Tag Archives: girlboxing

Recent press about women’s boxing

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Recent press about women’s boxing

Here’s five recent press pieces related to women’s boxing that might be worth taking a look:

1.  Winning Starts Before the Fight:

Seattle based 2012 Olympic hopeful Queen Underwood who recently won two title fights at the first Women’s International Dual Series held in Oxnard, California is profiled in this piece.  The article was written by Alan Abrahamson and is published on Team USA’s boxing site here.

2. At 63, It’s Time for a Career Move:

A terrific article about personal trainer Lada St. Edmund, who started boxing in her 50’s and is now getting ready to take her exams to become a boxing referee. The piece was written by Brian Heyman for the New York Times and can be viewed here.

3.  My life in Sport: Daniella Smith:

The New Zealand Herald has an article by Dana Johannsen about New Zealand’s boxing champion Daniella Smith who recently won a ten-round fight in Berlin, Germany over Jennifer Retzke to gain the vacant IBF women’s welterweight title.  The mother of two began boxing 12 years ago and turned pro in 2005.  The article can be found here.

4.  Charity uses boxing to help girls build self confidence:

This piece in the LA Times written by Nate Jackson is about the organization KnockOuts for Girls (KO4G), a not for profit “boxing charity that specializes in training, fundraising and providing scholarships for underprivileged girls.”   The group recruits amateur and professional boxers as well as active models with an interest in the sweet science to help support the organization’s many programs.  The group’s website is here. The article can be found here.

5.  Big Cards Missing a Women’s Touch:

Over at Maxboxing.com, Ryan Maquinana has a written an article on the dearth of women fighters on big-name fight cards.  Referring to WBO super bantamweight champion, Ana Julatan, Maquinana makes note of the fact that her half-time visit on the court of a recent Golden State Warriors-New York Knicks game caused pandemonium in the stands.  His point is if she is such a crowd pleaser, how come Julatan and other terrific women fighters are nowhere to be found?  This piece is well worth reading and talking about. The link to the article is here.

Unfolding the bones

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Unfolding the bones

I’m at the age where missing a day at the gym, never mind a week or two really hurts.  This weekend was a case in point.  I had a paper due (today) and aside from a couple of walks in the cold and some crunches, I was pretty much attached to my laptop.  And yeah, it feels good to have completed the work, by my body is an aching, creaky mess from spending hours at a time curled up on the couch with bad posture.  For breaks, I cooked meals, helped by daughter with homework and talked over the points of my paper with my husband, but I was pretty much engaged with writing for two days.

And the reckoning?  Aside from an extra pound on the scale, I’m faced with that “starting-over” feeling!

Solution?  Sun salutations, lots of stretching, really gentle shadow boxing and a brisk walk!  Abs can come later.  This sort of unfold-the-bones workout can be really helpful whenever you’ve been through a period of shall we say intense cerebral activity, aka, lying in bed watching TV, after a brief illness, or as in my case, when you’ve been on a deadline in a work or other context and have needed to type on a computer for long periods of time.

The point is not to despair — but to work it out.  I always find that a couple of days of modest meals also helps.  Not to the point of hunger, but just enough to feel as if I’ve given my body a real shot at dropping that extra pound before it gets to happy hanging around with all those other extra pounds.

Feeling the cold

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Feeling the cold
Maybe it’s the sudden onset of cold temperatures in Brooklyn (albeit still above freezing), but I don’t feel like going anywhere or doing anything, even though I’ve got a huge list of chores to take care of.  On those sorts of days, the only thing to do is to give myself permission to spend some extra minutes under the covers before putting the steel rod in my spine and lots of layers on my body as I head outside for a brisk walk.

I have to admit those first chilly intakes of breath make me want to run back inside, but after the first few minutes, I really do feel a whole lot better.

There’s a great new park only the Brooklyn waterfront just south of the Brooklyn Bridge.  The wind can be a bit bone-chilling, but there is nothing prettier especially as the city begins to wake-up on a Sunday morning.
By the time I get home from these sorts of brief walks, I’m ready to face the day, knowing that whatever else happens, I’ve already accomplished at least one thing, and believe me, that can really help oneself get through the rest of the day.

Finding inspiration

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Finding inspiration

Shadow Boxers

The great woman’s boxer, Lucia Rijker is quite the warrior.  The following clips are from the film “Shadow Boxers” by Katya Bankowski.  I watched them this morning doing crunches.

 

 

Google video has a streaming version of the film here.

Boxer Uprising: China sweeps gold for women’s boxing at 2010 Asian Games

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Boxer Uprising: China sweeps gold for women’s boxing at 2010 Asian Games


Chinese boxer Ren Cancan gained one for the history books when she captured Gold for China at the Asian Games — a fabulous first as Women’s boxing begins its rounds in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Winning in the 52 kilogram (lightweight) division, Ren easily handled Annie Albania of the Philippines.  As quoted in the Taiwan News, Ren said, “Female boxing wasn’t in the Asian Games or the Olympics before, so it wasn’t so popular. Now people will pay more attention.”

Annie Albania received the silver while India’s storied Mary Kom and Japan’s Aya Shinmoto shared the Bronze.

The games will continue today with the final bouts to determine the bronze, silver and gold for the Flyweight and Middleweight divisions.

UPDATE:  Other medalists:

Li Jinzi, China, Women’s Middleweight, Gold Medal

Dong Cheng, China, Women’s Flyweight, Gold Medal

Undram Erdenesoyol, Mongolia, Middleweight, Silver Medal

Tassamalee Thongjan, Thailand, Flyweight, Silver Medal

Saida Khassenova, Kazakhstan, Middleweight, Bronze Medal

Suyeon Seong, Korea, Middleweight, Bronze Medal

Kum Ju Yun, DPR Korea, Lightweight, Bronze Medal

Chungneija, Hmangte, Flyweight, Bronze Medal

Full stats are here.

Sad story

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Sad story

Championship boxer Christy Martin was allegedly stabbed and shot by her husband, Jim Martin on Tuesday evening and taken to a local hospital near her Florida home.  Known as the “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Christy is an important pioneer in women’s professional boxing.

The LA Times is reporting that she was shot in left leg and stabbed in her torso and is also reporting that the police had been called to their home earlier in the day on Tuesday.  The LA Times has the story here. Fox News has it here.

Our prayers should go out to Christy for her quick recovery.

Update:  More stories here and here.

For information on domestic violence click here.  And if you or any of your friends and family are victims of domestic violence, you are not alone — you can seek help from the many wonderful organizations that support women in their efforts to free themselves from abusive relationships. 


Fighting it

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Fighting It

A full-length documentary film, “Fighting It” is a personal look at the lives of five women fighters.  The film is in the final throes of post-production with a release date set for next year.  The film’s perspective is to portray the passion, work ethic and accompanying emotional highs and lows of women who box, their compelling stories and the conflicts they face as they pursue their dreams.

The women featured in the film range from amateurs training for the Golden Gloves to professionals struggling to make a go of it in the burgeoning women’s professional boxing world.  All have wonderful and inspiring stories of what has brought them to the fray of the boxing ring.  It is a story that will be well worth the wait.

http://www.fightingitthemovie.com/