(MAR 6) The best part of women's
boxing is the amazing individuals it attracts. Women with grit
and grace who have busy lives outside of boxing, but are drawn
to the sport despite the struggle it brings for these women
warriors. This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet and
spar with a top female flyweight boxer here in Germany, Raja
Amasheh. The bubbly, petite Raja picked me up at the train
station in Karlsruhe on Saturday morning and we headed to the
gym she trains at
Mach1 Kampsportschule under the
tutelage of
Dominik Junge. Junge has vast experience in the sport
and has been a long time supporter of women's boxing. He was
Regina Halmich's first trainer and currently works with Lucia
Morelli who most recently won the WIBA, GBU and WBF World titles
against Rola El-Halabi. He is tough on his fighters, but works
tirelessly to get them good sparring, improve their weaknesses,
and keep them busy with fights. Most recently he has begun
working with Nadia Raoui. When we get to the gym, he is working
mitts with Nadia, so Raja and I head to a back room to warm up.
Raja born in Ammad, Jordan on
August 9, 1982 grew up in Berlin, Germany. She has a bachelor's
degree in Business Administration and completed her master's
degree in the same discipline in 2011. She has lived in various
cities in Austria and Germany, but currently resides in
Karlsruhe. She makes a 45 minute commute to Mannheim each day
where she works as a project lead and manager for the global
pharmaceutical corporation, Roche. When asked how she balances
the demands of work and training, Raja says that it requires a
lot of coordination, planning and dedication to follow through.
Raja had an extensive kickboxing
and amateur boxing career before turning to professional boxing
in 2008. She started kickboxing in Salzburg, Austria in 2002
because she wanted to do sports and some of her friends were
doing kickboxing. Raja competed as an amateur and professionally
in kickboxing, K-1 and Thai Boxing having 50 fights. At the end
of 4 years, Raja had several amateur kickboxing titles (in full
contact, K-1, and Thai Boxing). As a professional, she won the
WKA World Championship in full contact kickboxing in 2008 and
has also won German and European titles in K-1. She started
competing in amateur boxing in 2007. She had a total of 15
amateur fights (12-3-1) and was crowned the German Vice Champion
in 2007 and 2008 in the light flyweight division. She started
boxing professionally in 2008 fighting to a draw against
undefeated junior flyweight, Oezlim Sahin who was 6-0 at the
time. She began training with Dominik Junge after her first
fight who she now considers her greatest supporter. Raja has
since amassed a record of 14-0-1 with 3 knockouts and is the
number 3 flyweight in Germany behind top competitors, Susi
Kentikian and Nadia Raoui. She won the WBF Intercontinental
title in October of last year. When asked what accounts for her
success, she credits hard training and a lot of coordination
between work, studies, and training. Junge credits her success
to her determined, mental strength stating, "she is one of those
rare fighters who performs better in a fight than training. She
never gives up and it is not possible to break her mind." When
asked what her goals are in boxing, Raja says, "World Champion,
of course!"
I get the opportunity to
experience first hand what this fierce competitor is all about
in sparring on Saturday. I am pleasantly surprised that I can
hang with Raja for the eight rounds of sparring that we do,
though when she gets inside on me she is able to unleash a fury
of punches that I have no answer for. It is a great experience
for me as I had hoped to spar with a top professional while here
in Germany, and Raja gets the new experience of sparring with a
left-handed fighter with what she calls "an American style."
Best of all, I am introduced to another amazing warrior in the
wonderful world of women's boxing who is making her mark on the
sport. Raja defends her WBF Intercontinental Title on Friday,
March 8th against Corina Carlescu (8-5-1) at Saarlandhalle,
Saarbruecken, Saarland, Germany.
WBAN
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