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5'6" featherweight Linda "Terminator" Tenberg from Austin, Texas was born
in Thailand on April 14, 1973. She is trained and managed by Richard Lord,
and has a martial arts background as well as her boxing training. She went 3-0
as an amateur boxer before turning pro.
She made her pro debut on May 7, 1999 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas,
weighing in at 127¾ lbs and scoring a TKO at 0:37 of the first round
over Franchesca Alcanter (128 lbs) of Kansas City, who fell to 1-1.
On June 11, 1999 at the Yakima Legends Casino in Toppenish, Washington, USA she
knocked out Kimberly Reed of Granada Hills, California in the third round of a
scheduled four-rounder. Reed fell to 1-1 with the loss. November 12, 1999 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas,
Linda (123 lbs) won a
four-round unanimous decision over Marsha Budde (118 lbs) of Denver, Colorado,
who fell to 2-2.
On February 25, 2000 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas,
Linda (121¾ lbs) won a four-round
majority (38-38,39-37,40-35) decision over Leilani Salazar (119 lbs)
of Tucson, Arizona, dropping Salazar's record to 2-3.
On March 8, 2000 at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan,
featherweight
Angela Woolum of Huntington, West Virginia
moved to 3-1 with a four-round majority (38-38, 38-37, and 39-37)
decision over Linda,
who slipped to 4-1. According to my correspondent,
"Angela clearly won the first two rounds but seemed to run out of
steam just before the end of the second. Linda clearly dominated the
fourth round when Angela was swinging at air. The difference was the third. I
gave it to Linda, believing she did enough to win the round. So
did one of the judges. Another judge scored the round even, while the third
judge must believe in momentum and somehow gave the round to Angela."
On August 4, 2000 at Ben Hur Shrine Temple in Austin, Texas
Layla McCarter (125½ lbs) of Las Vegas, Nevada
improved her record to 5-4-1
with a four-round unanimous (40-36,39-37,39-37) decision over
over Linda (124 lbs) in a defensive battle.
Linda battles Ada Velez in Florida
© Copyrighted photo taken by Sandy Golberg
On December 15, 2000 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
1999 USA amateur 119-lb titlist Ada Velez (5'3", 120 lbs)
from Hollywood, Florida won her first pro title ... the WIBF North American
Junior Featherweight belt ... with a
unanimous (80-72,80-72,80-71) eight-round decision over
Linda (122¼ lbs).
Velez opened a deep gash over Tenberg's right eye in the second round and pummeled her
for the rest of the bout. "I knew she was very strong,"
said Puerto Rican born Velez, "I knew she wasn't going to be knocked out.
It was a tough fight." Velez improved to 6-0 (4 KO's) while Tenberg fell to 4-3
(2 KO's).
On March 30, 2001 at the Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas,
Linda (127 lbs) used her reach advantage and counter-punching
skills to box Alice Smith Yauger
(126¼ lbs) of Arlington, Texas to a strangely split
(40-36,40-36,37-39) four-round decision. In
the first round both fought outside throwing jabs that mostly did not
connect. Tenberg began to find her range in the second, and she bloodied Smith's nose
with a good left towards the end of the round. They began the third
aggressively, but Tenberg let Smith walk herself into some hard counters. Smith
briefly tried a southpaw stance in the fourth, but Tenberg wasn't fazed by this
and she counter-punched her way to the split decision. The bout, which was seen live on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights,
moved Tenberg to 5-3 (2 KO's) while Alice Smith took her first loss in three pro bouts.
 On May 13, 2001 at the State Line Silver Smith Casino, West Wendover, Utah,
Mia St. John (5'6", 129½ lbs) of Calabasas, California
won a hard
fought four-round unanimous (40-37,39-37,39-37) decision over Linda Tenberg (5'6", 125½ lbs)
of Austin, Texas. St. John successfully kept pressure on
Tenberg who appeared to lack the power needed to slow her down.
According to WBAN's ringside correspondent, "Mia
clearly won the fight based on pure aggression and punches thrown effectively.
She does 'windmill' on occasion, but not as badly as I've seen her in the past.
Tenberg seemed unprepared to deal with the level of intensity that Mia brought
to the fight. Although, Tenberg did score some good shots and looks technically
better schooled most of the time. Now, this may irritate some of the Mia-haters,
but at least Mia commits to her punches. And her conditioning is good as she was
non-stop and simply overwhelmed Tenberg with a whirlwind attack. I couldn't give
Tenberg a single round, sorry. And I went in with a decidedly anti-Mia mindset.
Also, Mia's punches seemed more accurate than before. Less looping. Since
Tenberg came up in weight, that may explain why Mia had no difficulty "walking
through" her punches. They just didn't have the sting that Mia's had. All in
all, it was an entertaining fight given the limitations of both fighters."
St. John was now 22-0 (13 KO's); Tenberg fell to 5-4 (2 KO's).
 On November 16, 2001 at
the Convention Center in Austin, Texas,
Linda (124¼ lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over
Jessica Mohs (123 lbs) of Chandler, Arizona. Tenberg was more active in the early going
landing jabs and hard rights ... while an initially nervous Mohs looked stronger
later in each round as she tried to mix it
up with Linda inside. Mohs fell to 3-3 (0 KO's).
On May 17, 2002 in Austin, Texas,
veteran Gloria Ramirez (131 lbs) of Sunland Park, New Mexico won a four-round split (39-37,37-39,39-37)
decision over Linda (126¾ lbs). Ramirez was now
9-11-3 (2 KO's), Tenberg 6-5-0 (2 KO's).
On May 31, 2002 at LaGrave Field Baseball Park in Fort Worth,
Texas, Patricia Acosta (127 lbs) of Allen, Texas won a six-round unanimous
decision over Linda (125¾ lbs). Acosta was now
5-1-1 (2 KO's) while Tenberg fell to 6-6-0 (2 KO's).
Elena Reid battles Linda Tenberg
© Copyrighted photo taken by Dale
S. Hausner On February 11, 2003 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona,
a crowd estimated at just 600 saw
Elena Reid (118 lbs) of Phoenix win a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,59-54) decision over
Linda (122 lbs). According to WBAN's ringside correspondent Dale Hausner, "Tenberg
got off to a good start by capturing the first round. Reid's experience then
took over and she started pounding Tenberg with hard shots from all angles.
To Tenberg's credit, she took them all and kept trying to get Reid out of
her game plan. It failed to work however and Reid dominated the fight.
Tenberg ... was here to fight ... she has never been down as a pro. She was
in good shape but couldn't do enough to offset Reid. Try as she might, she
went home with a loss. She gave an effort to be proud of. Both young ladies
acted like professionals at all times and let their fists do the talking.
They spoke volumes." Another correspondent
told me that Tenberg seemed stunned after taking four hard left hooks midway through the
fourth round in what may have been the bout's decisive moment, while another
said that Tenberg won the fight and was "jobbed by the judges".
On April 5, 2003 at National Center in Amarillo, Texas,
Linda (124¾ lbs) evened her record
at 7-7-0 (3 KO's) with a second-round TKO of perennial "opponent" Shakurah Witherspoon (124 lbs)
of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who fell to 9-34-1 (4 KO).
On August 22, 2003 at Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi, Texas,
Linda (125½ lbs) won a scheduled four-rounder by a TKO at 1:06 in the third round over Ninfa Herrera (124
lbs) of Corpus Christi. Linda made the most of a
four-inch height advantage and got her punches off early.
The end came when Tenberg knocked Herrera down for the third time with a right
to the head. The fight had been delayed in the first round when Herrera's right
glove broke apart at the thumb and both of her gloves had to be replaced.
"I got frustrated, but it's no excuse," said
Herrera. "The first thing was the gloves. Plus, all the other fights that
fell through. I just waited too long. But her punches were good. I'm not going
to deny that. I'm just glad it's over, honestly. She knocked me down but I'm not
really, really hurt." Tenberg improved to 8-7-0 (4 KO's) while
Herrera fell to 0-1-1.
On September 26, 2003 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona,
Elena Reid (118 lbs) of Phoenix
won a six-round unanimous (59-55,59-55,58-56) decision over Linda (120 lbs).
Tenberg was in good shape for this rematch but
she still could not do enough to offset Reid's quickness and
movement. Reid advanced to 14-1-3 (4 KO's) with the win while Tenberg fell
to 8-8-0 (4 K'sO).
Linda lands a left on Kelsey Jeffries, March 2004
© Copyrighted photo taken by Jesus Sanchez
On March 12, 2004 at HP Pavilion, San Jose, California,
Kelsey Jeffries (122½ lbs) of Gilroy, California won a six-round
unanimous (60-54 on all scorecards) decision over Linda (123 lbs). Jeffries
began the fight aggressively while Tenberg boxed and tried to keep her distance
away from Kelsey's wicked overhand right. Linda established
her own jab near the end of the second round and kept Jeffries off balance in
the third. Jeffries stepped up her intensity in the fourth and punished Linda to
the head, but took a hard right that disrupted her rhythm in the fifth.
Jeffries used her experience to control the sixth as she improved her pro record
to 25-8-0 (2 KO) while Tenberg
fell to 8-9-0 (4 KO). (For more photos of this fight see
WBAN Photo Gallery #153
on the WBAN Records Member Site.)
On April 1, 2004 at Hooters Restaurant in Selma, Texas,
Linda Tenberg (124½ lbs) of Austin, Texas
TKO'd Terrie Carrillo of San Antonio, Texas
(125½ lbs) at 0:10 in the fourth round. Tenberg improved to
9-9-0 (5 KO) while Carrillo fell to 0-4-1.
 On May 7, 2004 at the Convention Center in Austin, Texas, Linda (125 lbs)
won a four-round
unanimous (39-37 on all scorecards) decision over Kim Colbert (131 lbs) of
Southfield, Michigan in a scheduled four-round featherweight bout
on the undercard. Tenberg took the fight on
just three days' notice.
On
May 22, 2004 at Grand Casino Coushatta, Kinder, Louisiana,
Linda (129 lbs) TKO'd Tiffany Ibáñez (128 lbs) in the first round of
a scheduled four-rounder. Tenberg improved to 11-9-0 (6 KO's) while Ibáñez fell to 1-2-1.
On October 1, 2004 at Southport Sharks in Southport, Queensland,
Australia, former WIBA world Featherweight champion Sharon Anyos (125 lbs)
of Australia won a ten-round unanimous
(99-91,100-90,100-90) decision over Linda (126 lbs)
for the vacant WBF Women's Featherweight title.
Linda lands a left to
Sharon Anyos in Australia
© copyrighted photograph by Renee from Extreme Images
Anyos came out aggressively and traded
with Tenberg against the ropes but Tenberg initially fought back well at close
range. Anyos kept up the pressure in the second, and caught Tenberg with
several hard rights. Linda didn't seem fazed by this, came out strong for the third round and landed
several good rights of her own. Anyos continued to take the fight to Tenberg in
the fourth and fifth as the Texan began to tire and Linda's punches became wider
and less accurate. Anyos began to dominate in the sixth and seventh, swarming
Tenberg and working her way inside to land with combinations and a hard left hook. Tenberg
was hurt at times but she showed no sign of quitting. Anyos kept firing jabs and combinations
in the eighth as her handiwork began to show under Tenberg's left eye. At the
start of the tenth the two fighters demonstrated their respect for each other by embracing and
kissing. Anyos then
counterpunched until late in the tenth, when she put on a final aggressive flurry to
end the fight.
 Anyos improved to 7-3-0 (1 KO)
with the win while Tenberg fell to 11-10 (6 KO). For a full WBAN report on
this fight by Mike “Kryptonite” Altamura, go
here. For more great fight photos by Extreme Images, see
Photo Gallery #214
on the WBAN Member Site.
Following the bout, Anyos said, “I hope everyone enjoyed it because I had a fantastic time in here.”
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Sunday, 05 November 2017 |
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