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5'5"
bantamweight Anita Christensen from Randers, Denmark was born on October 29, 1971. She posted a 19-2-0 record as an
amateur boxer and was the 1998 Nordic 57-kg
Women's Champion.
On February 16, 2000 in Give, Denmark, Anita (121¼ lbs) won her pro debut with a TKO at 1:13 of the first round over
Veronica Szucz (121¼ lbs) of Hungary in a scheduled four-rounder. Szucz had also boxed as an amateur, compiling a
10-5-0 record. The loss dropped Szucz's pro record to 1-4-0.
On March 25, 2000, in Aarhus, Denmark, Anita (123¾ lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over
Piroska Beki (124 lbs) of Hungary, who fell to 1-1.
April 29, 2000 in Varde, Denmark, Anita (119¾ lbs) won by a third-round TKO of Italy's Chiara Benedettini
(121¼ lbs), who fell to 2-2. Benedettini took "a steady beating" throughout the fight, but was never knocked down,
according to the Women's Boxing Page correspondent. WBAN's European correspondent said that Benedettini never seemed to get into
the fight, and that Christensen was better both physically and technically. In the first round,
Christensen controlled the fight with left jabs to the head, and also worked the body with combinations.
Christensen dominated the second round and the
he referee stopped the bout in the third when Benedettini began to turn away from
Christensen's attack. She hasn't fought professionally since. Christensen
prepared for the fight by going to Poland to spar with Polish welterweight
Iwona Guzowska, according to WBAN's European reporter.
May 25, 2000 in Frederiksvaerk, Denmark, Anita won by a second-round TKO over Sónia Pereira of Portugal in a scheduled four-rounder. Pereira took a
standing eight count in the second and the fight was stopped as Christensen continued to land. Periera had previously
lost to Regina Halmich (TKO 7) in August 1995, to Krisztina Krek (six-round decision) in September
1999 and to Daisy Lang (UD 10) in October 1999. She had been a world ranked Muay Thai kickboxer.
August 19, 2000 at Sport-hallerne in Silkeborg, Denmark, a crowd estimated at 500 saw Anita (119½ lbs) win by a
TKO at 1:30 of the first round over Romy Heine (110¼ lbs) of Germany. Heine, a southpaw, was knocked backwards by
a right cross and referee Per Malmberg stepped in to give her a standing eight count. Heine later crouched on the canvas
after a flurry from Christensen and the fight was stopped. A Women's Boxing Page correspondent described Heine as
"small, inept and overmatched". Heine's record was given as 7-2-1, but this may include bouts other than pro boxing and
she hasn't fought professionally since.
On October 13, 2000 at Stadionhal in Aarhus, Denmark, Anita (116¾ lbs) won a scheduled eight-rounder by TKO
when Gizella Papp (117¼ lbs) of Hungary did not come out for the fourth round after going to the canvas twice in
the third. WBAN's European reporter said that the fight was "somewhat disappointing, and that Papp never had a clear
chance against the likes of Christensen" He said that while Papp had some nice footwork, she turned her side
whenever punches were thrown at her. In the third round, Papp was knocked down twice, but got up both times.
Papp then decided that she had Had enough, and didn't answer the bell for the fourth round. The Women's Boxing
Page correspondent said "Papp ran for two rounds, was caught in the next and quit." Papp, who had
been fighting since 1995, fell to a reported 8-2 (and hasn't fought professionally since).
On November 24, 2000 at Randers-hallen in her home town of Randers, Denmark, an estimated crowd of 600 saw Anita
(115¾ lbs) win the WIBF European Bantamweight title with a ten-round (99-94,99-92,99-92) decision over Krisztina
Krek (116¼ lbs) of Austria. Christensen seemed nervous in the early
rounds which saw little, but she landed the stronger punches and had little
trouble with the light-punching Austrian when she found her rhythm later in the fight. Krek fell to 10-4 with the loss,
then went on to record three wins in Austria in 2001 before retiring.
On January 19, 2001 in Hadsund, Denmark, Anita moved to 8-0 (5 KO's) with a unanimous six-round decision over Valérie
Rangeard of France, who fell to 0-5 in bouts that I can verify as pro boxing.
On September 7, 2001 in Lemvig, Jutland, Denmark, she won a six-round (60-54,60-54,60-53) decision over Damaris
Muthoni of Nairobi, Kenya, who fell to 2-1-2 in her first contest outside Kenya. There were no knockdowns, but Muthoni
took a standing eight count in the final round.
 On October 12, 2001 at Kongrescenter in Herning, Denmark, Anita moved to 10-0 (6 KOs) with a TKO at 0:23 of the
sixth-round over an overmatched Iliana Boneva of Bulgaria. Christensen injured her right hand in the second round but
still had little trouble with the inexperienced 19-year old Bulgarian, who had little defense but a strong chin and
plenty of determination. Christensen took very few punches while landing almost at will and bloodying Boneva's face but
she wasn't able to close the fight out quickly and was taken to a hospital for treatment of her hand. Boneva suffered her
second loss in two weeks; she went on to lose to Diana Szilyagi and Cathy Brown in 2001.
On November 9, 2001 in Odense, Denmark, Anita defended her WIBF European bantamweight title with a 10-round unanimous
(98-92,97-93,97-94) decision over Galina Giumliiska Ivanova of Sofia, Bulgaria. The hand injury suffered by Christensen
in her previous bout did not visibly affect her performance as she counterpunched effectively to control the aggressive
Giumliiska, who had upset Poland's Iwona Guzowska in her previous fight. Giumliiska fell to
5-6 (1 KO) with the loss; she went on to win the WIBF European featherweight title in 2003.
After the win over Giumliiska, Christensen was reported to have "dead tissue" in the index finger of her right hand which required surgery to allow her to
continue boxing, and sidelined her for almost eighteen months.
On April 25, 2003 at Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, Tyskland, Germany, Anita, returned to competition
and won a six-round unanimous decision over unranked Renata
Vesecka of the Czech Republic. Vesecka fell to 2-3-0 (1 KO).
 On May 16, 2003 at Congres Centrum in Den Haag, The Netherlands, Anita won a six-round unanimous decision over
unranked Daniela Graff of Karlsruhe, Germany, who fell to 3-3-1 (1 KO).
On October 24, 2003 at KB Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Anita (117¾ lbs) progressed to 14-0-0 (6 KO) with a
six-round unanimous shutout (60-54) decision over Stephanie Dobbs of Moore, Oklahoma, USA (5'1", up to 114¾ lbs for this
fight). Dobbs fell to 8-11-2 (5 KO) with the loss, her first bout outside the USA and her first at 114 lbs in over a year.
On January 17, 2004 at Radisson SAS hotel in Aarhus, Denmark, Anita weighed in at 117¾ lbs and won a
controversial split (93-97,97-94,96-95) decision over Florida-based Ada Velez (117½ lbs) of Puerto Rico for the WIBA
and WIBF Bantamweight titles. Christensen was knocked down in the eighth round and Velez was the aggressor
for much of the fight. Velez fell to 14-2-2 (6
KO).
On June 17, 2005 at SAS Radisson in Aarhus, Denmark, Anita (118 lbs) returned
from a 18-month layoff to win a 60-54, 60-54 and 60-54 unanimous six-round
decision over Oksana Romanova, (115¼ lbs) of the Ukraine. Romanova fell to 3-5-1 (0 KOs).
On September 30, 2005 at Vesthallen in Slagelse,
Denmark, Anita (118 lbs) won by a KO at 1:59 of the fifth round over Monika
Petrova (119 lbs) of Sofia, Bulgaria in a
scheduled six-rounder. Petrova fell to 1-8-0 (0 KOs).
On June 9, 2006 in Aarhus, Denmark, Anita (121¼ lbs) returned to the ring and
won a six-round unanimous decision over Jane Kavulani (120¼ lbs) of Uganda, who
fell to 1-4-1 (0 KO's) in her first pro bout outside Africa.
On October 14, 2006 in Copenhagen, Anita Christensen
(118 lbs) won the WBA/WBC/GBU belts in a very close ten-round unanimous (96-94,
96-94 and 97-94) decision over Nadia Hockmi (118 lbs) of France.
According to WBAN correspondent Torben Lodberg, Nadia Hockmi came forward
from the first bell, and it was obvious that Christensen was struggling to find
a way to counter the very aggressive Hockmi, although she had a slight reach
advantage. Lodberg adds that "Anita Christensen really got her straight
punches working from round 7 and scored with plenty of left-right-left
combinations in the last four rounds. The first 5-6 rounds were fought at a very
high pace, possibly too high for Hockmi, who appeared to be running out of steam
in the later rounds." Hockmi was unhappy with the decision and took
the microphone to air her frustration after the scores were announced, calling
the decision a big problem for women's boxing. Hockmi fell to 7-4-0 (4
KOs) with the loss.
On November 24, 2006 at Falconer Centret in Copenhagen, Anita (121¼ lbs)
defeated Jessica Mohs (121¼
lbs) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,60-54)
decision. According to WBAN's correspondent this was "a typical boxer
vs. slugger fight. Jessica Mohs was a very plucky opponent, who kept coming
forward through all six rounds, despite being punished by crisp counter punching
by Christensen throughout the fight. Occasionally Mohs managed to drag
Christensen into fighting inside, which did make her [Christensen] lose momentum
and style. After being reprimanded between rounds by her trainer Kjeld Krogh,
Christensen went back to what she does best, scoring with her left jab and
crossing Mohs as she came forward. Christensen showed very good technical
boxing, piling up points and her excellent footwork and speed prevented Mohs to
get through with much." Christensen improved to 20-0-0 (7 KOs)
while Mohs fell to 6-13-1 (1 KO).
On September 14, 2007 at the Forum, in Horsens,
Denmark,
Anita (117¼ lbs) defeated Bettina Gabriela Garino (116 lbs) of Cordoba,
Argentina by a 10-round
unanimous decision. Christensen retained her WBA, WBC, and GBU belts. The judges
scored the bout 100-90, 99-91 & 99-91. It is reported from the card that a
very aggressive Garino made life difficult for Christensen in the early rounds,
while the Danish world champion looked more convincing later in the fight.
The 30-year-old Garino fell to 8-3-1 (1 KOs).
On November 24, 2007 in
Gilleleje, Denmark,
Anita TKO’d late replacement Micaela Calugareanu of Romania in the third round
of a scheduled six rounder.
The 34-year-old Christensen remained undefeated at
23-0-0 (8 KOs) while Calugareanu
fell to 0-2-0.
Anita
Christensen is promoted and managed by Bettina Palle and trained by Brian Mathiasen.
Bettina Palle can be reached by email at teampalle@teampalle.dk
or fax to +45 33 24 84 84.
Page last updated:
Friday April 11, 2008 |
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