heart would see a generation of young men and women through the difficulties to come.
Seen 60 years later, the pluckiness of Here Comes Mr. Jordan continues to resonate as does its later remakes: Warren Beatty’s Heaven Can Wait and the most recent iteration of the film, Down To Earth, starring Chris Rock.
Still, I’ll always opt to watch the original boxing themed version and hope you will enjoy it as much as I do! We’re talking a near-on 4 Star gem that’s definitely worth a bucketful of popcorn!
(See YouTube for the rest of the episodes or check it out on Netflix!)
Cool waters, hot heat.
I’ve got summer on the brain.
Summer and the beach at dawn. The restless sound of the surf pushing towards a new day, expectant and full of promise.
The kind of morning when a long run licks sands at your heels. Dogs and their owners sashaying about as they play chase with drift wood in between small birds flitting in and out of the water.
The thought if reminds me of how much I love summer — and working out at the gym in hot, steamy, sweaty heat. It’s really my favorite time there, wearing as little as I can as I pound away at the heavy bag, feeling it slip towards me, and pushing it back, watching as bits of sweat first bead and then drip down where first my shoulder and then my cheek brushes it back.
Time and the clock.
My daughter’s alarm clock is blaring through her door as regular pulses reminiscent of the loud echoing blasts announcing a prisoner escape. How she is sleeping through it amazes me. Her strategy is to have multiple devices yell at her land of nod until one or another pierces the veil of her dreamscape enough for her to join the world of the awake. She then stumbles up and out of her room towards the bathroom and the beginning of her morning.
It puts me in mind of how much of what we do is regulated by time.
We have the “masters” of the industrial revolution to thank for that one; having invented mechanized devices as the means of production, they needed a “regular” workforce to man and woman those machines. Hence our alarm clocks which still beckon us (more like rip us) from the delicious warmth of bed and dreams into the world of work and dare I say a bit of drudgery???
Not so the boxer’s time clock! Least ways not in my estimation.
Those intervals of time feel more like the explosions of musical notes with three minutes to blow your ax before resting and blowing again.
Shadow boxing around my living room gets to feel like an improvisational dance, throwing punches this way and that as I circle my way left then right, hop skipping forward or to the side, my arms flailing at the air to their own rhythm. Then the dead s-t-o-p before repeating it all again — and yet different.
A jazzed solo, the improvisation of a boxing performance has all of the nuanced grace of a horn pushing out its notes in a staccato rhythm all its own and yet timed and lovely and full of melodic undertones, the dance of the body fluid and full of the momentum that pushes it from one posture to another for three full minutes before the ding of the bell signals the end of the round.
Reminders! Lamonakis, Merz & a Uruguayan Women’s Fight Night!
Fight Reminder: Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis
Girlboxing friend Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis (4-0, 1-KO) will be fighting on the under card of the “East-West Showdown: Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz,” welterweight pairing on this coming Saturday night, April 16, 2011 @ the MGM Grand, Foxwoods to be broadcast live on HBO. Promoted by Lou DiBello Entertainment and the always exciting Sonya Lamonakis, ranked the number 3 women’s heavyweight contender in the world by will be mounting her 5th professional fight since turning pro last year against boxer Gigi Jackson (2-1) .
Tickets for the event start at $65.00, and can still be purchased through Gleason’s Gym (minus the ticket handling charges!). Contact Gleason’s as 718-797-2872 for tickets and further information.
Reminder: Mischa Merz Book Signing 2night!
Another Girlboxing friend, Misha Merz will be having a book signing 2night for her boxing memoir The Sweetest Thing at Gleason’s Gym running from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Misha will be on hand to read from her memoir to the wonderful sounds of the sweet science in the background. For further information you can contact Gleason’s Gym @ 718-797-2872. Or just come on by to 77 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY (in DUMBO).
Reminder: Boxing in Uruguay! Yep, Uruguay on April 19th!
Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales
Hold the date of April 19th for a great night of boxing in Uruguay promoted by Sampson Boxing. The main event will be UBO Women’s Lightweight champion Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales (7-1-0, 5 K.O.‘s) from Uruguay taking on Alicia Susana Alegre (7-4, 7 K.O.‘s) from just across the river in Argentina for an exciting evening of women’s boxing at its best. Dubbed “La Defensa Del Reino” or “Defending The Kingdom”, the event is being heavily promoted in South America and will be viewed on Vtv, in Uruguay. The fight will also likely be video streamed – so do some checking online.
Good morning from Brooklyn!
It is way too early, and yet with books from my latest grad school paper strewn about me on the couch, the noise of buses beginning their early runs and the thought of a Starbuck’s morning bun to get me going, I’m feeling rather privileged to be able to write a blog piece.
Plus I’m feeling quite joyous at the realization that today marks my 200th post!
I’ll admit it, I’m wowed!
And having put one foot in front of the other since starting this blog on October 7th — (is that really just a little over six months ago) I’m doubly wowed at how much writing Girlboxing has meant to me not the least of which because it’s brought me into two intersecting communities of things I love: writing and boxing.
Thank you all for being the audience for my musings!
And for the chance to wake up at ridiculous hours in the morning to do my daily something which has grown to include writing, morning yoga and the occasional shadow boxing foray around the living room.
It’s also gotten me back in the gym on a regular basis and most importantly, a renewed appreciation for the sweet science and overwhelming respect for the men and women who practice the art.
On the more personal side, writing Girlboxing has been my own private Kaddish. A way to honor memory and loss as a daily act of positive intent by exalting the best in life. Some days are better than others, but I always, always write with a sense of wanting to have each day be that much better than the last.
Thank you all again for your generosity in listening!
Sleep, per chance to dream…
My sweet sixteen felt more like The Dirty Dozen yesterday. I worked my butt off — with lots of right to the body, left to the body, straight right combinations during my pad work with Lennox, but was I ever ragged. I’m not sure how I made it through the fourth round of the that set, but I managed it with some pretty pitiful arm punches, but, hey … I got through it.
The double-ended bag was also pretty pathetic, but I rallied for the speedbag and had really nice rhythm through most of it. What helped was peering at some pretty great sparring in the two rings in my line of sight — along with my inner Gonna have a funky good time beat (thanks James Brown) and “legs don’t fail me now” entreaties.
What did work yesterday was upping my sit-up chair time to three rounds. So all in all I was 16 + 3 for the day, if in limp mode for half of it.
In analyzing why my energy was so low, however, I had a true “duh!” epiphany. Yep, the missing ingredient: Sleep!
From no less a source than Harvard Medical School Women’s Health Watch (link here), six important reasons for getting enough sleep include:
1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
Oy. Who knew.
I mean, yes, I knew, but like many of us, I continue to blow-off the importance of getting those zzzz’s in favor of all the seeming have-to’s, not to mention the dumb want-to’s (like watching really bad TV) that get in the way of a decent night’s rest.
Put another way, getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis is no less important to health than eating a balanced diet and doing all that cardio in the first place — and may in fact, help with curbing the pounds and upping your energy in the process. Least ways I sure hope so!
Gleason’s Gym – All Female Boxing Clinic on April 28, 29 & 30, 2011!
Gleason’s Gym will host its first All Female Boxing Clinic on April 28, 29 and 30, 2011 at its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.
The three-day event will include two-days of boxing training and will culminate in Gleason’s first USA Boxing Metro amateur-sanctioned All Female Boxing Show to be broadcast live on www.gofightlive.tv.
The two-day clinic will focus on a range of boxing skills for beginners and will feature the Gleason’s World Champion talents of Alicia Ashley, Jill Emory, Melissa Hernandez and Belinda Laracuente as well as boxing trainers Mark Breland, Juan LaPorte and Hector Roca.
The clinic is open to anyone with a desire to learn the fundamentals of the sport — and for those 
who have more skills, opportunities will be offered to perfect your talents.
Having first walked into the door at Gleason’s in 1997, I can personally attest to the genuinely supportive atmosphere of the gym, which has always been particularly inviting to women. It’s also meant that I’ve had the chance to observe first hand the explosion in Women’s Boxing — as well as the chance to applaud the prowess of Gleason’s many boxing alumni!
Girlboxing recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Gleason’s Gym’s owner Bruce Silverglade about 
Women’s Boxing (see video below). As an early proponent of the sport, Bruce has been a champion in his own right through his strong advocacy for Women’s Boxing and continues to provide opportunities for women in the sport from Saturday boxers on through dedicated pros.
Spaces are still available for the chance to perfect your boxing prowess or take the plunge into your first foray into the ring. If you are interested contact Bruce Silverglade at Gleason’s Gym. The telephone number is: 718-797-2872 and the email address is: info@gleasonsgym.net. The cost of the clinic is $299.00. You can also sign-up to participate in the All Female Boxing Show by contacting Angela Querol @ 718-797-2872.
One breath at a time.
If there is one thing I’ve been trying to gain out of a daily yoga practice aside from the physical benefits, it’s been the reminder to take things as they come.
With yoga, one performs poses to the rhythm of the breath (or at least tries) and in doing so can be “present,” with the experience. Or put another way, the mind helps push the body to extend itself to its best place — and through regular practice the possibility of great flexibility and strength, not to mention a more focused mental attitude and the *chance* for some clear moments free of mind-movies!
The practice, however, doesn’t always guarantee the focus or the release of all that mental junk that clogs the thinking which can hamper one’s ability to perform at one’s best. Focus being another whole facet of every discipline and whether it’s yoga or boxing it requires a lot of inner strength to maintain.
That’s where in my estimation the emphasis on the breath in yogic practice can help in priming the mind towards focus: a great way of tricking your mind into paying attention. Kind of like Lennox Blackmore’s pop to my head as he yell’s “wake-up, wake-up,” when I make a truly fundamental blunder during our workout. It’s also a reminder to slow down racing thoughts that are extraneous to the task at hand.
This morning was a case in point for me. Doing yoga, my mind wandering, I lost an entire pose, meaning, I *did* the pose, but lost to a mind-movie I “woke-up” somewhere at the end of it, not really remembering how I got there and in a teeter-totter not to fall down. So yes, I did yoga, but I really didn’t because I lost the stream of what I was doing and without that, can I truly say that I practiced?
Try that in boxing, and one ends up in a face-plant on the mat, and frankly in yoga too, because so many of the poses not only require balance, but mental “presence” to truly gain mastery of the practice. And it is that presence, that “be here now” concept that see’s one through so much of the daily struggles of life.
So, full-circle to the breath … take a few moments out of your busy day and remember to breathe and in so doing, slow down enough to be where you are one step at a time.
Roadwork!
My notion of roadwork came from watching the movie Rocky. There was Sly Stallone huffing and puffing his way through Philly, until finally, the meat hanging in the processing plant conquered, he was able to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in triumph. From his old-school converse sneakers to his gray sweats, Rocky was an everyman (everywoman) kind of hero that sought to over come adversity to get back into the ring.
The image of Rocky running up the steps remains iconic and in many ways continues to inform boxing’s notion of roadwork: rising well before dawn to don sweats, boxers the world-over will run 5 – 6 miles through the streets before hitting the gym. A lot of boxing gyms also have running machines and boxers will do their roadwork in the gym adding a component of interval training by alternatively running fast and slow along with changing inclines. In a gym environment, the running will often occur after regular training is completed, though this varies widely, as do the beliefs on the relative benefits of running in the wee hours of the morning on through evening runs.
The bottom-line is that running is used as an important training component to build stamina and conditioning — and knees aside, the idea is to increase muscle efficiency and aerobic fitness to improve performance during the short burst intervals of the ring.
On the Saturday boxing side of training – a brief jog/run can also be a helpful way of loosening up before stretching and commencing training.
Given the state of my knees, hard-on running is kind of beyond me, but having run for distance earlier in my life, I can attest to the physical conditioning that comes with a regular program of running — as well as its merits as a training tool. Still, old school running for boxing is not without controversy as some trainers have switched from straight-on roadwork to other forms of interval training or using the controlled environment of the gym for running in place, running sprints, jump-rope intervals and other forms of conditioning.
For an excellent article on the science of running for boxing on Rossboxing.com click here.
Girlboxing 
