(OCT 31) WBAN received an "open
letter" from female boxer Sharon Gaines, who just fought
Carina Moreno on Friday, in Salinas, California.
But I would like to say something
about this before posting the letter. I wanted to
personally thank Gaines for giving some kind of acknowledgement
to WBAN, about taking this fight after seeing it posted on the
site.
I feel that it is important for the female boxers to know that
WBAN will post "Do you want to fight" stories---and that many,
MANY boxers, have benefited from sending us these stories to
publish, and that it has helped facilitate getting them an
opponent.
Sharon Gaines wrote the
following to WBAN:
Hi Sue! Well....I FINALLY got a fight again. Had to take it
after calling in when I saw it posted on WBAN that Carina was
looking for an opponent. I want to thank you for keeping the site so
current.
I have let it be known many times I'd rematch Carina and her
trainer, Rick Noble, among others, have all my contact
information. As a matter of fact, they just reached me a couple
months ago via email to see if I was still active as a fighter.
And of course I said yes!
I never got a call to re-match her. Then I see on WBAN she is
looking for an opponent. I knew I needed to do anything to
revitalize my career and put my name back out there, so I called
and took the fight. Things were finalized not until around 3
p.m., Wednesday. (Gaines and Moreno fought on Friday)
Let me give you a quick synopsis of events:
Once we agreed to
fight I had to start booking medical appointments. Made eye exam
for 7:45 a.m., Thursday morning, followed by blood work, followed by
10:30 appointment for physical and neuro. I had personal training
clients to meet after that. Done with clients at 6:30
p.m.,
Wednesday and had to hit gym to start sweating off weight. In
between all this I'm calling all my other clients for the next
two days to cancel.
Thursday morning: I make all my medical appointments and am done
at noon, but still have 2-3 lbs to lose and must be at airport by
2:00 p.m. Hit sauna and gym, finish making weight (they are picking
us up from airport and straight to the weigh-in so weight must be on
point before leaving). Make it to airport with coach Steve Boe (Boe's
Boxing of Las Vegas) just in time for flight. My usual coach and
corner, Chris Ben, cannot go on short notice so I would be
working with a new corner.
We are picked up from airport at 4:30 p.m., in San Jose in
a small two-seater pick up truck. I ride the 45-50 minutes to
the weigh-in venue in a child seat squished behind the front
seat (my coach Steve would have taken that seat for me if he
could have fit!). It was a long---crampy ride. We got to the weigh-in
venue, made weight, no problem, and then it was just, try and relax,
and strategize as much as we could until fight time.
The fight night itself was hectic as we were a swing bout. We
gloved up and warmed up around 8:00 p.m., but did not fight until
around 10:00 p.m. due to being the swing bout. We ended up being
the
last fight of night.
I do wish I'd had more time to prepare and strategize, but I am
proud that I took fight and have stayed in ring shape month
after month after month of NO fight offers. I have NO excuses.
I've been working on improving my technique and simply needed to
execute better. This was a totally winnable fight for me despite
the circumstances. I hope that I at least have the respect of
the boxing community. And hopefully this will put me "back on
the map." [Video
highlights of the fight]
Comments by Fox:
[Sharon---you are highly respected without a doubt by boxing
fans, and WBAN. A boxer who stays in shape, even though
faced with inactivity is the ultimate of respect from the boxing
community. You took on one of the best female boxers
(Moreno) in the ring, and hats off to both you for making this
an exciting fight for the card, and giving women's boxing a shot
in the arm which is greatly needed.]
