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Angel Bovee has been an Olympic-style boxer since 1999 and it was her dream
to be in the 2004 Olympic Games. Bovee is one of only six athletes in the
country to represent the USA at the first two Women's World Championship
ever held for Olympic-style women boxers. She was captain of Team USA for
the second World Championships held in Antalya, Turkey 2002.
In 2001 and 2002, Bovee was chosen among female athletes from across
the country to receive a $1,000 grant from the Women's Sports
Foundation to help offset the cost of traveling to the US Nationals.
In 2000, she won her first national title which was National Golden
Gloves. In 2001, Bovee was the U.S. light-middleweight champion, and
in 2002, the U.S. light welterweight champion.
Bovee told WBAN, "In 2003 I took a break due to an injury and the
crushing disappointment I felt over women's boxing NOT being
included in the 2004 Olympic Games."
Bovee is now back and this year, Bovee won the New York Golden
Gloves, the Ringside World Tournament, National PAL's and the
National Golden Gloves.
Bovee told WBAN, "My goal is to try and promote women boxers as skillful,
strong and as exciting to watch as the men boxers. I would like to see women
get the same respect, salary (for professionals), media exposure and
attention that the male boxers get. . .and I really want to see this happen
in my lifetime! I want to raise the bar of women's athletics and show the
world that we sweat just as much, work just as hard, have as much skill and
bleed the same blood as all the male athletes out there!"
Bovee plans to stay amateur and win a Gold medal at a World Championship and
be involved in some way when the women finally get into the Olympics in
2008.
Bovee has had some great coaches over the years, most notably Dr. Christy
Halbert, author of "The Ultimate Boxer," and head coach of the first-ever
Women's World Championship Team.
Bovee said, "She is the most knowledgeable
person on the sport of amateur boxing that I have ever met and really put me
on the right road to becoming a successful Olympic-style boxer. Now I
train out of the New York Boxing Gym in Yonkers, NY with coach Luigi
Olcese."
Bovee worked full-time as a commercial and long-form television
producer/director for Fox 23 in Albany, NY. When she decided she wanted to
be on the first-ever Women's World Championship Team in 2001, she quit her
job, got rid of her apartment, took out a bank loan and moved to the NYC
area to be able to train full time for five months.
"I lived with friends, fellow boxers and out of my car during this time. The
gamble worked and I won US Nationals that year and made one of my dreams
come true" Bovee said.
Bovee now works as a full time fitness
instructor and personal trainer and am working hard to pay back my loan
and save money to be able to fund my upcoming amateur competitions. As you
know, amateurs receive no compensation for competing and we have to pay our
own way to the national and regional tournaments. It's a hard and expensive
road.
During this time, Bovee also met her life partner, fellow professional boxer
Ann Marie
Saccurato. Bovee told WBAN, "We met for the first time
at US Nationals in 2000 in Midland, Texas. We were in the same weight class
but never ended up boxing each other. We met up again when I quit my job and
moved down to the NYC area to train. We have been together over two years
and we strive to be positive examples of out lesbians in our fields of work
and our sport. We are each others best sparring and always have each other's
back in the corner!"
Bovee said that they have the best of
both worlds of boxing-Olympic Style and professional, and that it gives them
a unique prospective on the sport and keeps us challenged when we train.
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