Tag Archives: Boxing

Three great women’s boxing victories!

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Three great women’s boxing victories!

There’s been some exciting women’s boxing going on lately.

Amanda Serrano (L) v. Jennifer Scott

Saturday, June 11th, Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano, grabbed the vacant NABF Superfeatherweight championship belt when she clocked Jennifer Scott at a 1:46 into the first round of her scheduled 8-round bout at Roseland Ballroom on the Boricua Boxing II Card. (Boxing News 24 has a nice piece here.)  With the win, Serrano improves her record to 10-0-1 with 6 KO’s.

The second big women’s professional bout over the weekend was South African women’s boxer Noni “She bee stinging” Tenge’s 4th round knockout victory over New Zealand’s own Daniella “The Diamond” Smith to capture the women’s IBF Welterweight Championship at the at the Carnival City inBrakpa, South Africa.  As the first South African woman to win a major boxing title,Tenge has entered the history books for South African sports.  The victory, however has also caused a lot of controversy due to the South African Broadcasting Company’s decision *not* to broadcast the fight as a live event.  Although SABC’s reaction was to say, “why is this SABC’s problem?” promoter Branco Milenkovic is quoted as saying, “If the SABC wants to call itself the national broadcaster, it should broadcast boxing.”  For more on the story from inside South Africa click here and here.

Not to be outdone, Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm defeated Victoria Cisneros on Friday night in her Main Event showing on Telefutura’s “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” series.

A big Girlboxing shout out to both fighters for putting on a G-R-E-A-T show that we hope will inspire other sports channels to headline more women’s bouts!

 

Must see TV: Frederick Wiseman’s “Boxing Gym” on PBS!

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Must see TV:  Frederick Wiseman’s “Boxing Gym” on PBS!

The American documentary filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman’s latest film is called “Boxing Gym.”  Released in 2010, the film presents an unfettered look at Lord’s Gym in Austin, Texas.

The gym is owned and operated by Richard Lord, a former professional boxer who opened the gym over 16 years ago. It accommodates a cross-section of boxers: young and old, men and women, plus an array of kids, all of whom come to the gym for reasons running from fitness on through training for amateur and professional fights!

The film is a loving portrayal of what many of us think of as our home away from home where camaraderie, focus and hard work are our daily diet, not to mention a dream or two.

PBS will be airing the film in its entirety @ 9:00 PM on Thursday, June 16th (Eastern Standard Time). Check local listings for an exact time if you are out of the New York City Area.

For further information on Lord’s Gym click the link here.

For a link to a nice piece on the film click here.

Of villages, gyms and dojos

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Of villages, boxing gyms and dojos

My daughter successfully tested for her next level in Aikido yesterday wowing us all with her prowess, strength, sweet laughter and compassion.

Compassion is perhaps a strange way of describing acts of tossing her “Ukais” from one side of the dojo to the other — but was just that as she worried her way through this person’s hurt back and that person’s smaller stature all while performing the complicated forms she has come to master with such grace.

It got me to thinking that my daughter’s art — as it has become since she donned her first Gi at the age of 5 turning 6 — is so many parts herself, but also many parts her Aikido teachers who have patiently, and sometimes not so patiently, taught her the large and small points of placing her body in this or that posture.

The more important lessons though have had to do with taking responsibility for herself and for how she comports herself through the rituals of the culture of Aikido.  Along the way she is finding moments of body-mind union — where she loses her self-consciousness to act in a kind of unison. This last is the hardest, and yet as I watched her yesterday, I knew that she was well on her way.

It got me to thinking that her dojo has become her village filled with all the nuances of a community each playing a part in helping her to grow into a young woman.  It also got me to thinking that boxing gyms seem to have that same effect on young people. They learn an art — essentially an art of violence, and yet what they learn is not violent at all. What one sees is an inculcation of gentleness, sure not all the time, but the intimacy of learning those arts does give rise to the village life for those kids — seen scampering around, their heads jostled as they imbibe the skills of honing the body and the mind into a kind of harmony.

And its not just kids.  Adults can find that subtle part of village life too.  A community within a community where you work your butt off  — and afterwards just hang around for a while to chit-chat with your friends and cheer on others as they put in the work too.

Now we’re talking, Main Event on Telefutura! Holly Holm v. Victoria Cisneros!

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Now we’re talking, Main Event on Telefutura!  Holly Holm v. Victoria Cisneros!

>>>UPDATE!  HOLM TAKES IT 

Holly Holm (L) defeated a game Victoria Cisneros in the "Solo Boxeo Tecate" Main Event broadcast on Telefutura on 6/10/11. Photo: Pat Vazquez-Cunningham/Journal

After an exciting 10-round competitive bout Holly Holm improved her record to 30-1-3 with an impressive win over Victoria Cisneros.  Holm won by unanimous decision with all three judges rightly scoring the bout 100-90.

In the audience watching the fight was none other than French fighter Anne Sophie Mathis (23-1-0, 20 KOs). Promoter Lenny Fresquez, also announced a long anticipated Holm-Mathis battle scheduled for December 2, 2011!

Victoria Cisneros (L) and Holly Holm, Photo: Chris Cozzone

In an ask and you shall receive moment … the “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” card will be broadcast tonight, June 10th on Telefutura featuring the “Duke City” rematch of Holly Holm  v. Victoria Cisneros.

Holly Holm v. Victoria Cisneros, 2009

Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (29-1-3, 9 KOs) will be fighting Victoria “La Reina” Cisneros (5-11-2, 1KO) in the 10-round main event rematch promoted by Fresquez Promotions at Legends Theater, Route 66 Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cisneros is a late replacement for the Holm’s original challenger, Cindy Serrano who suffered a fractured nose during training.  Other promoters for the Solo Boxeo fight card are Golden Boy Promotions and Don Chargin Promotions.

Cisneros had been a very late stand-in in their first meeting, filling in for Melissa Hernandez who pulled out of the fight at the last minute due to a dispute with Holly Holm over Holly’s hand wraps — Hernandez’s camp had not observed Holm’s hands being wrapped and while Holm offered to have them rewrapped, Hernandez pulled out of the fight.

As part of the promotion for the main event bout, if you’re local to New Mexico,  you can vote for the fighter in the main event who displayed the most character in the ring by sending a text message to 55333. Voting will be open through the end of the weekend.

The other woman’s bout on card Brandi Montaya (0-1) also saw her opponent bow out and is waiting to see if she will have a replacement.

The full card roster with the weigh-ins is as follows:

Holly Holm 141.5 vs. Victoria Cisneros 137
Joaquin Zamora 158.5 vs. Elco Garcia 158.5
Fidel Maldonado 136 vs. Eddie Ramirez 137
David Proa 126.5 vs. Willie Villanueva 127.5
Marc Selser 140.5 vs. Joel Vargas 145
Martin Gonzales 136.5 vs. Antonio Garcia 136
Brandi Montoya 110 vs. TBA


A couple of upcoming Women’s Boxing Bouts!

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A couple of upcoming Women’s Boxing bouts!

There are a couple of exciting women’s professional boxing bouts coming this weekend that will be worth watching!

Oh right, not on television because they won’t be broadcast, but *hopefully* available by video stream — and thanks to the boxing fans out there, we’ll be able to catch some rounds on YouTube in the ensuing days following the bouts.

Detecting a mood?  Given that no less a bout than Christy Martin’s 6-round heart-breaker with Dakota Stone was relegated to Top Rank’s video stream (that inexplicably gave out at the beginning of the 5th round for some viewers), why should the fighters this week expect any different??  Ssshhhh.

1. Amanda Serrano fighting for the North American Boxing Federation Title @ Roseland!

Brooklyn-based undefeated Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (9-0-1, 5 KOs) will be fighting to capture the vacant NABF super featherweight title against Jennifer Scott (2-3, 2 KO’s)  in an 8-round bout on June 11th!  As quoted on Saddo Boxing.com’s Boxing News, Serrano said, “This is my first fight in New York City as a professional boxer. I’m very excited to know I’m going to have a lot of family, friends and fans there supporting me. I want them all to see how far I’ve progressed.  It’s going to be a fun night.”

Serrano had wanted to fight former NABF champion Maureen Shea, however, the bout was turned down and Shea purportedly was stripped of the title for refusing to take the bout.

The Serrano-Scott fight will be part of the the Boricua Boxing II Card @ Roseland part of which will be broadcast on Showtime.  Given that Scott has lost her last three fights, I leave it to Girlboxing readers to surmise the likely outcome!

The full Saddo Boxing.com article can found here.  WBAN also has a piece on the fight here.

2.  As a reminder there’s great boxing this weekend in South Africa!

As a reminder, New Zealand’s own Daniella “The Diamond” Smith will be defending her IBF Women’s Welterweight title against South African Noni “She Bee Stingin” Tenge on June 11th at the Carnival City Big Top Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The link to the earlier story is here.

 

Working out in the heat!

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Working out in the heat!

We’re talking 95 degrees fahrenheit today people and 98 tomorrow … in New York City!  That means summer is full on upon us and time to think about working out in the heat.

Personally, I love working out  when it’s hot. My muscles have an instant lube job and after a while the cascading sweat is like a cooling shower!  There are, however, some good tips to keep in mind, especially as the humidity begins to rise along with the questionable stuff in the air.

1.  You’ve probably guessed this one! Drink PLENTY of fluids, not so much that you’ll drown, but as a constant flow so that you keep hydrated.  You should also avoid caffeinated drinks and remember to drink some water 15 or so minutes BEFORE you get started.

2. Don’t forget you need to eat in the heat!  They don’t have to be huge meals, but small little tastings will more than suffice — especially salads and fruits.  They’re delicious, nutritious and will help keep you hydrated.

3.  Realize that if the humidity is high, you are that much more susceptible to suffering from overheating and other symptoms of heat stress such as nausea, light headedness, dizziness and so on.  That means you need to drink even more, and recognize your own limitations — before you get started.  So don’t plan a 5 mile run in the middle of the heat of the afternoon if you’re not used to running in the heat!  You could well end up with heat prostration in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge!

4.  Get acclimated to the heat before full-on exercising.  At Gleason’s Gym, while there are exhaust fans and overhead fans that keep it fairly cool (no A/C — its a boxing gym!), it still gets pretty hot on 90 degree + days.  Given that we’ve not had a lot of warm days in the gym, it’s likely a good idea to take it slower than normal to get your body used to performing in the heat and humidity.  A couple of weeks ago we had a pretty hot day — and my problem was the air quality.  Between the high ozone and the pollen I found I actually had to stop a few rounds earlier than planned — so be flexible, and know your body.

One trick is wearing a wet sweat band and throwing water on your head between rounds — I find that helps me a lot.

5.  Be careful not to get caught in extreme temperature changes.  If you’re planning a run and you’re coming out of your really c-o-l-d apartment into the heat, take a few minutes to get used to it.  Conversely, if you’re in the high heat and hit a frozen gym — do the reverse. Acclimatize before hitting full on into a workout.

6.  Wear sunscreen, replace your electrolytes and S-T-O-P immediately if you’re feeling any of the following: dizziness, nauseous, shortness of breath.  You’re going to want to cool down and remember it’s okay to seek medical attention if you really need help.

Enjoy the heat!

Why I’m a Christy Martin Fan!

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Why I’m a Christy Martin Fan!

>>>>UPDATE (Video Highlights below)

I watched the Christy Martin – Dakota Stone fight last night*.

Christy put on a F I E R C E performance, matching the much younger Dakota Stone and then some, not to mention putting her down on the canvas for an eight-count with a classic Left-Right combination that was letter perfect.

By now you likely know that Christy broke her right hand during the 4th round — and proceeded to fight much of the 5th round with her left — only to have the fight stopped in the 6th and final round after throwing the right hand once too often and absorbing some punishment as well putting her into a world of hurt.

At that point, the Ringside doctor called the Ref over who stopped the fight giving Dakota Stone the TKO and the win.  The shame of it was Christy was ahead on all three cards and would have won the battle.

What really wowed me was Christy’s TRUE warrior spirit.

She came out swinging and never stopped even as she took some punches in the 3rd round that clearly rocked her a bit. She also worked combinations through out, throwing jab-jab-rights and mixing them up with body blows, upper-cuts, overhand rights and more jabs.

There are a lot of younger, slicker boy-boxers that could learn a thing or two or three from Martin’s performance, not the least of which is old-school true grit.

I applaud Christy’s tenacity and spirit — even as I hand it to Dakota for garnering the win.

Whatever happens to Christy next, she can count this girlboxer as a friend and a fan for life — ’cause let me tell you, she earned it.

* I could only watch the first four rounds and the beginning of the fifth before the webcast signal died (subject for another night I think — Why aren’t women’s bouts being broadcast on television?!?!?).

Working out, working in

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Working out, working in.

So much of a workout is about working in.

By that I mean facing down whatever inner demons are lurking about to wreak havoc with the flow of your energy at any given moment as you push out from yourself to pound the pavement, pound a heavybag or work through the defenses of an opponent.

Often that process means letting yourself get out the way of what it is you’re trying to accomplish so that you can do it at all – analogous to someone in your corner shouting “let your hands go,” only in this case it’s yourself screaming from within impeding your ability to let loose until something snaps and you can.

That knot, that little twist that seems to kink things off can be the difference between gaining and losing.  Finding your way to moment-to-moment accomplishment versus feeling choked off from where you want to go.

Where it hurts most is in the ring.  Rather then feeling your opponent to know how best to move your body — as brilliant an improvisational pas-de-deux as ever one could hope for — somewhere the knot kicks in to stultify movement and telegraph the huge boom of the ego that is the difference between sensing your opponent’s weaknesses so that each movement flows to a perfect place and landing on the canvas because you’re looking for things rather than doing things.

I’m not sure if I had one of those days or not — or why this comes to mind; probably it’s because I’m finding myself getting closed off  for unaccountable reasons, which when I stop and let go, flow out of me so that I’m in a place of calm again.

Whatever it is — letting it go can be as easy as just getting out of one’s own way by doing something to jolt the system; say singing out loud or maybe throwing on some salsa to dance part of the night away.

Friday Night Fights – of our own!

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Friday Night Fights — of our own!

Okay … so when was the last time Friday Night Fights had a women’s bout???  Hmm.

Not in the mood for the non-stop “pithy” banter of Teddy and friends?

I say … how about some Friday Night Fights of our own!

Well here goes … with special, special thanks to the diehards out there that take the time to post these remarkable women’s bouts on YouTube!

Bout #1: Great boxing!  Ana Maria “La Guerrera Azteca” Torres vs. Jackie “La Princesa” Nava!   (From 4/16/2011) Ten rounds of pure non-stop action!  (Shown in two parts)

Bout # 2:  Jr. Middleweights! Layla McCarter vs. Cimberly Harris in Colorado (From 2/12/2011)

Bout #3:  Yesica Bopp vs. Romina Alcantar.  From April 2011. Action starts about 6:00 in. (From April 3, 2011)

Women’s championship boxing in South Africa!

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Women’s championship boxing in South Africa!

In a first for women’s boxing, South African women’s boxer Noni “She Bee Stingin” Tenge (10-0-1, 8 KOs) will be challenging the IBF Women’s Welterweight current champion belt-holder and New Zealand’s own, Daniella “The Diamond” Smith (10-1) on June 11th at the Carnival City Big Top Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.  According to promoter Branco Milenkovic, this will be the first legitimate women’s championship fight to be staged in Africa — not to mention South Africa.

Tenge, 29, is undefeated and also holds the WBF Women’s Welterweight crown — though the thinking goes that the IBF crown is the bigger “jewel.”

Smith captured her world championship belt this past November when she defeated Jennifer Retzke.  In an article on May 20th in New Zealand’s The Northern Advocate newspaper,  Daniela Smith, 38, is quoted as saying “It’s the first time that I’ll be fighting at altitude and so that’s going to be different but hopefully it won’t make too much of a difference.” (Click here for link.)

Smith has also noted that there’s not a lot of footage on Tenge, so she is preparing for everything and anything for her upcoming bout.

For a preview of the upcoming action, check out the video footage of Daniella Smith in her bout against Jennifer Retzke.  No word yet on the media outlet for the South African championship duel.

Kaliesha West – prepping “360-style” for her upcoming title fight.

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Kaliesha West – prepping “360-style” for her upcoming title fight.

Boxer Kaliesha West (13-1-2, 4 KOs) has her own reality TV show on YouTube in advance of her upcoming fight on June 18th.

Kaliesha will defending her WBO Female Bantamweight title at the Pico Rivera Stadium in Los Angeles as the main boxing event for promoter Red Scorpion Promotion’s International Fight Showdown.  Entitled IFS8: Mass Destruction, the fight card will also feature MMA and Muay Thai bouts — not unlike Ana Julaton’s fight card in Riverside, California earlier in the year.

For those who are unfamiliar with Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West — she started boxing at the age of ten and never stopped. She had a huge amateur career, winning a total of 98 amateur bouts that included the National Golden Gloves in 2003.

Kaliesha turned pro in 2006 and continues to train with her father, Juan West. In a recent interview, Kaliesha said, “Since the beginning of my career, my dad has always handled the when, where, and with whom I fight. I just train for whatever is lined up next. I am thankful to have my father as my coach and manager, because I know he is looking out for my best interest.” (Link here.)

BTW, Kaliesha’s also made David Avala’s top dozen pound-for-pound female fighters list. (Link here.)

Check out the first installment of Kaliesha’s reality-TV show here:

Women’s Boxing from around the web

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Women’s Boxing from around the web


Over at The Sweet Science, David A. Avila has one of his periodic pieces on the pound-for-pound best women’s in professional boxing, entitled, appropriately enough, “Avila’s New Female Fighter Pound For Pound List.” 

As a the chief everything of a blog devoted to women’s boxing, I probably shouldn’t admit to the fact that I don’t feel sufficiently up on every women on the list to opine … suffice to say it was good to see the likes of Holly Holm and Mariana Juarez who just had a great on May 21st, not to mention Melinda Cooper and Ana Julaton.  If you’d like to add your opinions head on over to the site to voice them in the comments or post them here.

To punctuate why Mariana Jaurez should be considered, here’s the first part of her recent bout with Gabriela Bouvier.

Next, check out Inspiring Women’s Sports for Niamh Griffin’s piece, “Why do we box?”    The link is here and is worth heading over to listen to some inspiring audio clips from “Christina McMahon, Australia Muay Thai fighter Kelly Simon and a few boys including Irish pro-boxer Willie “Big Bang’ Casey.”

The clips are from radio interviews Niamh did some time ago and finally put together for a piece.  Really … check it out!

Finally, boxer, writer and filmmaker Jill Morley also has a blog these days called appropriately enough, Fighting It. 

Jill’s written a truly gut-wrenching piece that is not only worth the read, but worth the time to think about what it all means in your own life.

The piece is entitled, “When Life Gives you PTSD, Turn it into Lemonblog,” and I urge you to give it a read.  The link is here.

UPDATE! Three cheers for boxing’s #1 female heavyweight: Sonya Lamonakis!!!

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UPDATE:  Three cheers for boxing’s #1 female heavyweight: Sonya Lamonakis!!!

Girlboxing pal and Gleason’s Gym’s own Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis has made it to the top of the list! Yep, we’re talking # 1 on WIBA’s World Ratings list of female heavyweight boxers!

With the loss of Gwendolyn O’Neil to Nigeria’s Ljeoma Euginine by unanimous decision after their six-round bout Saturday night in Stone Mountain, Georgia, the women’s heavyweight division has undergone an interesting change given the Ljeoma wasn’t even ranked on the WIBA World Ratings.

All we can say is congratulations to Sonya for her achievement in her first year of pro-fighting!!!

Let’s bring on a championship bout!

===WIBA World Ratings - May 17th 2011===

==HEAVYWEIGHT (over 175 lbs / over 79.4 kgs)==
World Champion
-GWENDOLYN O'NEIL (Guyana)
1. Sonya Lamonakis (USA)
2. Pamela London (Guyana)
3. Tanzee Daniels (USA)
4. Tiffany Woodard (USA)
5. Gigi Jackson (USA)
6. Yolanda Fagan (USA)
7. Sydney LeBlanc (USA)
8. Alysia Williams-Stevenson (USA)

Pointers for a Saturday boxing workout at the gym!

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Pointers for a Saturday boxing workout at the gym!

Boxing Stance Diagram

For those of us who can’t get to the gym as often as we’d like for a serious workout, watching boxing training videos, while no substitute for the real thing, can help us to pick-up some pointers ahead of the next visit to the gym.

The following videos from YouTube were kind of fun — demonstrating “Mayweather-style” defensive moves in the ring with Coach Rick, the “Mittologist” from Southern New Jersey. For more information his website link is here.

Christy Martin’s back + a highly anticipated women’s bout 2night!

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Christy Martin’s back + a highly anticipated women’s bout 2night!

Talk about a phoenix rising, the indomitable Christy Martin (49-5-3, 31 KOs) will be returning to the ring on June 4th in a rematch with Dakota Stone (9-8-5) @ the Staples Center in Los Angles.  The six-round light middleweight bout will be Christy’s first in two years — and with a little luck and a lot of boxing savvy will be her 50th win.  Check out the piece by Bob Velin in USA Today here.

Christy’s fight is on the undercard of two much anticipated bouts:  Julio Cesar Miranda’s (38-5-7, 5 KOs) WBO flyweight title defense against Brian Viloria (28-3, 16 KOs) and the battle for the WBC Middleweight belt between Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 KOs) and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (42-0-1, 30 KOs).

Great Women’s bout 2night!

Christina Hammer (9-0, 7 KO’s) will be defending her WBO & WBF middleweight titles tonight against the reigning WIBA & WIBF light-middleweight champion Maria Lindberg (5-0-2) in a ten-round bout to be held in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic tonight.

Christina Hammer, 20, hailing from Germany will be fighting Sweden’s own Maria Lindberg, 34,  in what will be an interesting bout given that Lindberg @ 5’5″ will be giving up 5″ in height & a weight class to the younger fighter.

No media outlet has been announced though I’d guess it can be found on streaming video.  The co-bout will be Lukas Koriechy vs. Hussein Bayram fighting for the WBO Super Welterweight Intercontinental Championship.