The Webster Dictionary describes a champion as a "winner of first prize or first place in competition." Taken a step farther, Webster’s defines the best as "excelling all others."  Those definitions may be accurate in other sports, but all too often it seems they fail to apply in women’s boxing, where anyone willing to write a check and buy a piece of hardware can find a sanctioning body more than happy to slap their initials on a world championship fight. 

WBAN is talking about becoming a top world champion in the sport ultimately fighting the best in the sport.

So what does it take to become the best and become a world champion and how do you go about achieving that goal?  

It is not an easy task to make it to that level of the sport and becoming a world champion.  But one of the sure ways to have a great beginning towards that goal is to pay your dues in the amateurs.  We are seeing how the amateurs have recently been very successfully moving from an extensive amateur career into the professional arena, with some of those top amateur boxers coming out of the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. 

Just to name a few...the female boxers hitting the scene now in the pros  are the greats coming out of the amateurs, i.e., Claressa Shields, Marlen Esparza, Katie Taylor, and many more, with some of those boxers already becoming world champions in the sport.

Another issue is be prepared to fight the best.  Building a boxing record is one thing---gaining the experience to get to the level of a true world champion is to take on the comers that will take you to that level.  We see too often boxers with pristine records and really have not fought the boxers they should be challenging themselves to fight in the ring.  

An example of fighting the best was a recent match between Cecilia Braekhus vs. Kali Reis. The bout got massive exposure due to being the first female bout to be televised on HBO.   This fight received excellent reviews and fights made like this bout, brings the sport up to the main stream in the sport of boxing. This was a bout where the best was fighting the best in our sport. 

Another important issue is not only building a successful boxing record but to truly test yourself fighting those boxers who are genuinely ranked high in the sport and gaining the experience of fighting those boxers.  We see at times boxers who have numerous fights, but linger in the opponent status of fighting boxers who do not offer that challenge.

Make sure to get in a boxing gym, and under the tutelage of a  coach/trainer that has your best interests at heart.  Throwing you early into the sport as a pro because your trainer is leading you down that road has not proven to be successful in the sport for some.  We have seen through the years, many female boxers have not done well, and they end up quitting the sport----not really knowing their true potential.