Tag Archives: 2012 Olympics

Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials Day Two, 2/14/2012!

>>> UPDATE!!!

Saw this update in the Los Angeles Times. Link is here.

[Updated at 11:27 a.m.: Patricia Manuel iced her injured right shoulder late Monday but after she awoke Tuesday in greater pain, she and trainer Robert Luna elected to withdraw from the double-elimination tournament rather than risk further injury. “I’m sorry my story ends like this,” Manuel wrote in a text message.]

Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials Day Two, 2/14/2012!

Women's Boxing Olympic Trials, The 24! Credit: Sarah Deming/Huffington Post

For those of you who tuned into the live video stream, you got to watch some very exciting boxing last night! We’re talking all the drama of a prize-fight with some surprising outcomes such as Franchon Crews‘ loss to Claressa Shields, 31-19. Of course, being a New Yorker, I was cheering on Christina Cruz and was not disappointed. She fought a terrific four-round bout against Virginia Fuchs defeating her 15-12. One thing that came shining through was the caliber of the boxing! The competitors truly “brought it” last night!

Press links on the night’s fighting can be found here: USA Boxing, Chicago Tribune (AP Story), The Seattle Times, and don’t miss Brooklyn’s own Sarah Deming’s piece in the Huff Post here.

The results are as follows:

U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing Results
112 lbs: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas on on walkover over Cynthia Moreno, Phoenix, Ariz., W/O
112 lbs: Alex Love, Monroe, Wash., dec. Taversha Norwood, Marietta, Ga., 24-15
112 lbs: Christina Cruz, New York, N.Y., dec. Virginia Fuchs, Kemah, Texas, 15-12
112 lbs: Tyrieshia Douglas, Baltimore, Md., dec. Latonya King, Harrison Township, Mich., 34-11
132 lbs: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash., dec. Bertha Aracil, Yonkers, N.Y., 22-12
132 lbs: Mikaela Mayer, Los Angeles, Calif., dec. Lisa Porter, Northridge, Calif., 27-10
132 lbs: N’yteeyah Sherman, Barberton, Ohio dec. Asia Stevenson, Washington DC, 42-17
132 lbs: Tiara Brown, Lehigh Acres, Fla., dec. Patricia Manuel, Long Beach, Calif., 18-13
165 lbs: Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich., dec. Franchon Crews, Baltimore, Md., 31-19
165 lbs: Andrecia Wasson, Centerline, Mich., dec. Dara Shen, Alexandria, Va., 34-9
165 lbs: Tiffanie Hearn, San Diego, Calif., dec. Tiffanie Ward, Hacienda Heights, Calif., 18-17
165 lbs: Tika Hemingway, Pittsburgh, Pa., dec. Raquel Miller, San Francisco, Calif., 16-10

Tonight’s bouts can be viewed online at click the link here.

Tonight’s bout sheets are as follows:

U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing Tuesday Bout Sheets

112 lbs/winners bracket: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas vs. Alex Love, Spokane, Wash.

112 lbs/winners bracket: Christina Cruz, New York, N.Y., vs. Tyrieshia Douglas, Baltimore, Md.

112 lbs/challengers bracket: Taversha Norwood, Marietta, Ga. unopposed

112 lbs/challengers bracket: Virginia Fuchs, Kemah, Texas vs. Latonya King, Harrison Township, Mich.

132 lbs/winners bracket: Queen Underwood, Spokane, Wash., vs. Mikaela Mayer, Los Angeles, Calif.

132 lbs/winners bracket: N’yteeyah Sherman, Barberton, Ohio vs. Tiara Brown, Lehigh Acres, Fla.

132 lbs/challengers bracket: Bertha Aracil, Yonkers, N.Y., vs. Lisa Porter, Northridge, Calif.

132 lbs/challengers bracket: Asia Stevenson, Washington DC vs. Patricia Manuel, Long Beach, Calif.

165 lbs/winners bracket: Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich., vs. Andrecia Wasson, Centerline, Mich.

165 lbs/winners bracket: Tiffanie Hearn, San Diego, Calif., vs. Tika Hemingway, Pittsburgh, Pa.

165 lbs/challengers bracket: Franchon Crews, Baltimore, Md., vs. Dara Shen, Alexandria, Va.

165 lbs/challengers bracket: Tiffanie Ward, Hacienda Heights, Calif., vs. Raquel Miller, San Francisco, Calif.

Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials Day One, 2/13/2012

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Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials Day One, 2/13/2012!

Tiara Brown (r) & N'yteeyah Sherman arriving at Northern Quest Resort, Credit: USA Boxing

The brackets have been set for this week’s historic competition.

The four top seeds are the four top finishers from the 2011 USA Boxing National Championships held last summer. According to USA Boxing, the “unseeded boxer each drew a ping pong ball to determine her opening round opponent in the historic event at Sunday’s manual draw.”

That is pretty heady stuff indeed with the action set to begin tonight with a total of twelve bouts starting at 7:00 PM tonight Pacific Time.

You can watch ALL THE ACTION HERE!!! Just click on the link!

The bout sheet for tonight’s Winners Bracket Quarterfinals is as follows:

1. Marlen Esparza (Red Corner) vs. Cynthia Moreno (Blue Corner)

2. Taversha Norwood (Red Corner) vs. Alex Love (Blue Corner)

3. Christina Cruz (Red Corner) vs. Virginia Fuchs (Blue Corner)

4. Tyrieshia Douglas (Red Corner) vs. Latonya King (Wingate) (Blue Corner)

5. Queen Underwood (Red Corner) vs. Bertha Aracil (Blue Corner)

6. Lisa Porter (Red Corner) vs. Mikaela Mayer (Blue Corner)

7. N’yteeyah Sherman (Red Corner) vs. Asia Stevenson (Blue Corner)

8. Tiara Brown (Red Corner) vs. Patricia Manuel (Blue Corner)

9. Franchon Crews (Red Corner) vs. Claressa Shields (Blue Corner)

10. Dara Shen (Red Corner) vs. Andrecia Wasson (Blue Corner)

11. Tiffanie Ward (Red Corner) vs. Tiffanie Hearn (Blue Corner)

12. Tika Hemingway (Red Corner) vs. Raquel Miller (Blue Corner)

For more information about tonight’s bouts click on the USA Boxing link here.

For live stream information, click here.

Request for on-air voices during the Olympic Team Trials!

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Request for on-air voices during the Olympic Team Trials!

Women's Amateur Boxing, Credit: USA Boxing

The following has been forwarded to Girlboxing from Christy Halbert, USA Boxing and the folks at WNYC.org who will be airing a radio show every day this week to coincide with with Olympic Team Trials! Please answer the call!!! Please also be sure and subscribe to the podcasts here!

***

Dear current and former boxers and coaches,

We want your help! This is not a plea for money – it’s a plea for your voice. As you know, this year women will box for the first time in the Olympic games. We want you to tell us what you’re thinking, feeling, and remembering.

Women Box: Fighting to Make History is a radio, photography, and web project (from WNYC Radio, the NPR affiliate in New York City) exploring the lives and minds of women boxers – especially those competing for a spot on the very first U.S. women’s Olympic boxing team. Our website, www.wnyc.org/womenbox includes beautiful photographs of women boxers, radio stories and interviews that take listeners inside their lives and minds, a Q&A with Coach Christy Halbert (head of USA Boxing’s Task Force on Women), and more.

Our work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, on NPR’s All Things Considered and Weekend Edition Sunday, as well as on WNYC Radio and www.wnyc.org/womenbox.

We will be airing a radio show (via podcast and the internet) everyday the week of February 13th as the women’s boxing Olympic trials take place outside of Spokane, Washington.

We want your voice on our show AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

It’s very easy – just call 646-829-4064 and simply leave us a voicemail message. We need your name and its spelling, a brief introduction to who you are (especially in the boxing world), and your thoughts and feelings this year (or this week or this moment) as young women from all over the country begin to compete for a spot on the first women’s Olympic boxing team. We also need your phone number, so we can call you back with any questions.

Your message may last for at least three minutes (it may also be as short and sweet as you desire). If you get cut off and need more time, feel free to call back and continue. If you have a land line (instead of a cell phone), please use it!

At least some part of your message will be incorporated into our broadcast at some point next week. You’ll find the audio of each episode on our website – www.wnyc.org/womenbox.

Please take a few minutes to call us as soon as you have a moment. We will only be able to incorporate messages that come in within the next few days. We look forward to hearing from you!

Marianne McCune, Reporter for WNYC Radio
and Sue Jaye Johnson , Photojournalist

Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials set to begin, February 13, 2012!

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Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials set to begin, February 13, 2012!

USA Boxing 2011 National Championships, Credit: USA Boxing

There will be just 24 women competing, 24 women who have worked harder than they ever thought possible to gain the right to compete in the first-ever Women’s United States Boxing Team Olympic Trials. Set to run for six short days from February 13-19, 2012, the women who represent the best that elite women’s boxing has to offer will once again, box their hearts out for one of three Olympic weight divisions spots that will see them go on to the 2012 Women’s World Championship Olympic qualifier in China this coming May.

Set to compete at the Northern Quest Resort in Airway Heights, Washington, just outside of Spokane, these resilient competitors representing the Pan American Games, USA Boxing National Championships, Golden Gloves Championships and National PAL Championships, have not only fought hard-won competitions, but the long odds of battling through the lingering doubts about the sport and whether women should fight at all. Still, they have all come to do battle, and to a person, shall be shouting out a mantra of “I want to win.”

Win or lose, these women should remain forever in our hearts as the champions they truly are! THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing Qualified Athletes

Flyweight/112 lbs

1. Christina Cruz, New York, N.Y. (Pan American Games representative)
2. Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas (USA Boxing National Championships)
3. Tyrieshia Douglas, Baltimore, Md. (USA Boxing National Championships)
4. Cynthia Moreno, Phoenix, Ariz. (Golden Gloves Championships)
5.Virginia Fuchs, Kemah, Texas (National PAL Championships)
6. Alex Love, Monroe, Wash. (National PAL Championships)
7. Taversha Norwood, Marietta, Ga. (National PAL Championships)

8. Latonya Wingate (King), Harrison Township, Mich. (National PAL Championships)

Lightweight/132 lbs
1. Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash. (Pan American Games representative)
2. Tiara Brown, Lehigh, Fla. (USA Boxing National Championships)
3. Lisa Porter, Northridge, Calif. (USA Boxing National Championships)
4. N’yteeyah Sherman, Barberton, Ohio (USA Boxing National Championships)
5. Mikaela Mayer, Los Angeles, Calif. (Golden Gloves Championships)
6. Patricia Manuel Long Beach, Calif. (National PAL Championships)
7. Bertha Aracil, Yonkers, N.Y. (National PAL Championships)
8. Asia Stevenson, Washington DC (National PAL Championships)

Middleweight/165 lbs

1. Franchon Crews, Baltimore, Md. (Pan American Games representative )
2. Alyssa DeFazio, Peoria, Ariz. (USA Boxing National Championships)
3. Tika Hemingway, Pittsburgh, Pa. (USA Boxing National Championships)
4. Tiffanie Ward, Hacienda Heights, Calif. (USA Boxing National Championships)
5. Tiffanie Hearn, Louisville, Ky. (Golden Gloves Championships)
6. Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich. (National PAL Championships)
7. Andrecia Wasson, Centerline, Mich. (National PAL Championships)
8. Raquel Miller, San Francisco, Calif. (National PAL Championships)

Olympic Fever! Yep, girls boxing everywhere!

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Olympic Fever! Yep, girls boxing everywhere!

Whether it’s prepping for the first EVER women’s boxing Olympic trials next week or waking up to the fact that there are some fabulous women boxers out there, women’s boxing has arrived!

WNYC Radio has had a fabulous series running entitled Women Box: Fighting to Make History which has included remarkable photo essays by Sue Jaye Johnson as well as radio interviews with Olympic contenders, amateurs boxers, coaches and pro boxers.

Last night, WNYC hosted an event at The Greene Space in lower Manhattan that featured Photojournalist Sue Jay Johnson, 16-year-old Claressa Shields who will be competing in the upcoming Olympic Trials in Spokane, Washington, World Champion Alicia “Slick” Ashley, Golden Gloves contender, Heather Hardy, and host Rosie Perez.

The sold-out event adds momentum to what has become a veritable crescendo of positive media stories that have celebrated the tenacity, hard work and plain courage of these remarkable athletes.

The Greene Space event link is here and includes the video!

Stereotyping women and other issues in the fight game.

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Stereotyping women and other issues in the fight game.

Female Boxer in Pakistan, Photo Credit: Reuters

Watching how the mainstream media has grabbed a hold of women’s boxing as something to promote in positive terms is nothing short of marvelous. Whether it is media in the US, Europe or Asia, however, questions of a women’s “place” in the ring still linger even as national teams ready themselves for the 2012 Olympics.

What I’ve found most interesting are the spate of recent media pieces coming out of Asia. Here are a few examples.

Indian Boxer, Mary Kom, Photo: TOI

From India comes this story:

‘Stereotyping women cannot work anymore’ by a staff writer from the Hindu Times. And includes the following quote:

Stereotyping women cannot work anymore and men who claim that women cannot match their abilities are in deep trouble. Even those who choose to stay as homemakers can bring in value addition to their families.

From Pakistan:

Boxing: Women’s event planned amid hardliners’ wrath by Natasha Raheel for the The Express Tribune.

After being asked by the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) to start a women’s boxing programme in 1996, the plan failed due to protests by hardliners who opposed the idea of females gearing up to step in the ring.

However, after a lapse of almost 16 years, the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) – facing the rage of conservative groups but surrounded by talented women – has decided to hold exhibition matches in April.

From China by way of ABC Radio Australia:

Xiyan Zhang, Boxing for China, Photo: Zhenyu Li

China sets sights on Olympic Gold, ABC Radio Australia (with link to interview) by Huey Fern Tay.

TANG ERMIN (Translation): These girls who we’re training have a passion for boxing. In the past, these girls didn’t have an opportunity to participate. They could only watch the boys fight. They’re very focused on the sport now because they’ve been given the chance to become a boxer.

FLASH Girlboxing on the radio!

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***FLASH*** Girlboxing on the radio starting at 9:00 AM!

Girlboxing will be on the radio this morning speaking with John M. Phillips on his Courts & Sports radio show. We’ll be talking about head injuries in sport, Ishika Lay, her injury and recovery, Olympic Boxing and the first ever female boxing Olympic trials in Spokane, Washington, and maybe even a little about the Superbowl.

Here’s the link to listen in: Court & Sports, WOKV

Miracles happen, Ishika Lay on the road to recovery!

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Miracles happen, Ishika Lay on the road to recovery!

Back in October at the 2011 PAL Championships as Ishika Lay lapsed into a coma in critical condition at St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, her family, friends and the boxing world worried that she might not recover.

Ishika Lay in Recovery, Photo: Florida Times Union

Ishika Lay, a consummate athlete who had been well on her way towards a berth in the upcoming Olympic Trials, has turned the proverbial tide, and while she has lost her shot at representing the United States this year, she is well on the way towards recovery nearly four months later.

It is believed that Ishika Lay suffered from Second-Impact Syndrome. While not as well-known as other head injuries, Second-Impact Syndrome occurs when an athlete already reeling from a blow actually succumbs to a second blow days or even weeks afterwards. As in Ishika Lay’s case, she had taken a shot while sparring ten days before, and had even complained of headaches, but had otherwise not been encouraged to see a doctor or in anyway treat her symptoms.

In her first PAL bout, the likely winner of the contest, she was never hit hard, but athletes suffering from Second-Impact Syndrome can fall horribly ill even from the lightest of impacts due to the fact that their brains haven’t had a chance to recover from the initial impact. This is the likely scenario that felled Ishika Lay.

As noted in Garry Smits article entitled Women’s Boxer Ishika Lay recovers after coma, the mantra “when in doubt sit it out,” must become the new normal in boxing. In Ishika Lay’s case, while it would have meant disappointment at being scratched from her PAL match, she wouldn’t have otherwise undergone her life-threatening ordeal.

Thankfully, Ishika Lay is on the road to recovery with thrice weekly rehabilitation on an outpatient basis at a hospital near her home in Florida, and lots of additional therapy at home with her mother.

Girlboxing sends lots of love Ishika’s way with the sure knowledge that she is being remembered in a lot of prayers.

Links:

Women’s Boxer Ishika Lay recovers after coma (Florida Times Union.com)

Second Impact Syndrome (Good overview from sportsmd.com )

Second Impact Syndrome (National Institute of Health)

Women Box!

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Women Box!

Bertha Aracil, Photo: Sue Jaye Johnson

The specter of the debut of women’s boxing at the upcoming 2012 Olympics has led to a plethora of interest in the sport!

“Women who box love it for the same reason guys do, boxing requires intense physical and psychological discipline, the ability to overcome fear and anger.” – Morning Edition

Franchon Crews, Photo: Sue Jaye Johnson

This weekend NPR opened a series on women’s boxing which aired on Sunday’s Morning Edition. The piece is wonderfully affirming and I encourage everyone to listen to it and to read the accompanying article.

The first installment, entitled ‘I Am A Boxer’: Fighter In The Ring, Lady Outside It includes sensitive interviews with boxer Bertha Aracil and other fighters vying for an Olympic berth at the upcoming Olympic Trials in Spokane, Washington next month. The piece also gets to the heart of gender, an issue that continues to dog the place of women in the sport. The series is co-produced by Marianne McCune and photographer Sue Jaye Johnson.

Link: ‘I Am A Boxer’: Fighter In The Ring, Lady Outside It (First installment)

Link: Why Would A Woman Box (Article published on WNYC’s website)

Sue Jaye Johnson’s video and photo essay, Bout Time in The New York Times Magazine section was also published yesterday and is another “must read” piece.

Link: Bout Time

Oh, and in case you need any reminding, women have been boxing for a LONG, LONG time. The following is from Pierce Egan’s book Boxiana: Or Sketches of Ancient & Modern Pugilism, published originally published in 1830!

Itching to fight in the Olympics!

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Itching to fight in the Olympics!

Claressa Shields (r) and Andrecia Wasson, Photo: Sue Jaye Johnson

What with the first-ever Women’s Boxing Olympic Trials set to commence February 13, 2012 at the Northern Quest Resort outside of Spokane, Washington, it is wonderful to see the media begin to wake-up to the wonders of these remarkable young athletes. (BTW, click here for ticket information.)

This seven-day event will feature 24 athletes competing in the three Olympic weight classes: featherweight, lightweight and middleweight, in a double elimination format. Winners, one from each weight class, will earn the right to represent the United States in what USA Boxing has called “the lone international Olympic qualifier, the 2012 Women’s World Championships” set to occur in May in China. In order to qualify for the Olympics — they will have to have landed in the top eight!

Recent press articles and pieces have included the following all of which are well worth the read!

The New York Times has a piece by Sue Jaye Johnson entitled, Bout Time. It features video and slide shows of three Olympic hopefuls: Claressa Shields, 16, Flint, Michigan, Alex Love, 22, Monroe, Washington, and Tiara Brown, 23, Fort Myers, Florida. The images are just great. The link is here.

Tyrieshia Douglas, WNYC, Sue Jaye Johnson

WNYC-AM radio has put together a series entitled Women Box: Fighting to Make History, that includes two slides show pieces. Boxing Toward the Olympics features a mix of four wonderful photos of Olympic hopefuls. Tyrieshia Douglas offers a 16-slide photo essay of her efforts. All of the photos are by photographer Sue Jaye Johnson. WNYC will also host an event at The Greene Space in New York City on February 10 featuring a conversation about women boxers with Rosie Perez, a 16 year old Olympic hopeful and a four-time world champion.

Queen Underwood, The Spokesman Review, Dan Pelle/AP

Seattle’s own Queen Underwood has featured in an article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer entitled Seattle boxer preparing for U.S. Olympic team trials for women’s boxing by John Blanchette. The piece gives an overview of what Queen has been up to in her quest for a lightweight berth.

Meanwhile, we all still await the AIBA’s final decision on whether boxing skirts will be a necessary part of their uniforms. As if!

USA Women’s Boxers getting ready to rumble!

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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 and the Media

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Women’s Boxing and the Media

Queen Underwood ahead of her Pan Am Games fight, Photo: Pat Graham/AP

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

In celebration of the art of boxing.

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In celebration of the art of boxing.

Mischa and Kristina

My schedule has been hectic and fraught with the conflicting needs of family, job and thesis writing, so getting to the gym yesterday felt triumphant.

Lennox Blackmore and I had miscued on our time which meant I did most of my work out on my own starting off with my usual four round sets: shadow boxing, heavy bag, double-ended bag and speed bag. When Len arrived, I pulled out four more on the pads working my jab-jab-right combination plus the right-left dig, left hook combo. My last was to work my way through 80 ragged sit ups — but they did count.

The point of writing about it is less to “crow” about boxing for a solid hour — and more about the work itself and the work of everyone in the gym. ‘Talk about inspiring, everyone and I mean every last person was pushing themselves and hard. That meant young kids, older kids, men and women of a “certain age” and everyone in between, not to mention the boxers sparring with speed and tartness prepping for upcoming bouts!

It got me to thinking that with all the controversies of late whether it’s bad refereeing, bad judging, obnoxious fighters mouthing off unnecessarily or the specter of female athletes wearing short mini skirts in their debut at the 2012 Olympics, the other side of boxing, the miraculous side is all the time spent in the gym, working.

That is what boxing is, isn’t it? At its essence? The magic of aligning the mind and the body to perfect exacting movements so that when a boxer enters the ring there is an opportunity to soar as an improvisational artist at the height of his or her craft.

As with jazz musicians who spend hours a day practicing scales and sonorous trills to keep their lips, fingers, hands, arms, legs and every other part of the body in condition, so does a boxer spend hours at a time perfecting the body and the subtle movements necessary to ply the art.

That doesn’t only mean round after round of throwing the intricate combinations, but understanding the subtleties of the pax de deux — after all, boxing is not a solo sport, but an intricate dance. No tag team, it is a one-on-one battle of skills, stamina, ring knowledge and what we all call heart. It is also performance art as there is that extra shot of adrenaline that happens precisely because it is a competition on a stage bounded by the four sides of the storied boxing ring.

And that is part of it — despite the hype and the crappy stuff that seems to accompany the professional side of boxing and even the amateur side; the ring itself is an arena of magic. It is the place where all of those hours of gym work and road work and mental work thinking about boxing gets played out in the brief snippets of time between the bells.

I know that boxing can be a heartbreaker — as terrible and cruel as any indifferent lover, but it is also a place of work and pride that at the end of the day every practitioner can feel triumphant about.

So yes, while the split decision of the latest Manny Pacquiao versus Juan Manuel Marquez championship bout may feel like ashes in the throat to some, we should also celebrate the hard work of boxing, it is after all what brought those two remarkable athletes into the ring in the first place.

USA Boxing’s 2nd Women’s Int’l Dual Series!!!

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>>>UPDATE>>>

Check out boxing live! From 6:00 PM ET each evening! www.oxnardpalboxing.com.

USA Boxing’s 2nd Women’s Int’l Dual Series!!!

The second annual Women’s International Dual Series will be held from November 15 – 18, 2011 in Oxnard, California. Given that the upcoming debut of women’s boxing in the 2012 Olympics, this years women’s boxing boxing series should be particularly memorable!

The event will host elite amateur boxers from six nations in the three Olympic weight classes (Flyweight-112 lbs, Lightweight-132 lbs and Middleweight-165 lbs) and will include fighters from Mexico, Canada, Russia, Germany and Poland, and four squads from the United States. It should be noted that all 12 of the fighters representing the U. S. have qualified for the first-ever trials for the U. S. Olympic Team tentatively scheduled for February of 2012.

This gives everyone the opportunity to cheer for these fabulous athletes who have worked so hard to get this far!

Following on the heals of the recently contested Pan American Games and European Women’s Boxing championships, the Dual Series competition will be a wonderful opportunity for these incredible fighters to further hone their skills ahead of next years Olympics.

The tournament itself will be a round-robin style competition giving each boxer an opportunity to face a different opponent on each day of the competition — with events starting at 6:00 PM each evening.

Tickets are available at the door and are $10 per day for adults and $5 for kids, 6-17. Ringside seats can purchased for $20 and children under five will be admitted free. For more information, go to www.oxnardpalboxing.com.

The roster for the games as published by USA Boxing is as follows!

U.S. Rosters

Red Team One

112 lbs: Poula Estrada, Palmdale, Calif.

132 lbs: N’yteeyah Sherman, Barberton, Ohio

165 lbs: Alyssa Defazio, Wittman, Ariz.
Coach: Bruce Kawano, Pearl City, Hawaii

Coach: Anthony Huizar, Whittier, Calif.

Red Team Two

112 lbs: Christina Cruz, New York, N.Y.

132 lbs: Mikaela Mayer, Los Angeles, Calif.

165 lbs: Tika Hemingway, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Coach: Gloria Peek, Norfolk, Va.

Coach: Jose Banales, Las Vegas, Nev.

Blue Team One

112 lbs: Cynthia Moreno, Phoenix, Ariz.

132 lbs: Tiara Brown, Lehigh Acres, Fla.

165 lbs: Tiffanie Ward, Hacienda Heights, Calif.

Coach: Rocky Garza, Oxnard, Calif.

Coach: Vernon Lee, San Diego, Calif.

Blue Team Two

112 lbs: Tyrieshia Douglas, Baltimore, Md.

132 lbs: Lisa Porter, Valley Village, Calif.

165 lbs: Franchon Crews, Baltimore, Md.

Coach: Christy Halbert, Nashville, Tenn.

Coach: Fausto de la Torre, Pasadena, Calif.

International Rosters

Mexico
112 lbs: Silvia Torres
132 lbs: Cinthya Robles
165 lbs: Alma Ibarra

Poland
Flyweights/112 lbs
Karolina Michalczuk
Sandra Drabik

Lightweight/132 lbs
Karolina Graczyk
Sandra Kruk

Middleweight/165 lbs
Lidia Fidura
Katarzyna Furmaniak

Canada
TBD

Russia
112 lbs: Elena Savelyeva
132 lbs: Sofya Ochigava
165 lbs: Nadezhda Torlopova

Germany
112 lbs: Azize Nimani
132 lbs: Julia Irmen

Women’s Boxing: This is what women’s Olympic boxing comes down to … skirts!?!

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Women’s Boxing: This is what Women’s Olympic boxing comes down to … skirts!?!

BBC Sports has a piece entitled, Women’s boxing split as governing body suggests skirts, they report on the recommendation made last year by the AIBA that women wear skirts in the ring at international competitions. Apparently this reared its head at the recently completed European Competitions with some nations opining that it makes a more “womanly impression.”

I’m sorry for the venom I’m about to spew but, WTF???

Female boxers are doing everything they can to get the recognition they deserve just to get in the ring, never mind have fair matches, get media coverage and opportunities to have their athleticism legitimized, and this is what the AIBA came up with as their great contribution! Women should wear skirts in competition at the Olympics!!!

Isn’t it bad enough that the rounds are limited to two minutes instead of three???

Or the fact that there are only three weight classes in the Olympics in 2012???

As far as I’m concerned this is just BULLSH*T!!!

Have a read and spew.

Maybe I’m too damned old to think the notion of “optional” has meaning — as far as I’m concerned putting a woman in a mini-skirt smacks of nothing more than sexism pure and simple. And heck, if a woman wants to wear a skirt in the ring great, and to that end, plenty of men wear them, but right, when a man wears a skirt in the ring it’s considered “gladiatorial.”

Give us a break already!

PS – Be sure and check out Michael Rivest’s exceptional article entitled A Conversation with Dr. C.K. Wu – More on Warriors in Skirts.

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