Tag Archives: girls boxing

National Girls & Women in Sports Day

2 Replies

National Girls & Women in Sports Day

Tomorrow is National Girls and Women in Sports Day.  The U.S. Congress adopted the day in 1986 to honor female athletic achievement and recognize the positive influence of sports on women.  This year marks the 25th Anniversary with the theme of “Play, Believe, Achieve.”  In New York City, a commemoration event will be hosted by PSAL (Public Schools Athletic League) at the Theater in Madison Square Garden. Who knew, right?

A coalition of Women’s athletics groups and the Girl Scouts are also sponsoring events around the country. In particular, the Woman’s Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King, and recently joined by new president and boxing’s own, Laila Ali, are key partners in promulgating girl’s and women’s sports participation.  (For more information click here.)

Growing up in New York City where a girls sporting event meant running for the bus my exposure to sports or anything related to athleticism was rudimentary at best.  Thus the notion of a day to celebrate women’s sports and athleticism truly hits home especially when I see my daughter and her friends take to athleticism with such each.  At 11 years of age, these girls are strong, lithe and full of confidence having been exposed to sports and exercise as a regular part of their lives.

The recent Colgate Women’s Games for the girls 11 and under held over the last few weekends was a case in point.  Watching these girls compete was truly a sight to behold.  Girls as young as 7 ran there hearts out with incredible courage.  In particular we cheered-on my daughter’s friends as they completed in the 800 meter having already run the 200 and 400 that same day.  These girls showed heart and wore smiles a mile wide as they crossed the finish line.  Particularly heartening has been listening to my daughter and her friends trade tips on warm-up exercises and their ab-routines with the same ease as talking about music and dance moves.

If you can, take a moment to think about this tomorrow and while you might not be able to participate in an event, be aware that we’ve got a long, long way to go before girl’s and women’s athletic programs truly live up to the ideals of Title IX.

Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Reminder!

Leave a reply

Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Reminder!

Dicky Eklund surprised Christian Bale on stage at the SAG Awards 1/30/2011, Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Congratulations to the cast and crew of the Micky Ward biopic The Fighter for picking up fresh awards from the Screen Actors Guild last night.  Aside from Christian Bale who won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for playing boxer Dicky Eklund, Melissa Leo won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Micky Ward’s mother Alice Ward.

The UK’s Daily Mirror has a nice read entitled The real fighter Micky Ward talks about the movie and Mark Wahlberg here.

 

84th Annual Daily News 2011 Golden Gloves Week Three bouts reminder!

2/2/2011 – Saint Patrick’s School, 9511 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11228

2/3/2011- New York Athletic Club, 180 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019

2/4/2011 – C-Pac Center, 1020 East 48th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11203

2/5/2011 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center, 14 Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 (7:00 PM Start)

For more information click here.



Women’s Boxing Upcoming Fight!

2 Replies

Women’s Boxing Upcoming Fight!

Gleason’s own four-time Golden Gloves winner Keisher “Fire” McLeod-Wells (3-1), will be fighting on February 9th, 2011 at B.B. King’s on a card promoted by DiBella Entertainment.  This will be Keisher’s first six round bout where she will face off with San Francisco fighter Melissa “Mighty” McMorrow (4-1-3).  For tickets and more information about this bout, contact Gleason’s Gym here.

Rock Chicks Live has a piece about it here.  WBAN has a piece about it here.  And take a visit to Fire’s website here.

Remembering the Prize Fighter

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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.

At the gym

6 Replies

At the gym

When I hear the word gym, I always think of my old public school gym.  Built in the late 1950’s, it had painted cinderblock walls the most putrid green color one could possibly think of, enormous caged light fixtures and big windows that lined the top of the walls where they met the ceiling because the gym was located in the basement.

Considering just how big the gyms were, NYC public schools did not do much by way of sports when I went to school in the 1960’s.  In the winter months, we played newcomb and a variation of punch ball using a giant red rubber ball.  Or we’d just play catch with it.  We’d also play a variation of dodgeball where our entire class of 35+ kids would stand in a giant circle and throw the ball at each other *without* trying to knock each other down.   I can assure you that it didn’t work very well and someone inevitably got hit in the face.

Gyms also make me think of the Y, PAL, Boys and Girls clubs, and different Settlement Houses around the city where kids could go to play sports.  There was something very friendly about those places.  Everyone one wore gray or navy blue sweats and instead of running shoes, tennis shoes or basketball shoes, kids wore sneakers.

Later when the health club craze hit, the character of gyms seemed to change.  The large cavernous spaces became smaller and tighter and at the same time less about camaraderie and sports and more about individual achievement and beauty.  I know that I am over simplifying here, but the truth is, I always feel like an outsider walking into a health club.  The spaces always seem overly crowded with equipment and people not to mention music pounding so loud my ears hurt.  Perhaps too, my conception of sports comes into play — the idea being that it is hard for me push and pull machines or run to nowhere watching CNN or the Real Housewives of New Jersey without some other purpose that revolves around sports.

When I finally found my way into a boxing gym — I got some of that old feeling back of when I was a kid.  A space where people were engaged in an activity, but with a real sense that every aspect of the training is for some purpose — and importantly, that everyone is rooting for you no matter what your skill level.  Goodness knows that some boxing gyms are as funky as they come while others have borrowed a bit from the health club concept and have clean spaces and new equipment.  Still the feeling is welcoming and fun:  a place more about the work than anything else and that can be a pretty inspiring thing.

Boxing day

2 Replies

Boxing day

Now that I’ve gone to a once a week training schedule for boxing, I find myself getting really excited by the time Friday comes along.  The daily fitness routine I’ve found that can work with my schedule these days is based around early morning yoga, but it’s the thought of boxing that gets me pumped up and ready to go.

My Saturday morning boxing routine begins with dropping my daughter off for her Aikido practice, after which I take a nice long walk over to  Gleason’s Gym. By the time I get there I’ve logged 2-1/2 miles at a pretty fast pace so I am nice and loose.  About a 1/2 mile out, I start pumping my arms a bit so that by the time I hit the gym I feel ready for one of my two favorites:  three rounds on the double-ended bag or three rounds of shadow boxing using the slip-rope.

For those who don’t usually practice, the slip-rope is real old-school consisting of something as simple as a clothes line tied between two poles or across the ring around 15 feet apart at about chest height. The object is to move forwards and backwards along the line and “slip” under as practice for slipping a punch. The slip-rope is also great for practicing upper cuts under the line — or for simulating jabs to the body and jabs to the head.  By around the third round, I feel loose enough to dance around the slip-rope going forwards, backwards, and circling.  Having the rope at chest height not only helps to “remind” me to slip, but also gives me an approximation of where to place body versus head punches.

Alternatively, I’ll use the double-ended bag for warm-ups starting with a round of lefts and finishing the second two rounds with combinations and a lot of hooks or upper cuts off the jab.

If I can train with Lennox Blackmore, we’ll do three rounds of pad work — with an aim of getting to four rounds by the end of January, five rounds by the end of February and six rounds by the end of March!  Once we’re done with the pads, it’s back to the double-ended bag for three rounds to work on punches and combinations that Lennox and I focused on during the training session on the pads. This helps to solidify moves, especially slipping punches to counter — a Lennox special. After that, it’s on to the speed bag for three rounds and then a whole lotta’ abs!  I’ll add that if Len isn’t around, I might work-out for three rounds on the heavy bag in lieu of pad work, or add in an extra three on the double-ended bag.

By the end I’m exhausted, but happy — and ready for the quick walk back over to pick-up my daughter.  I hope to keep this going for about three months so that by April I’ll be fit enough to get back into the ring for some light sparring.  We’ll see!

Women’s boxing everywhere

Leave a reply

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.

 

It’s not all Manny Pac-man: Pac-women’s boxing in the Philippines

1 Reply

It’s not all Manny Pac-man:  Pac-women’s Boxing in the Philippines

Philippine Women's Boxing Team

 

When boxing enthusiasts think of the Philippines, they tend to think of one thing, Manny Pacquiao.  Well move over Manny because there are a lot young, talented women boxers who are vying for an opportunity to represent the Philippines in the 2012 Olympics.  With such talent as Asian Games silver medalist, Annie Albania as potential representatives, the Philippines stands a good chance to contend for a medal at the historic London games.  Other potential fighters include, flyweight Alice Kate Aparri, bantamweight Ana Liza Cruz, and featherweight Nesthy Petecio.

Your all the way for right now

2 Replies

Your all the way for right now

These days I can get to the boxing gym on Saturday mornings.  That’s a step up from the fall when I rarely put in an appearance and definitely better than the summer when I didn’t go at all.  At the time, I was agonizing over missed opportunities. Say during the weeks that my daughter was at summer camp! What I couldn’t get to, however, was a way of not thinking that gym time could only mean a three-day a week minimum.  Anything less didn’t feel like “training” and so I ended up blowing off the whole thing!

I’ve come to a an easier agreement with myself.  I’m going the distance with what I’m doing — on the best terms that I can set for now.  For my gym time that means, I can go on Saturdays for upwards of one and a half to two hours.  And if I show up on a Sunday or some evening during the week, so much the better, but the deal I’ve made with myself is for Saturday.

In practical terms it means that I’m a lot less stressed about it — and can actually gain the benefits of my gym time without that agonizing inner dialogue about not doing enough.   The truth is, I’d like nothing better than to put in a two-hour boxing workout every day, but that is just not possible.  What is possible are the things I can commit to on real terms — and attempting anything else is just plain silly because it won’t get done.

I call it the six-pack abs thing!  Sure, they’re there — but like digging for gold, they’re underneath the surface!

My body will never, ever, ever have a visible six-pack, but …. what I can have is a body that is strong, fit and healthy with enough stamina to get through a Saturday workout without panting.

Lights on

1 Reply

Lights on

"The Fighter"

What with the critical acclaim of the Micky Ward biopic, “The Fighter” and FX channel’s new series, “Lights Out,” one could think that boxing’s gone mainstream again.

After all, there was a time when Friday night fights were as ubiquitous as Friday night football in  big towns and little towns across America.  The recent renaissance of small venues coupled with the play that MMA is getting on local and national television, however, does seem to be fueling a groundswell of renewed interest in the sport that has been growing since the phenomenon of “White Collar Boxing” in the 1990’s.

More to the point, boxing continues to be a “working class” story.   Talk to any young boxer trying to make it and hear a story as old as Horatio Alger:  young man or young woman determined to “make-it” through the sweat of his or her brow.  In boxing, however, that’s a literal thing.  It literally takes sweat and a lot of it to gain the conditioning necessary to fight a round of boxing never mind 12 — all while being pummeled with the ever-present threat of serious injury or worse.   Those are some kind of odds — and yet boxers take them.

As “The Fighter” shows, the desire to “make it” can also be “fought out” against the dynamic of family madness or personal demons.  Ask anyone why they like to hit things and believe me, you’ll get a story.

Melissa Hernandez

What’s interesting is that the kind of “truth” that’s being explored in the latest media incarnations of the sport are attempting to work through the genre elements to arrive at a statement about who we are and where we are as a people at this particular point in time.  A lot of our old middle-class dreams are falling away — and in that instance, what’s left?  Strip away mortgages, high-priced dinners and all the other trappings of the middle-class life and one is faced with a sort of raw truth of life on the margins: of making it or not based on family relationships and one’s own gumption.

A return to boxing seems to imply a reglorification of the ring as a stand-in for our own sense of what we’ve lost and what we can find.  Boxers as heroes and demi-Gods has a potent place in the mythology of the sport — and as a pointer for the new reality of folks facing displacement from their dreams, it offers an alternative stream of what life can offer.  That’s certainly good for all those young kids preparing for the Golden Gloves this year, and as a marker for the “grown-ups” in the crowd, offers a kind of hope for redemption from the ills of economic debacles and all the rest that happens when dreams fade and die.

The lady is a champ

Leave a reply

The lady is a champ

Christy Martin, The Lady is a Champ, Sports Illustrated

This story has been out for a few days, but in case Girlboxing readers didn’t see it, women’s boxing pioneer Christy Martin, 42 has been tentatively set to box March 12th in Las Vegas on the Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga undercard.

As quoted on Fanhouse.com, Christy said, “The deal is done.  I will finish my career being promoted by the best, Bob Arum, of Top Rank…”  Christy was pronounced, “healthy” and will train in Las Vegas with Miguel Diaz.  Given where she’s come from and where she is today, win, lose or draw Christy’s remarkable spirit is inspirational inside and outside the boxing world.

To read Lem Satterfield’s original article entitled “Christy Martin ‘Burning’ for Return to Ring,” on the Fanhouse.com website click here.

PS – Big fights coming up in NYC!  Alicia “Slick” Ashley on January 13th @ Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple. Keisher Mcleod-Wells at B.B. Kings on February 9th.  Tickets available at Gleason’s Gym — link for information here.

Odds and ends about training

4 Replies

Odd and ends about training

Belinda Laracuente


I trained at Gleason’s yesterday.  Due to some time constraints I only had about an hour — but what an hour it was.

First off, thanks to my daily dose of Yoga, my stamina was light-years beyond the week before to the point where Lennox was asking what I’d put in my Wheaties.   Not that I’d ever been one to proselytize (?!?) — but I’ve got to say that Yoga practice, even the Yoga 101 that I do really can make a difference in one’s stamina, core strength and flexibility.

Sonya Lamonakis

The second great thing about yesterday morning was watching the likes of pro-heavyweight fighter Sonya Lamonakis  train.  Sonya, ranked number three in her weight class sparred several hard rounds with Belinda Laracuente another sensational fighter who also works as a trainer at Gleason’s.  As well, I caught sight of Alicia Ashley readying for her upcoming main event bout on January 13th at Brooklyn’s Masonic Hall.

The mention also goes out to all the women I trained with young and old, novice and pro who were working their butts off.

What a great day!

 

84th Daily News Golden Gloves

Leave a reply

84th Daily News Golden Gloves

Jill Emery (l.) fires a left at Ann Marie Saccurato on her way to winning the 156-lb. women's championship in 2000. Todd Maise/NY Daily News

If you’re in New York City with the threat of a snowstorm later this morning, it’s hard to imagine that spring is on the way, but it is.  The 84th Daily News Golden Gloves first week of competition begins at B.B. Kings on January 20th.  The prestigious series will culminate in two nights of action-packed boxing at Madison Square Garden on April 8 and 9, 2011.

This year the organization has worked to entice more women to participate in the competitions.  As a run up to the 2012 Olympics, the storied Golden Gloves will be an excellent platform for moving on to USA Boxing sanctioned national tournaments during this all important year for Women’s amateur boxing.

The Golden Gloves series will run weekly competitions leading to the quarter-final bouts beginning on March 4th, followed by the semi-final rounds commencing on March 17th.  These fights are exciting to watch and support — and as for the finals, they make for two terrific nights of boxing.

For more information the Daily News Golden Gloves website link is here.

REMINDER: Alicia “Slick” Ashley has her “main event” bout on January 13, 2011 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple.  You can contact Gleason’s Gym for further information or tickets here.

The news at 6:30 AM: Women’s Boxing

Leave a reply

The news at 6:30 AM:  Women’s Boxing

Clicking “women’s boxing” on Google’s news search brought in the following:

1. Casting call for Girl Fight MMA Reality TV Show. The show is to be called “Girl Fight.”  The article link is here.  The promotional video link is GirlFight TV show from Girl Fight on Vimeo.  This should be interesting. MMA is certainly gaining in popularity — I guess the producers see gold in bringing women to the screen. Girlboxing will keep you posted.

2. From the Himalayan Times:  Shova, Subina enter final.  The article about Nepalese amateur women’s boxing is here.

3. This piece from the UK Guardian is about ESPN-W listing a horse in the number four slot for women’s sports stories of 2010.  The Guardian article link is here and is worth the read.  ESPNW‘s original story links to a video story here.

The whole idea of listing a horse as part of a list of top 10 women’s sporting events is so absurd as to be laughable, however, as a window into the thinking of how such an influential media outlet as ESPN reports on women’s sports, it only confirms what we tend to know already … no surprise here. Just think Friday Night Fights, when was the last time a woman’s bout was featured … enough said.  The link to the FNF schedule for January & February is here.  Grrrrr.

One more thing, as a reminder, Alicia “Slick” Ashley has her “main event” bout on January 13, 2011 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple.  You can contact Gleason’s Gym for further information or tickets here.