Tag Archives: 2012 Olympics

Freddie Roach volunteers to help coach Team USA Men’s and Women’s Boxing Olympians!

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Freddie Roach volunteers to help coach Team USA Men’s and Women’s Boxing Olympians!


USA Boxing’s Men’s and Women’s Olympic hopefuls will be joined by volunteer coach, Freddie Roach who has opened up his heart and his gym, Wild Card Boxing Club, to the elite athletes who will comprise Team USA’s 2012 Boxing Olympians.

In a press release issued by USA Boxing, Freddie Roach is quoted as saying, “An Olympic medal is one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sport, and I promise to do all I can to ensure that these young men and women are fully prepared to go to London to proudly represent our country,” said Roach.

The 2012 Olympics will mark the first time women’s boxing will be recognized as an Olympic sport — so what better gift than Freddie Roach’s remarkable skills as a trainer for the women who will represent Team USA!

As United States Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun put it, “I’d like to thank Freddie and his team for their willingness to help our boxers achieve their highest potential.”  Blackmun further stated that he is “thrilled that we were able to make this happen and can’t wait to see the results.”

USA Boxing also noted that “the program … is designed to act as a resource for up to ten medal-potential athletes to attend multi-day training sessions at the Wild Card Gym with their personal coaches and USA Boxing’s National Coach Joe Zanders. These sessions will be established under the leadership of Freddie Roach and his staff and will be used to help provide feedback and strategy on the athletes’ preparation for the Olympic Games. The USOC will support this program as an add-on to the 2011-12 approved high performance plan with the intent of providing a unique and valuable resource for the designated athletes as a supplement to the existing coaching structure.”

Freddie Roach and his team will begin their participation with USA Boxing at an upcoming high performance retreat at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Co.

Girlboxing would like to send a shout out to Freddie for offering this great opportunity!

For further information click here and here.

USA Boxing Pan American Games Women’s Qualifier Team!

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USA Boxing Pan American Games Women’s Qualifier Team!

A giant Girlboxing shout out to the women of the USA Boxing’s first women’s boxing team to head off to the Pan American Games qualifier to be held from March 25-29 in Cumana, Venezuela.

The team members are as follows:

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

 

132 lbs/female: Queen Underwood, Seattle, WA.

 

 

165 lbs/female: Tiffanie Hearn, Louisville, KY.

 

USA Boxing has the full story here.

Queen Underwood’s Quest For Olympic Gold!

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Queen Underwood’s Quest For Olympic Gold!

Queen Underwood, AP Photo: Jack Dempsey

If you happen to have been in and around Seattle over the past couple of days, you may have come across a life-size poster of U.S. Women’s National Boxing Champion and Seattle native Queen Underwood in your travels.

Queen Underwood, 26, has been hard at work in her quest to win Gold in the 2012 Olympic Games in the 132-lb. weight class, one of three sanctioned for the debut of Women’s Olympic Boxing, and is looking for support as she trains full-time in pursuit of her dream.

Just now, Queen is in her final preparations for the upcoming Pan American Games Box-offs set to run from March 18-20, in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the Olympic Training Center.

The winners of this important event will be offered the opportunity to wear the red, white and blue at the upcoming Pan American Games qualifier in Cumana, Venezuela, March 25-30 — a first ever event for the games as Women’s Boxing makes its debut.

Queen hopes “to make history” in the Pan American Games,  “by bringing back the first Gold Medal ever for Women’s Boxing.”

Queen’s pursuit of Olympic excellence is her true motivator, as well as the driver behind what Queen calls her training “lifestyle,” which includes nearly daily workouts at Cappy’s Gym in Seattle, upwards of six hours per day.

This sort of focused dedication to the quest for gold is in the manner of any elite Olympian, whether that athlete be a women’s gymnast, weight lifter or  — thanks to the recent decision made by the International Olympic Boxing Committee, a female amateur boxing champion.

Along with the potential for triumph in the ring at the Olympics are the harsh realities of finding support and sponsorship in an era of continuing financial crisis.

Where “Queen Team” has come up with an edge is in reaching out to the public to help support Queen’s quest for gold through tax-deductible sponsorships, volunteer and in-kind support, small donations, and by building awareness of Queen’s dedication to the sport.

As Queen put it, “The Queen Team takes on the task to get money so I can train full-time.”

“It is my duty and my job,” Queen went on to explain, “All I do is box!”

Queen’s personal goals aside, she also sees herself as a role model to younger women and hopes to establish a high-profile not only to eventually pursue a professional boxing career, but importantly, to act as “a mentor to future boxers.”

Still and all, the Olympics mean everything to Queen: an opportunity to win the first Olympic Gold medal for Women’s Boxing in her weight class, a chance to put “Women’s Boxing on the map” and through her own examples of dedication, hard work and focus, the chance to show the world just what it really means to be a woman boxer.

For more information on sponsoring Queen, or just to check out her fabulous website click here.  You can “like” Queen’s Facebook page here.  And you can follow Queen on Twitter by clicking @Queenteam2012

Women’s Boxing Everywhere!

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Women’s boxing everywhere!

Lately, when you type in “women’s boxing” on a google news search you’ll find tons of stories from all over the place: Upcoming title fights, Olympic hopefuls in Chicago, Manila and Northern India, and terrific stories about women boxers going on to new heights in the field.

Here’s a smattering from today beginning with my favorite from the Independent in Dublin, Ireland!

– The Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, Ireland this coming March 17th will be none other than Katie Taylor, Ireland’s first female boxing champion. Taylor, 24, is a boxer and soccer player who began fighting at the age of 15. Her latest prize was winning gold at the 2010 World Amateur championships in Barbados last year.  The full article is here.

– This weekend, young women from around Australia with Olympic dreams in their hearts will begin the first rung of fulfilling those ambitions by competing this weekend Melbourne in the Australian championships. For a sweet article on two young hopefuls from Manning River, Australia, courtesy of the Manning River Times click here.  A second article about women from Laurieton can be found here courtesy of the Camden Haven Courier.

– Not to be out done, the Chicago Tribune has a feature piece about boxer Kristin Gearhart who will be defending her Chicago Golden Gloves title in the junior welterweight division.  The three-time golden gloves champion is hoping to go on to the Nationals and beyond that has an Olympic dream of her own. The story by Chicago Tribune reporter By Jim Jaworski can be found here.

There is tons more to report, including a Girlboxing shout out to New York’s own Million Dollar Baby, Maureen Shea on landing a fabulous new gig as the host of Mexico’s women’s boxing reality TV show, “Todos Contra Mexico.”  Check out this piece in Eastside Boxing.

Women’s Boxing News Roundup – 2/20/21

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Women’s Boxing News Roundup – 2/20/11

Women’s IBF Bantamweight Championship

Suzie Q Ramadan, Women's IBF Bantamweight Champion, Photo: Alex Coppel, Herald Sun

Australia’s Susie Q Ramadan (20-0,KO-8) scored a decisive runaway victory last night to win the Women’s IBF Bantamweight Championship over America’s Terri Lynn Cruz (17-7-2, KO-8).  In commanding fashion, Ramadan scored 99-91 on all three judges scorecards as she routed Cruz in the fight on her home turf venue, the Reggio Calibria Club in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.  Well publicized in her native Australia, Ramadan hopes to crack the American and European fight markets as well as to continue to bring honor to the sport of boxing for Australia. Article links here and here.

Laila Ali tapped as President of the Women’s Sports Foundation

Laila Ali, radiant in red and expecting her 2nd child in April, Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Former women’s boxing champion Laila Ali a board member of the Women’s Sports Foundation since 2007 has been chosen as the organization’s incoming President.  As quoted in a press release issued by the Women’s Sports Foundation, Ali said, “I’m thrilled to serve as president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and help girls and women from all walks of life understand the important role of sports and getting active.”  Ali will also become a member of the Women’s Sports Foundation Board of Trustees during her two-year term as President of the foundation.  For more information about this important organization, click here.

Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton training with Freddie Roach!

Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton

Score another Philippine boxing champion for Freddie Roach’s corner as Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton (7-2-1) begins training with Freddie for her February 25th fight against Franchesca ”The Chosen One” Alcanter (18-9-1) in a fight night spectacle at Craneway Pavillion in Riverside, California.  Julaton who is the WBO & IBF Super Bantamweight champion had also recently indicated that she would drop her professional status to compete in the 2012 Olympics on the Philippine national team.  Meanwhile, her upcoming fight will be televised live on TV5, a singular honor for women’s boxing.

Women’s Olympic Boxing schedule released for 2012!

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Women’s Olympics Boxing schedule released for 2012!

Women's Olympic Boxing

Well, here it is, the schedule of events!  What a giant wow!  Women’s boxing as an olympics sport!

August 5th:  Round of 16 for Flyweights, Light Weights and Middle Weights

August 6th:  Quarter-finals for Flyweights, Light Weights and Middle Weights

August 8th:  Semi-finals for Flyweights, Light Weights and Middle Weights

August 9th:  Finals for Flyweights, Light Weights and Middle Weights & Medal ceremonies

The boxing events will be held in in the ExCel venue near London City Airport in east London’s Royal Victoria Dock.

Women’s Boxing Upcoming Fight: Sonya Lamonakis

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Women’s Boxing Upcoming Fight:  Sonya Lamonakis

Girlboxing had the chance to sit down and talk with Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis (3-0,1-KO)  as she readies for her upcoming heavyweight bout against Tanzee Daniels (4-0, 1-KO) @ Foxwoods on March 12, 2011.  Recently ranked the #1 women’s professional heavyweight in the U. S. by the WIBA, Sonya is excited about the prospect of fighting on the under card of the much anticipated, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez vs. Sergiy Dzinziruk bout.  The fight card, promoted by DiBella Entertainment will be broadcast live on HBO.  This will be Sonya’s 4th professional fight since turning pro in June 2010.

Women’s boxing: getting it real

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Women’s boxing: getting it real

Ukrainian Women Warriors, photo by Guillaume Herbaut

It seems that there’s some press around lately on the theme of  “getting real” when it comes to fitness.  For our friends in Chicago,  Chicago Now has a piece about the Warrior Fighting Sports & Fitness gym and its affiliated Knockout Boxing Club in Downer’s Grove, Il..  As the author put it:

“What I was looking for: – I didn’t want to join a large gym and do a cardio boxing class. I wanted the real deal, the same workouts fighters do.  – I refuse to wear makeup or dress up for the gym. – I don’t want to be treated like a girl.”

What she found was an environment of hard work, sweat, and the inspiration of watching a group of highly  skilled, ranked women fighters across a spectrum of disciplines from Boxing to MMA to Kickboxing.  Article link here.
New York City has also seen press lately about the idea of the urban warrior.  In a recent article in the local Chelsea Now paper, women’s boxing is touted as one of a select group of “alternate activities to stretch your mind and body in more dynamic ways,” the others being target shooting and rock climbing.  Article link here.  I know from my own experience I didn’t walk into a boxing gym so much for fitness as to engage in a physically demanding full-contact sport.
When I search around for women’s boxing news, I inevitably find some press related to new boxing or MMA classes and programs for women every few days.  That coupled with the upcoming debut of women’s boxing in the 2012 Olympics the sport is building a lot of momentum not only in the United States, but globally.

Andrecia Wasson

What’s cool is while I didn’t walk into a boxing gym until my early 40’s, girls like my daughter know the camaraderie and hard work of the gym starting as young as 8.   Detroit fighter, Andrecia Wasson is a case in point.  She first walked into the Warriors Boxing Club at the age of 12 and now as an 18-year-old Women’s Middleweight World Champion is starting her quest for Olympic gold.

The thing of it is, go to Gleason’s Gym on any Saturday morning and what you’ll find is a group of dedicated women boxers of all skill levels and ages plying their craft with heart and a lot of positive attitude — and then realize that those kinds of scenes are repeated all over the United States.  Then consider that it’s also repeated in places like India, China, Jordan, Zambia and Afghanistan.  That’s pretty heady stuff and something to feel very proud to be a part of.

Remembering the Prize Fighter

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Remembering the Prize Fighter.

The Sweet Science.com is carrying a story about the Bob Arum’s move from HBO to Showtime-CBS  — and the potential of putting “terrestrial television” aka plain-vanilla broadcast TV back into the mix.   The main thrust of Bob Arum and Top Rank’s deal is giving him “ad spots and live coverage during CBS programming [that] will run either the first or last episode of a four-part promotional countdown to the fight show on CBS in prime time (the others will run on SHOWTIME). In addition, Top Rank will be allowed to sell ad spots that help cover the production costs of that show.” [Link to the full article here.]

This is pretty heady stuff and puts in my such glory days of boxing as the kind of main event fights that played on broadcast television from the 1950’s on through the great warrior battles of Muhammad Ali well into the 1970’s.

Howard Cosell and Mohammed Ali

The net effect of Arum’s move to Showtime-CBS will certainly bring more viewers for his upcoming Cotto-Mayorga fight, but more importantly will give him time to promote Manny Pacquiao’s May 7th fight:  a cross back into the realm of broadcast television thereby burnishing the place of the prize fighter in American lore.

Imagine this — the deal includes live promotion on CBS Morning Show and will also feature Christy Martin on CBS Talk Shows.  As well, in the run up to the Pacquiao fight, a feature spot will run on 60 Minutes one week prior to the fight.

As I’ve stated in an earlier column on the popularity of The Fighter and the splash that the new series Lights On is having on FX, boxing has found new life as people begin to view boxing as a way of battling through their own issues large and small.  For the fighter, it may still be a way out of “Palookaville,” but for the rest of us it’s a way out of powerlessness in a world that is moving way to fast for its own good.  I don’t know enough about the promoting game to be a fan one way or another of Bob Arum, but what I can say, is that his move to the wider audience of broadcast television shows that he is in touch with the subtle changes in the place of boxing on the American consciousness.  From the perspective of boostering women’s boxing, Bob Arum is also placing his money on the future place of women’s boxing in the prize fighting game, and given where we are vis-a-vis the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, that is a great thing.

You might also like “Lights On”

Women’s boxing news roundup, 1/25/2011

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Women’s boxing news roundup, 1/25/2011.

Women's boxing news roundup - 1/25/2011

Christy Martin, Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, NYT

For those who didn’t catch this over the weekend, the New York Times did a feature piece on boxer, Christy Martin as she readies herself for her comeback fight on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto v. Ricardo Mayorga bout to be aired on Showtime pay-per-view March 12th.  The article, written by Joyce Wadler, looks in-depth at Christy’s career and recent troubles.  The “money” quote of the piece is at the end in response to a snarky question if ever I heard one regarding Christy’s motivations for returning to the ring.   “You know,” she said, “I was a fighter before, so I’m just going back to work, and through my work maybe I can inspire other women, or give them strength to deal with situations and move forward.”   Way to go Christy!  The link to the piece is here.

Ana Julaton

Another great Philippine “Pac-Woman,” Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton has announced the “return of The Hurricane,” in her bout to be fought against Francesca “The Chosen One” Alcanter.  Of interest is the fact that the fight night will feature a mixture of Professional Boxing, Amateur kickboxing, as well as live music and comedy acts on three stages.  The event is set for February 25, 2011 at the Craneway Pavilion in Riverside, CA, and will be broadcast live in the Philippines.  For further information, check out the link here and here.

Flyweights, Ava Knight (r) & Gloria Salas

The Sweetscience.com is carrying a piece by David A. Avila, about Golden Boy Promotions’ recent efforts to support women’s boxing.  As Avila points out, “Golden Boy kept its word and female prizefighting was showcased on another fight card [this past Friday]. Working with Claudia Ollis, a new powerbroker in women’s boxing, the Los Angeles-based boxing giant Golden Boy has made waves in the boxing world. Now other boxing promotions are jumping on the bandwagon with female fighters included on their respective cards.”  This is great news for the sport and couldn’t come at a better time as we enter the countdown to next year’s debut of women’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics in London.  The article can be found here.

The new International Amateur Boxing Association’s (AIBA) is seeking to strengthen the position of women’s amateur boxing both before and after the 2012 Olympic games to include adding weight categories at future Olympic games.  As well, the association has set an agreement for the 2011 Women’s Youth and Junior World Championships to be held in Ankara, Turkey from April 28 – May 8.  For more information click here and here.

Women’s boxing everywhere

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Women’s boxing everywhere

Young Afghani Women Boxing, Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images

MSNBC is carrying a fabulous photo essay of young Afghani women boxing.  The joy in their faces says it all.  The link is here.  The photographs were shot by photojournalist Shah Marai for AFP.

 

Alicia "Slick" Ashley, readies for her Main Event fight on January 19, 2011.

The Brooklyn Explosion boxing card @ Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple will feature Alicia “Slick” Ashley in main event bout against Crystal Hoy tomorrow night.  Promoted by New York’s own “Million Dollar Baby,” Maureen Shea, the evening is historic as the first promoting a woman’s title bout as a main event.

 

LaTarisha Fountain, Photo credit: Savulich/News

The New York Daily News in its continuing series on up-and-coming Golden Gloves contenders had a terrific piece on Olympic hopeful LaTarisha Fountain.  The former point guard for Pace University won her first Golden Gloves last year at 152 lbs. and hopes to repeat it again in her quest for a spot on next year’s US Olympic Women’s Boxing team.  The link to the article is here.

 

84th Daily News Golden Gloves

As a reminder, this year’s Daily News Golden Gloves gets underway on Thursday, January 20th at B. B. Kings Club.

 

Champions

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Champions

“You know what a champion is? A champion is someone who’s ready when the gong rings – not just before, not just after – but when it rings.”  – Jack Dempsey

The Times of India is covering a story on the 11th Women’s Boxing Championship that will be held in Thrissur, India.  Participants have started at their training camp in preparation for the first round of bouts on December 4th.  This championship shall set the stage for selecting the Indian national team that will go on to fight in the 2012 Olympics.

Many young Indian women are finding their way into boxing as a means of elevating their status — and getting themselves and their families out of poverty.  This is not so different from the reasons many young men and women have found their way into sport in the United States.  And let’s face it, while we think of it as a sport, in my opinion boxing is much more than that.  It is about heart and facing the kind of fear that can otherwise cripple a person.

A champion in the ring is a person who understands that and overcomes it.  Win or lose the mere fact of getting in the ring counts for something.  So, if you are fighting today, think about what Jack Dempsey said and be ready when the bell rings.

The New York Times wrote about the phenomenon of women’s boxing in India here.  It is worth the read.