(OCT 2) Back in February of 2010 I thought I had a pretty good idea. I would get a few women together and conduct a small training camp to see if a larger one would be successful. Although Bad Girls Boxing, which was born in 1994, had always been an amateur boxing club, a few professional women had enjoyed working and training with the young amateurs. So….I took a leap of faith.

Knowing that Ann Marie Saccurato would be in the area training with Lucia Rijker, I asked her to join two other professional women for the camp. Since Saccurato was in training approximately 1-2 hours a day with Rijker, we would have her the other 22 hours..HA! Perfect I thought. I invited Molly McConnell from Portland, OR and Tammie Johnson from Lynnwood, WA and we were ready to roll!

We trained and sparred daily and soon Lucia Rijker was assisting us with tips and instruction. Bless her! She knew we needed her guidance. We sparred and trained in LA at Wild Card, thank you Freddie Roach, Trinity Boxing, Thank you Martin Snow and NYC Boxing Thank you Phil Paolina. We worked with Mia St. John, Fredia Gibbs, Kaliesha West….Now the WBO Bantam Weight Champion of the World, and great amateurs like Olympic hopeful….Mikaela Mayer. It was working!

So I took another leap of faith….I would have a camp in my hometown of Indio, California. I would invite women from all over the country to attend and I would only charge a small fee to cover food and other incidentals. The plan was, we would share our struggles and learn what real training looked like, both in and out of the ring. The plan was to prepare you to take a fight and know how to win. I needed someone who understood the science of training and boxing….I called Saccurato. “I’m in” she said, and the game was on!

I started out with a plan for 12….but reduced it to 10. I knew I would be a little over my head when a few local girls would also be attending. I selected 10 from the many applications I received. They came from all over the country, Canada as well. NY, PA, MS, CA, WA, VA….it was too good to be true.

There is no way to describe how amazing this camp was. We sparred and boxed at Coachella Valley Boxing Club, Thank you Lee Espinoza. We conducted all physical training at Anytime Fitness in Indio, Thank you Andria and Oscar Valdez. There was nothing easy about the training…either aspect. It was intended to show these women what they needed to do to succeed. It was the first time to my knowledge that this had ever happened.

When Alex Ramos “The Bronx Bomber” from the Retired Boxers Foundation stopped by we were so impressed with his encouragement of these women that we asked him to stay. So, for the entire week of September 20th-26th Alex stayed with us….giving us pointers, instruction and support. All of us came to love him as a man, a fellow boxer and a mentor. Words can not express how he touched each individual life.

We learned that a fighter is a fighter in many ways. When Laila Ali, a Champion in retirement took these women to lunch….it ended up being so much more than that. Laila accompanied us to the NYC Boxing club to watch the sparring. She took notes on each fighter carefully noting their positive attributes and pointing out key areas for improvement….she mentored each woman individually, it was so much more than we ever expected. Had she not been pregnant, I have no doubt she would have been in that ring going one on one! Her support was priceless.

I know now that women working together in the sport of boxing can work and will work. To prove that point we made a documentary of this event and we will conduct another camp in May of 2011. The veteran women of Bad Girls Boxing Training Camp will come together again to mentor those just coming in…to help them become better, stronger, women fighters. But more than that….building relationships that support each other in this sport. So, to all the women that made this happen….World Champion Ann Marie Saccurato, Lia Brocking, Jennifer Salinas, GMarie Taylor, Kymmberli Stowe, Ronica Jeffrey, Inez Madera, Tarrah Zael, Lucia Larcinese, Pia Porter, Carolynne Meyers, Mikaela Mayer, World Champion Kaliesha West, Molly McConnell, Tammie Johnson, Daralynn Villanueva…THANK YOU for proving me right! Now…let’s do it again! Local News Story on Video

 

Bad Girls Boxing, Inc is a 501(c)(3) Non- Profit Organization dedicated to the development of basic and advanced skills required in the sport of Women’s Boxing. The instruction provided is designed to assist young women to redirect negative energy into more positive outlets. This is accomplished by developing a sense of discipline, self-esteem and interpersonal skills.

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