A Little bit of Respect from
Stefan Raab
She broke the nose of Stefan Raab and says: "I think, he needs that"
World Champion Regina Halmich said about "The fight of the Year."
BERLIN (March 28) She is a petite person. Almost 5'3" and 112
lbs. However, Regina Halmich has taught TV presenter Stefan Raab a lesson last Thursday. The pro boxer gave the TV big mouth
a beating for five rounds. At the end, Raab hung on to the ropes, sweating,
exhausted and with a broken nose. It could have been worse, says the 24 year old in an interview with the magazine
"Bunte." In this mixed match the boxing betting
lines would favor Regina as she has a lot more boxing experience over
Stefan.
"It was serious business for me" says the multiple World Champ. "I took the biggest risk. "I couldn't just K.O. him
straight away" Halmich continues, "and just playing around with him wouldn't be fair to the fans
either. I had to find a sensible "middle ground" and that looked like this.
In the first round I only taught him to get a little respect, I wanted him to see which way the wind was blowing"
"To him it is not fun" I suppose a lot would want to do this: To show the outspoken big mouth
Raab, who is calling the shots" 7.5 Million viewers tuned in on the fight, and quite a few wanted to see Raab get beaten. They
were surprised to see how serious the fight started.
Halmich said: " I was going to take it easy, but then I looked him in the eyes and saw how tense Raab was, how high his adrenalin mirror was.
He stood in the middle of the ring, and I knew that it wasn't a joke to him."
"He can't hurt me"
"The punches were not pulled", said Halmich who kept her guard
up. "However, I was never in any real danger", Halmich continues, "The punches did no
damage, he is not able to do that."
"There were no need for special preparation for the pro fighter.
Raab was like an additional round of training" she says. And normally her schedule looks like this: Get up in the morning, then 8 rounds of
sparring, and this time just a little extra with Stefab Raab.
Why did the "TV-Total" presenter let him self in for this fight? She has her own theory: Not only to boost the ratings, but only the
adrenalin rush had driven the media personality into the ring" Regina Halmich: "I
think he needs that. This kick, from hitting his limits."
BEFORE THE FIGHT
Regina Halmich vs Stefan Raab - The facts about the big rematch! Now
"The fooling around is over"! / "TV Total" Boxing Extra - The boxing event of the year
Munich (ots) - Now "The fooling around is over" The rematch between female boxing world champ
Regina Halmich and TV presenter Stefan Raab will take place on 22nd March 2001 in the special: "TV Total Boxing
special - The boxing event of the year."
The fight will be fought under normal rules without headgear and over 5 rounds of 2 minutes. Challenger
Raabe confirms: "It is no joke! If Regina loses, nobody can take female boxing serious any longer" Regina Halmich, the most successfull female
fighter in the world with 25 world championship fight wins, replies:
"Stefan will be lucky if he goes the full 5 rounds" She professes, "He
shouldn't plan to do anything for just after our fight".
"TV Total - Boxing Special" will be presented by Oliver Welke, known from SAT 1 RAN (sport show on competing TV channel - translators note).
Co commentator is Axel Schulz (retired German heavyweight - TN). The beautiful VIVA moderator Jessica Schwarz has been signed on as ring
reporter, and will interview the celebirites present. The fight will be commented by Tobias Drews from DSF (German Sport Channel - TN), a true
expert on women's boxing. Last but not least, the ring card girl for the big rematch is the versatile and attractive actress Gina Wild.
The supporting show will feature the Swiss music duo "Dankner". He has written the
official song for the fight: "Ce qu'on sait - do you wanna get down with me".
The official weigh in of the fighters takes place Tuesday 20th March, 2001, at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne. Here the information as to fight
rules, medical examination and the spectacular supporting programme to the "Boxing event of the Year", will be presented. The
press conference will be conducted by Sport moderator Uli Potofski."
(Excerpt from Yahoo-Schlagzeilen)
Article is in German, to visit the link, Go
Here
Weight Class: Junior
Flyweight
Height: 1,60 M / 5’3½"
Date of Birth: 11.22.1976
Birthplace: Karlsruhe
Place of Residence: Karlsruhe
Nationality: German
Boxing since: 1991
Pro Debut: 03.04.1994
Walk on Music: "Da ya think I’m sexy?",
Rod Steward
Trainer: Thorsten Schmitz
Profession: Lawyers secretary
Achievements as amateur: Kick boxing - German champion 1992
1993 1994, European Champion 1994
Exclusive Interview
conducted in Germany and translated by the European Reporter....
Interviewer: Where does
the big love for boxing come from. Would you want to have come into
this world as a man?
Regina: No, I am perfectly
happy being a woman. I don’t consider boxing to be a pure male
profession. So why should I want to be a man? Out of fear of
scars? Because my face could be disfigured? No. I, don’t look in
the mirror very often. And I am not at all vain when I am in the
Ring, and I can’t afford to be that either.
Interviewer:
Really, not vain at all?
Regina: Yes, but only
when I go out with my girlfriends to the discotheque or for dinner,
then I like to dress up chic. Then I enjoy being a woman but I separate
work and private life completely. But in my work I don’t
distinguish between what is masculine and what is feminine.
Interviewer: That
sounds pretty tough. Evidently you must have a hard core!
Regina: I have got
that. But it is only evident when I fight. Otherwise I am a easy going.
Interviewer: Does the
opponent have to be viewed as an enemy?
Regina: And I
have to destroy my opponent completely? No it doesn’t work that way.
That way you would be brawling in the ring, getting over eager, and in any
case you loose control. Aggression in the ring is important. I am
aggressive, my fighting style is aggressive, but I can always control
myself .
Interviewer: Does
that mean, that the total control in the ring is never lost?
Regina: Not so
far. That the only way it works for you. All I do in the ring must
be thought through. I have to control myself, and I must
concentrate. What do I need to do after throwing a punch, what will
the opponent do?. I have to watch her, and react to what she does.
Interviewer: What
are your qualities as a female pro boxer?
Regina: I consider
the fight as a dialog, like all good pro boxers do. I look at each
punch thrown at me like a question, and have to give my opponent the right
answer. Obviously with the necessary aggression, but it is important to
have the ability to control that. Otherwise the fight goes
completely wrong.
Interviewer: Have
you ever made that mistake yourself?
Regina: When I first began,
I have gone into the ring too eager a couple of times. I ran out of
steam. That was while I was still kick boxing. I was too aggressive,
and didn’t think enough about what I was doing in the ring, I only
threw punches left, right and center. I had to get rid of that habit. As a
pro fighter you can’t afford an uncontrolled, purely aggressive
fighting style.
Interviewer: Where
does the aggression for your fights come from?
Regina: I don’t
know. Nobody has ever made me fighting mad. I never had fights at school.
There were never any problems, they always left me in peace.
Interviewer: In
other words a person of authority?
Regina: I
always was self confident, My surroundings always accepted that.
However, sometimes you don’t know yourself what you are made of. I
had a significant experience in Karlsruhe. The third World Title Fight
against Anissa Zamarron. She was strong, she was extremely strong. She
literally chased me round the ring in an extreme high pace. I had to
defend myself with all the skills I had learned. From the 5th round, I
wished it were the 10th round.
Interviewer: What
goes through your mind in a situation like that?
Regina: Only one
thing. You have to stay in there. And suddenly you > are surprised,
what reserves you possess. What kind of will power you have, what kind of
energy, to turn around a fight like that and to win it in the end.
This I had never thought I could do.
Interviewer: And
afterwards?
Regina: It was
a close points decision - but afterwards I was a completely > different
person, because I never believed I could make such an effort, didn’t
know I possessed these qualities. I stayed surprised over myself
long after this fight. Today I know, that what made the difference, was
the perfect training I had received. Without the perfect conditioning, I
would have gone under. And that is the way it is before every fight.
The better I am prepared, the better my confidence.
Interviewer: It is well
known, that the success of Henry Maske is also the success of his
trainer Manfred Wolke!
Regina: That is true.
I have complete confidence in my trainer Torsten Schmitz. If the
"chemistry" doesn’t work, you go nowhere. You have to accept
everything the trainer does, with his method of training. Otherwise
no success. As a fighter you are left on your own for a long
stretch, but the deciding phase, the six to eight weeks before a fight,
you are trained intensively and rigorously every day.
Interviewer: What
is the daily program?
Regina: Every day
sparring, Every day road work. Cheating doesn’t work. You run on
time, increasing the pace. Thorsten gets on his push bike and shows the
pace. I run behind him and get annoyed. I get stinking mad as he pulls
away in front of me. And I have to stay close behind him. That makes me
real agitated, aggressive. Faster, and even faster.
Interviewer:
What is eroticism in boxing?
Regina: When
somebody is good looking, when he is dominant and is in control in the
ring. When body, movement and power melts into an esthetic unity, then I
find boxing erotic and very masculine. That is fascinating all right.
Beautiful body and power punches. A man like Oscar de la Hoya is very
erotic in my eyes.
SIDE FIGHT REPORT by Jesus Rivas Carballo
September 18, 1999
Regina Halmich, from
Germany retained her WIBF Junior Flyweight Title after defeating challenger, USA fighter, Jill Matthews
in a 10-round unanimous decision with the ending score of 98-95; 97-93; 99-92.
The first round began with Matthews comes out
fiercely and takes the fight to Halmich. Matthews threw many
punches, but many missed the German champion. Matthews was able to
get into Halmich's defenses, and land some blows.
By the middle of the first round, Halmich was evenly
exchanging blows, with a slight advantage in Halmich's
favor.
In rounds 2, 3, 4, and 5, the rounds were basically
went like the first round. By the sixth round, Matthews dominated who put
the pressure on, forcing Halmich to be on the defense until the end of
that round, without being able to do anything else until the bell
rang..
From seventh round, the fight was all Halmich's.
Matthews appeared to get tired and lost her energy in the fight. In round
8 and 9, Halmich dominated the rounds. Matthews was no longer the
aggressor as in the earlier rounds. Halmich is in control at that
point in the fight.
In the last round, as usual, it was an exchange of
blows with both trying to score some last points before the fight ended.
This reporter felt that Matthews had a lot of heart
in the fight, but Halmich was able to handle her with ease during the
bout. The fight was a very fast paced bout, with the fight staying
mostly in the center, with the champion, Halmich prevailing to
win.
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