“We work for the future, because the past is lost.”
Female boxers in Afghanistan, Credit: Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
As Girlboxing readers know, I just can’t get enough of the Afghan Women’s Boxing Team. The Los Angeles Times has obliged with an in-depth feature piece by Molly Hennessy-Fiske. The haunting money quote by the team’s coach, Mohammad Sabir Sharifi truly resonated with me: “We work for the future, because the past is lost.”
Sharifi and some of the young women he trains have a received threats, and yet they persevere. As if to punctuate the pluckiness of these brave young women, two members of the team traveled unaccompanied all the way to Turkey by train and competed in the early rounds of the ongoing AIBA Women’s and Youth Junior World Boxing Championships in Antalya, Turkey.
These young women who train in the face of continuing threats of violence due to nothing more than their gender are emblematic of how much further we all have to come. I applaud their bravery and as the mother of an 11-year-old girl, feel particularly humbled by the love and support these young women receive from their families and their coach as they pursue their Olympic dreams.
Women’s boxing results: Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano wins with a 4th Round Knockout in her 360 Boxing Debut!
Amanda“The Real Deal” Serrano (9-0-1, 5 KOs) decisively won her 360 Boxing debut bout against opponent Ela“Bam Bam” Nunez (9-9, 2 KOs) by way of a fourth-round knockout. This was Serrano and Nunez’s third meeting.
Amanda Serrano and Ela Nunez, Credit: Sara Rivest, January 2011
Serrano and Nunez’s first bout in 2009 ended in a draw, though this past January, Serrano won their second fight by majority decision.
Amanda Serrano, a 23-year-old Brooklyn native by way of Puerto Rico, is a newcomer to 360 Boxing‘s stable of fighters and an example of a female boxer who is making inroads into the sport through her hard work, tenacity and fierce boxing skills.
We’ll see what the future holds for Amanda Serrano, but if her victory this past Friday in Hamburg, NY is any indication, a title fight is likely in the cards for her in the very near future.
Check out the Amanda Serrano’s page on 360 Boxing Website here.
Women’s Boxing: Thinking about “What Matters, What May Never”
Chris Namus (left) and Leli Luz Flores, Monetevido, Credit: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP/Getty Images
Lyle Fitzsimmons over at Boxing Scene.com has a provocative piece about the state of women’s boxing.
Entitled “Reading the Reactions: What Matters, What May Never,” his thesis is that despite great strides in women’s boxing and his own personal hucksterism, if he judges support for the sport based on reactions to his columns it barely registers as a blip on the screen.
Given the momentum of a steady increase in positive press, such phenomenal fights as the recent Torres vs. Nava battle and the fact that women boxers are filling the seats with paying customers at stadiums and other venues all over the world, Fitzsimmons’ prognosis is depressing indeed.
Perhaps part of the problem is that here in the United States it’s hard to see a women’s bout unless one is willing to watch small market presentations, streaming-video on a laptop or after the fact YouTube videos. I mean lets face it, when was the last time HBO, Showtime or Friday Night Fights bothered to put a women’s bout on the air? In HBO’s defense, at least they’ve had women’s bouts on their two most recent undercards!
There’s also the issue of breaking through the “novelty” aspects of the sport that continue as an underlying current in mainstream discussions of the women’s boxing. Meanwhile, phenomenal female fighters in the amateur and pro-ranks continue to ply their trade with hard work and a sense of mission that sees them moving forward no matter the vitriol that is thrown their way in comment boxes across the internet or, as in the case of Fitzsimmons’ thesis, a lack of interest all together.
Even given that I am biased by Girlboxing’s support of the sport, the butts in the seats seem to tell a different tale as a world-wide phenomenon, and while Fitzsimmons laments that the coming 2012 Olympics are a ho-hum moment to his readers, I would posit that given how far the sport has come in less than 20 years is something to spur optimism for its future.
I know I keep harping on this one, but that fact that there is an Afghan Women’s Boxing Team at all sends the message that this sport is not going away, and despite the purported lack of interest among fanatical fans with nothing better to do than opine as to the prospects for the upcoming Pacquaio-Mosely fight, Philippine Pac-women fill the house as did Ana Julatan, the great Philippine-American fighter in her recent main event championship bout in Riverside, California.
Women’s boxing is not going away — and whether there is ever another women’s championship bout on one of the major outlets or not, it is still seen and supported by serious fans of the sport throughout the United States — and in terms of the international embrace of the sport is regularly televised as mainstream national events with huge support from the sports establishment, especially in places such as Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay.
Again, ticket sales don’t lie and seats are being sold — and even if Fitzsimmons’ readers don’t “get it,” the sport is evolving with new generations of fighters crossing the ropes and putting their hearts and souls on the line to make their way as boxers if for nothing else, than for love of the sport.
Ana Maria Torres (24-3-2, 14 K.O.’s) vs. Jackie Nava (24-3-2, 11 K.O.’s) … we’re talking a must see Main Event 10-round WBC championship women’s bout fought on April 16, 2011 in Veracruz, Mexico. All three cards had the fight as a unanimous draw — 95-95! We’re talking fight of the year!
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the action live … get some popcorn and enjoy the ride!
>>>AIBA’s Women’s and Youth Junior World Championships are set to begin in Ankara, Turkey on April 24, 2011 – May 1, 2011!
As noted by AIBA, “A total of 264 young women boxers from 45 different countries are set to compete.” Junior boxers as young as 14 years old will participate in a total of thirteen different weight classes under official AIBA rules. Interestingly, the United States will not be fielding a team in either division. Participating countries will include Russian, host country Turkey, Ukraine, India, Poland, Sweden and Ireland (with women’s boxing champion Katie Taylor leading the team), among other participating nations.
Congratulations to Team USA Women’s Boxing for their hard-fought victories and near misses in the two dual showdown events with a superb Mexican team on April 13th & April 15th in Harvey, Illinois.
4/13/11 – Friday’s USA vs. Mexico Dual Results 112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA, dec. Mariana Caballero, MEX, 29-9
132 lbs/female: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA, dec. Reyna Cotija, MEX, 15-13
4/15/11 – Sunday’s USA vs. Mexico Dual Results 112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA dec. Silvia Torres, MEX, 16-12
Yep, I’ve hung up the old “gone fishing'” sign and found my way up to Montreal, Canada with my daughter for our spring break. We had a terrific flight up this morning — and aside from some wishful thinking on the weather, enjoyed a couple of fabulous long walks through town plus some reasonable eats.
And who knew that one city could have the same name pronounced two different ways: Montreal and Mon-re-al.
We are staying in the old part of the city called “Vieux Montreal” — along the old Port on the St. Lawrence seaway. It is quite beautiful and while it certainly has the feel of a big city, the architecture is decidedly European in the older neighborhoods.
Having not been away for some time — especially with the young one in tow, it’s been quite a treat to experience something outside of our usual routine. Tomorrow, I hope to find out where the locals box to see if we can pay a visit.
There are times when I find myself training without a trainer. Today was one of those days and I have to admit I missed Lennox who is up @ Foxwoods to work Sonya Lamonakis’ corner tonight for her 6-round heavyweight bout on the Berto-Ortiz undercard.
Still, as I approached my sweet 16 — I found myself luxuriating in the time I had to focus on stuff at my own pace and in my own sequence.
Lately, I’ve been pretty orthodox with my four-round sets — but today, I thought it would be fun to indulge in the things I like so, I did a total of 8 rounds on the double-ended bag, 4 rounds on the heavy bag, and finished up with 4 rounds on the speed bag before I did my first plus 4 on the sit-up chair.
As I write this I have to admit that my upper arms are leaden not to mention a right knee that is feeling pretty inflamed, but … and this is a big one, as an antidote to a pretty tough work week and the specter of yet another paper to write, I am that sort of wasted “noodlish-body” kind of happy that will even see me through the cart-load of laundry staring at me from across the living room.
I’ve also gotten over that momentary by-myself panic I experience in the gym sometimes when I start to feel a bit lost all on my own.
Today though, I fist-bumped my gloved hands in a boxing salute to myself for a job well done.
I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned movie, and when it comes to feel good movies, Here Comes Mr. Jordan is one of the best.
The 1941 black and white feature film stars Robert Montgomery as the saxophone playing boxer Joe, Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan, Everett Edward Horton as Angel # 7013, Evelyn Keyes as Miss Logan, and the great James Gleason as Joe’s Fight Manager, Max Corkle. The story is also a powerful one full of hope and redemption. For those who are unfamiliar with the plot line, Joe (Robert Montgomery) on his way to fight in a championship bout is plucked from his airplane as it about to crash by a fledgling angel (Edward Everett Horton). Unfortunately, Joe is pulled from the plane moments too soon — and the rest of the movie is Joe’s fight to be given a second chance at the “title” after having been mistakenly taken to heaven way before his “number was up”!
This enduring story of the human spirit overcoming adversity was a lovely allegory for an America on the eve of World War II, where luck, an indomitable will and great heart would see a generation of young men and women through the difficulties to come.
Seen 60 years later, the pluckiness of Here Comes Mr. Jordan continues to resonate as does its later remakes: Warren Beatty’s Heaven Can Wait and the most recent iteration of the film, Down To Earth, starring Chris Rock.
Still, I’ll always opt to watch the original boxing themed version and hope you will enjoy it as much as I do! We’re talking a near-on 4 Star gem that’s definitely worth a bucketful of popcorn!
(See YouTube for the rest of the episodes or check it out on Netflix!)
Summer and the beach at dawn. The restless sound of the surf pushing towards a new day, expectant and full of promise.
The kind of morning when a long run licks sands at your heels. Dogs and their owners sashaying about as they play chase with drift wood in between small birds flitting in and out of the water.
The thought if reminds me of how much I love summer — and working out at the gym in hot, steamy, sweaty heat. It’s really my favorite time there, wearing as little as I can as I pound away at the heavy bag, feeling it slip towards me, and pushing it back, watching as bits of sweat first bead and then drip down where first my shoulder and then my cheek brushes it back.
My daughter’s alarm clock is blaring through her door as regular pulses reminiscent of the loud echoing blasts announcing a prisoner escape. How she is sleeping through it amazes me. Her strategy is to have multiple devices yell at her land of nod until one or another pierces the veil of her dreamscape enough for her to join the world of the awake. She then stumbles up and out of her room towards the bathroom and the beginning of her morning.
It puts me in mind of how much of what we do is regulated by time.
We have the “masters” of the industrial revolution to thank for that one; having invented mechanized devices as the means of production, they needed a “regular” workforce to man and woman those machines. Hence our alarm clocks which still beckon us (more like rip us) from the delicious warmth of bed and dreams into the world of work and dare I say a bit of drudgery???
Not so the boxer’s time clock! Least ways not in my estimation.
Those intervals of time feel more like the explosions of musical notes with three minutes to blow your ax before resting and blowing again.
Shadow boxing around my living room gets to feel like an improvisational dance, throwing punches this way and that as I circle my way left then right, hop skipping forward or to the side, my arms flailing at the air to their own rhythm. Then the dead s-t-o-p before repeating it all again — and yet different.
A jazzed solo, the improvisation of a boxing performance has all of the nuanced grace of a horn pushing out its notes in a staccato rhythm all its own and yet timed and lovely and full of melodic undertones, the dance of the body fluid and full of the momentum that pushes it from one posture to another for three full minutes before the ding of the bell signals the end of the round.
It is way too early, and yet with books from my latest grad school paper strewn about me on the couch, the noise of buses beginning their early runs and the thought of a Starbuck’s morning bun to get me going, I’m feeling rather privileged to be able to write a blog piece.
Plus I’m feeling quite joyous at the realization that today marks my 200th post!
I’ll admit it, I’m wowed!
And having put one foot in front of the other since starting this blog on October 7th — (is that really just a little over six months ago) I’m doubly wowed at how much writing Girlboxing has meant to me not the least of which because it’s brought me into two intersecting communities of things I love: writing and boxing.
Thank you all for being the audience for my musings!
And for the chance to wake up at ridiculous hours in the morning to do my daily something which has grown to include writing, morning yoga and the occasional shadow boxing foray around the living room.
It’s also gotten me back in the gym on a regular basis and most importantly, a renewed appreciation for the sweet science and overwhelming respect for the men and women who practice the art.
On the more personal side, writing Girlboxing has been my own private Kaddish. A way to honor memory and loss as a daily act of positive intent by exalting the best in life. Some days are better than others, but I always, always write with a sense of wanting to have each day be that much better than the last.
Thank you all again for your generosity in listening!
My sweet sixteen felt more like The Dirty Dozen yesterday. I worked my butt off — with lots of right to the body, left to the body, straight right combinations during my pad work with Lennox, but was I ever ragged. I’m not sure how I made it through the fourth round of the that set, but I managed it with some pretty pitiful arm punches, but, hey … I got through it.
The double-ended bag was also pretty pathetic, but I rallied for the speedbag and had really nice rhythm through most of it. What helped was peering at some pretty great sparring in the two rings in my line of sight — along with my inner Gonna have a funky good time beat (thanks James Brown) and “legs don’t fail me now” entreaties.
What did work yesterday was upping my sit-up chair time to three rounds. So all in all I was 16 + 3 for the day, if in limp mode for half of it.
In analyzing why my energy was so low, however, I had a true “duh!” epiphany. Yep, the missing ingredient: Sleep!
From no less a source than Harvard Medical School Women’s Health Watch (link here), six important reasons for getting enough sleep include:
1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
Oy. Who knew.
I mean, yes, I knew, but like many of us, I continue to blow-off the importance of getting those zzzz’s in favor of all the seeming have-to’s, not to mention the dumb want-to’s (like watching really bad TV) that get in the way of a decent night’s rest.
Put another way, getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis is no less important to health than eating a balanced diet and doing all that cardio in the first place — and may in fact, help with curbing the pounds and upping your energy in the process. Least ways I sure hope so!
Gleason’s Gym – All Female Boxing Clinic on April 28, 29 & 30, 2011!
Gleason’s Gym will host its first All Female Boxing Clinic on April 28, 29 and 30, 2011 at its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.
The three-day event will include two-days of boxing training and will culminate in Gleason’s first USA Boxing Metro amateur-sanctioned All Female Boxing Show to be broadcast live on www.gofightlive.tv.
The two-day clinic will focus on a range of boxing skills for beginners and will feature the Gleason’s World Champion talents of Alicia Ashley, Jill Emory, Melissa Hernandez and Belinda Laracuente as well as boxing trainers Mark Breland, Juan LaPorte and Hector Roca.
The clinic is open to anyone with a desire to learn the fundamentals of the sport — and for those who have more skills, opportunities will be offered to perfect your talents.
Having first walked into the door at Gleason’s in 1997, I can personally attest to the genuinely supportive atmosphere of the gym, which has always been particularly inviting to women. It’s also meant that I’ve had the chance to observe first hand the explosion in Women’s Boxing — as well as the chance to applaud the prowess of Gleason’s many boxing alumni!
Girlboxing recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Gleason’s Gym’s owner Bruce Silverglade about Women’s Boxing (see video below). As an early proponent of the sport, Bruce has been a champion in his own right through his strong advocacy for Women’s Boxing and continues to provide opportunities for women in the sport from Saturday boxers on through dedicated pros.
Spaces are still available for the chance to perfect your boxing prowess or take the plunge into your first foray into the ring. If you are interested contact Bruce Silverglade at Gleason’s Gym. The telephone number is: 718-797-2872 and the email address is: info@gleasonsgym.net. The cost of the clinic is $299.00. You can also sign-up to participate in the All Female Boxing Show by contacting Angela Querol @ 718-797-2872.
If there is one thing I’ve been trying to gain out of a daily yoga practice aside from the physical benefits, it’s been the reminder to take things as they come.
With yoga, one performs poses to the rhythm of the breath (or at least tries) and in doing so can be “present,” with the experience. Or put another way, the mind helps push the body to extend itself to its best place — and through regular practice the possibility of great flexibility and strength, not to mention a more focused mental attitude and the *chance* for some clear moments free of mind-movies!
The practice, however, doesn’t always guarantee the focus or the release of all that mental junk that clogs the thinking which can hamper one’s ability to perform at one’s best. Focus being another whole facet of every discipline and whether it’s yoga or boxing it requires a lot of inner strength to maintain.
That’s where in my estimation the emphasis on the breath in yogic practice can help in priming the mind towards focus: a great way of tricking your mind into paying attention. Kind of like Lennox Blackmore’s pop to my head as he yell’s “wake-up, wake-up,” when I make a truly fundamental blunder during our workout. It’s also a reminder to slow down racing thoughts that are extraneous to the task at hand.
This morning was a case in point for me. Doing yoga, my mind wandering, I lost an entire pose, meaning, I *did* the pose, but lost to a mind-movie I “woke-up” somewhere at the end of it, not really remembering how I got there and in a teeter-totter not to fall down. So yes, I did yoga, but I really didn’t because I lost the stream of what I was doing and without that, can I truly say that I practiced?
Try that in boxing, and one ends up in a face-plant on the mat, and frankly in yoga too, because so many of the poses not only require balance, but mental “presence” to truly gain mastery of the practice. And it is that presence, that “be here now” concept that see’s one through so much of the daily struggles of life.
So, full-circle to the breath … take a few moments out of your busy day and remember to breathe and in so doing, slow down enough to be where you are one step at a time.
My notion of roadwork came from watching the movie Rocky. There was Sly Stallone huffing and puffing his way through Philly, until finally, the meat hanging in the processing plant conquered, he was able to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in triumph. From his old-school converse sneakers to his gray sweats, Rocky was an everyman (everywoman) kind of hero that sought to over come adversity to get back into the ring.
The image of Rocky running up the steps remains iconic and in many ways continues to inform boxing’s notion of roadwork: rising well before dawn to don sweats, boxers the world-over will run 5 – 6 miles through the streets before hitting the gym. A lot of boxing gyms also have running machines and boxers will do their roadwork in the gym adding a component of interval training by alternatively running fast and slow along with changing inclines. In a gym environment, the running will often occur after regular training is completed, though this varies widely, as do the beliefs on the relative benefits of running in the wee hours of the morning on through evening runs.
The bottom-line is that running is used as an important training component to build stamina and conditioning — and knees aside, the idea is to increase muscle efficiency and aerobic fitness to improve performance during the short burst intervals of the ring.
On the Saturday boxing side of training – a brief jog/run can also be a helpful way of loosening up before stretching and commencing training.
Given the state of my knees, hard-on running is kind of beyond me, but having run for distance earlier in my life, I can attest to the physical conditioning that comes with a regular program of running — as well as its merits as a training tool. Still, old school running for boxing is not without controversy as some trainers have switched from straight-on roadwork to other forms of interval training or using the controlled environment of the gym for running in place, running sprints, jump-rope intervals and other forms of conditioning.
For an excellent article on the science of running for boxing on Rossboxing.com click here.
Girlboxing 
