(SEPT 17) From young talented
amateurs to seasoned former and current female professional
fighters, girls and women lace up their gloves on Saturdays at
BabyFace Boxing to participate in the most exciting all-female
sparring in the bay area.
Former Professional Heavy Weight World Champion Martha Salazar,
former IFBA Middleweight, WIBF North American Super welterweight
World Champion Gina Guidi, former WIBF and WBO Junior
Welterweight World Champion Eliza Olson, former pro boxer and
former amateur California State Atom weight, Flyweight Kick
Boxing Champion Blanca Gutierrez and former amateur boxer and
coach Nancy Crolius all share the love of the sweet science and
coach the young female talent coming up in the ranks.
Megan Siordia, 11 years old
(left), spars with Serena Greene, 13 years old, at BabyFace
Boxing. (Photo by Lupi Beagle)
At Babyface, we have
a friendly gym environment for all-female boxers and kick boxers
alike, eight years old and up, no matter your home gym. Although
BabyFace Boxing teaches boxing and MMA for males and females, we
have a lot of female fighters coming to BabyFace. I relate to
female boxers and kick boxers. We have heart, we are game
fighters, we go against the grain. Boxing builds confidence,
stamina, physical fitness and helps with self defense in a bad
situation.
It's difficult to get a fight when you are a female pugilist
girl or woman, let alone taken seriously by male coaches. Most
times the women have to travel out of state or to tournaments to
get fights. At BabyFace we get as many female fighters together
to spar.
and get some
consistent training in so that when there is a fight, we are
ready to go. Most of us are female coaches but we do have some
male coaches who are excellent role models that really take the
girls seriously. You can count those male coaches on one hand
and I feel we have them in the gym during our sparring sessions.
Paris Alexander, former California Bantam weight champion, is a
huge supporter and coach. We all feel comfortable when Paris is
around. He is skilled, knowledgeable and has a positive attitude
and is one of our absolute favorite male coaches. Dee Pooler,
Martha Salazar and I coach out of Velarde's gym in Fresno. Coach
Pooler brought five fighters Saturday. The Fresno girls brought
their best game and we had some really great matches. Our own
Keynoe Fenner at BabyFace is a trainer for our competition team
and is a very valuable asset to our girls. He and Coach Charlie
Hilder, both Black Belts, bring their martial arts discipline
and drills to add to our growing BabyFace Fighting Squad.
We have the biggest female following in all of northern
California, as sparring goes and we see some great matches in
the gym. Sometimes feeling a bit left out in a male dominated
sport you have to go above and beyond to get the fights,
recognition, and the funding you need as an athlete. In 2012 the
Olympics are accepting females in competition. We have some
young talent here. We have some very mature talent here and what
we are doing is keeping a positive spirit alive as well as
grooming young female athletes to hopefully have one of them be
the first female Boxing Olympian.
Upcoming events at BabyFace Boxing:
Eliza Olsen is throwing a Boxing Boot camp that can guarantee
results. You work out five days a week four weeks straight and
you will lose weight and inches. You will also learn boxing
fundamentals and gain that confidence needed when faced with a
turbulent situation. That camp starts Sept. 27. Work out from
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. No excuses. You can do it. Get in the
best shape of your life.
On Sept.12 at 12 noon we are having an all female sparring event
at BabyFace. Females from all over northern California give it
their best.
We are currently building our boys and girls boxing team and
always looking for new athletes. We offer one free introductory
class 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Many of our
athletes use boxing as cross-training for other sports like
football and soccer, and have found boxing a successful tool for
building stamina, strength and coordination.
Editor's Note: Blanca Gutierrez is owner of BabyFace Boxing,
located on Crespi Drive.
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