(DEC 26) WBAN has rounded up the most outrageous
/ tragic events that have taken place in the sport in 2011. It
would be impossible to list them all, but here are ten of our
top picks---In no particular order:
1. Female Boxer Mona Nelson arrested for murdering a 12-year old
boy
Female boxer, 44-year old Mona Nelson,
1-3-0 (0KO) of Texas, was arrested as a suspect for the murder
of 12-year old Jonathan Foster, of Houston, Texas. Jonathan had
come up missing on Christmas eve, where the child was living
with his mother and stepfather. The boy's body was discovered in
a ditch burned beyond recognition. Nelson had admitted to police
that she had been with Jonathan on the day he came up missing,
and she also made an admission to the police that she was the
one disposing of his body in the ditch----but made no confession
as to actually killing the boy.
2. Corruption at it's finest in the sport
On March 19th, in Montevideo, Uruguay, corruption reared it ugly
head when reports began flooding into WBAN that Loli Munoz was
ripped off when she fought Chris Namus. When viewing the video
of the ninth round between Namus and Munoz, Namus appears to
have been knocked down, and had lost her mouthpiece and had
gained several seconds allowing her to recover. Then in the
tenth round, the time was cut short at 1:28 seconds (rounds are
two minutes in duration), and many believed that shorting the
last round prevented Namus from being stopped.
3. Female Boxer Shot by her step father in the dressing room,
just before stepping into ring to fight!
In April, female boxer Rola El-Halabi was shot just prior to her
entering the ring to fight in Germany. Rola's alleged attacker
was none other than her step father, Roy El-Halabi who was her
former manager as of January. The shooting incident occurred in her
dressing room. Rola was set to fight
Balijagic Adler for the vacant IBF lightweight title.
4. Past WBAN Photographer loses her life
In a very tragic event, past WBAN photographer Patricia Butaud,
56, died in March. According to the Port Arthur Police
Department, Butaud died after jumping from the Veteran’s
Memorial Bridge. Witnesses had told officers they saw a woman
park her vehicle at the top of the bridge at about 5:50 p.m.
March 25. She exited her vehicle, looked over the side of the
bridge and jumped.
5. "AIBA" skirting the issue with amateur boxers
There was one issue that came up in 2011, that was no more than
a form of discrimination for female boxers. The Amateur
International Boxing Association (AIBA) wanted the female boxers
to wear "skirts" instead of "Shorts". The AIBA justifies the
skirts as it would distinguish female boxers from male boxers.
At this point in time it is "Optional" for the boxers. WBAN
loved Ireland's superstar amateur boxer, Katie Taylor stance on
the "skirts". Taylor said that she had no plans to wear a skirt,
and that she didn't even wear mini-skirts when she was not
boxing.
6. No women nominated by the Boxing Writers Association at 86
Annual Awards Dinner
In May, WBAN received press information in regards to the 86
Annual Awards Dinner, presented by The awards dinner presented
by the Boxing Writers Association of America was set to take
place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In receiving
the materials on this event, I checked over who was being
honored ---and noticed that there were no females picked on the
"Honors" list. In light of the fact that the sport in present
time has evolved into including females that it would be more
than appropriate to at least consider this fact---and at least
consider including women in the awards. In doing this story---it
was pointed out to me that Kathy Duva was nominated in two
categories this year---so I did go to their website to see the
history of their annual awards. In the last five years, not
including 2011---there were no females listed on their website
for honors or awards, for the exception of Dr. Margaret Goodman
in 2006.
7. Youth Title Fights
WBAN ran several stories on "Youth" title bouts, that made
absolutely no sense. In one bout, one of the female boxers was
28 years old. In another "youth" title bout, one of the
boxers was making her pro debut in the title bout.
8. Six Round Title Fights
As unbelievable as it may sound---the sport did a complete
reverse by a couple of federations who carelessly and without
much thought obviously, decided they would devalue women boxers
by allowing them to fight "12" minutes for a title belt. WBAN
decided to call all six-round title bouts "Baby Belts."
Hopefully we see no more "Baby Belts" in 2012.
9. Declining quality of World Title bouts
We saw way too many of these in the year 2011. We saw a definite
decline in the caliber of title fights that have been sanctioned
by some of these organizations with little regards to ratings,
records, activity and more.
10. First Boxer ever to say she would toss her world title belts
in the trash!
WBAN ran a story in November on Melissa Hernandez who said that
before the WIBA and the "President" Ryan Wissow stripped her for
not defending her title against a 1-0 fighter, Hernandez decided
to not only vacate the title but physically toss them in the
dumpster. Hernandez stated, "It's a slap in the face to the
sport that I love. It's a slap in the face to the women who bust
their butts everyday in the gym. The only way Valentina
Shevchenko should be involved in a title fight is if she bought
a ticket." Hernandez was referring to a fight that she was
offered to fight Shevchenko. Hernandez added, "I am so sick of
these sanctioning bodies doing this and its time someone stands
up for woman's boxing."
Related Stories:
Flash in the Past: What was the MOST OUTRAGEOUS in 2005?
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