(JUNE 14) This week WBAN
interviewed Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton, of Daly City,
California, to speak with her about her boxing career, where she
wants to go in the sport, who she wants to fight and much more!
TL
Fox: Can you
tell us how you got into boxing, and did you begin in another
contact Sport, before you decided to box?
Julaton: I have a background in martial arts and spent
most of my childhood participating in karate tournaments. In my
early 20s, I enrolled in a traditional martial arts school and
became a full-time instructor. The school eventually
incorporated boxing to its curriculum and after taking a few
lessons, I competed in the San Francisco Golden Gloves where I
won a silver medal. The rest is history.
TL
Fox: In
the information that we have so far on your amateur background,
we do not know how many amateur fights that you had before
turning pro. How long did you fight as an amateur and how many
fights did you have?
Julaton: I spent
about 3 1/2 years in the amateurs and accumulated about 35 bouts
from competing in local, regional and national levels. I earned
as high as winning a silver medal in the 125lb. division at the
U.S. Nationals in 2007. I had sights in participating in the
2008 Olympics but in 2007, it was announced that women boxers
were not invited to compete in Beijing.
TL Fox:
What made you decide to turn
pro?
Julaton:
Not being able to compete in the
Olympics was frustrating. I sought out other professional
trainers and female fighters for advice before I committed
myself to turning professional. In 2007, I worked with trainer
Nonito Donaire, Sr. and his sons, invested and traveled to spar
with other professional women fighters who had world titles at
the time, and eventually connected with Freddie Roach in Los
Angeles. Roach was gracious enough to share some of his
knowledge with me and after a couple of months, he thought I was
ready to fight professionally.
TL
Fox: In
one of your most recent fights, you went to Argentina, to fight
the hometown boxer, Yesica Marcos, can you give us some details
about your experience going to Argentina and fighting Marcos?
Julaton:
Prior to my fight against Marcos, my
team was facing some "issues" with the WBO. I was forced to
either relinquish my title or fight Marcos in her hometown. My
team and I worked hard to earn the WBO and it would've been a
shame to let it go without a fight.
A few details: 1. The exposure for women boxers outside of the
U.S. was refreshing. And fighting in front of 30,000+ live
viewers was awesome and having 50-million+viewership on TV
globally. Hopefully, more women boxers, who already have full
support from their country, would venture out to fight outside
of their country. This will be great for the sport and will
build more super fights amongst other female boxing stars, which
will also help women fighters monetarily.
TL Fox:
Has there been any discussion
as a possible rematch with Marcos? and if so, would you again
need to go in her backyard of Argentina?
Julaton:
From what I've heard from my
promoter, Marcos will not want to offer a rematch, even if it
were to be in her own backyard again. I have no problem's with
fighting in Argentina again and I will fight anywhere in the
world. I just hope there is fair judging where ever and whom
ever I fight. We already saw what happened to Manny Pacquiao.
TL Fox: WBAN
has heard a lot of buzz that there may be an opportunity for you
to fight Jackie Nava? Is this potential fight on the horizon?
Has there been any contact with your team and Nava's team at
this point?
Julaton:
A super fight between me and Jackie
Nava would be great for boxing. There's a lot going on "behind
the scenes" in making this fight happen. Hopefully, this fight
will be materialized before the year is over.
TL Fox: In
2010, you lost a decision to Lisa Brown, is there any further
plans to rematch her to fix the original loss?
Julaton:
At this point, Jackie Nava is
scheduled to defend her WBA title against Lisa Brown at the end
of the summer in Mexico. This is great for women's boxing as
more and more "Super Fights" are happening. With such exposure
being ensued on both fighters, it would be great for me to set a
fight with either Lisa Brown or Jackie Nava. Again, there's
business being done "behind the scenes" for setting up fights
and having a rematch against Lisa Brown is something I look
forward to having in a big stage.
TL Fox:
If you were to have a "Wish
List" for women's boxing....What would be on your top list for
things you would like to see happen in the sport?
Julaton:
Mainstream exposure. It's common to
see the likes of Hope Solo or Serena Williams (to name a few) in
a commercial being endorsed by a big company. Boxing has
appeared in such commercials and it would be great to see a REAL
female boxer showcased in one. It's not uncommon to see a woman,
like Hannah Storm, speaking on the same platform with Stephen A.
Smith or Skip Bayless on ESPN equally discussing sports.
Knowledgeable women speak on ESPN and it would help women boxers
to have a woman representative sitting side-by-side with Jim
Lampley, Max Kellerman, etc. as a commentator during national
boxing coverage. Lisa Leslie, a three-time WNBA MVP and an
olympic gold medal winner, has commentated and examined sports
in a round-table discussion with elite male speakers of sports.
Currently, there are women fighters of this caliber in boxing
and if boxing telecasts reciprocated this, it would not only
change the image of boxing to being a more equal sport, but it
could broaden the boxing audience, increasing its popularity,
generating more ticket sales, and TV ratings. From my
experiences of fighting outside of the country, the U.S. is "out
of the loop" from this idea.
TL Fox:
For the first time in
history, we are finally seeing the female boxers in the
Olympics. Do you think that with this addition to the sport that
this may be the key to getting the sport more exposure and in
the mainstream?
Julaton:
Hopefully. Mainstream media can make
a sport to be popular or non-existent. Having women amateur
boxers included in the Olympics should increase the opportunity
for national exposure, but in this business, it would take more
than just getting an opportunity. The U.S. women amateur boxing
team is competing against other iconic women athletes from other
sports. Exposure for women athletes is highly competitive and to
get that type of exposure, having excellent performances is not
enough. Effective promotions is a must. The Olympics and
professional sports, after all, is a business.
TL Fox:
On the subject of the
Olympics, what is your opinion on only three weight classes for
women will be entered into the competition, versus, there are 10
weight divisions for the male boxers?
Julaton:
I don't know the details of
including women boxers in the Olympics. Personally, I think a
lot of work has been done to make this happen and it's probably
undergoing a process to eventually include more divisions for
women boxers. Hopefully, there will be a more equal opportunity
for both female and male amateur boxers in future Olympics.
TL Fox:
At this time are you
exclusively training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, or do
you go other places also to do your training?
Julaton:
I train at Wild Card Gym from time
to time but I personally enjoy traveling to different places for
training. As a student of the game, I constantly look for ways
to learn more about the sport from different environments and
people.
TL Fox:
For a young boxer as yourself,
who probably has many, many years left in the ring...but with
that said, where do you see yourself in the sport in five years?
Julaton:
Hard to say. In this business, it's
humbling. I take it one day at a time.
TL Fox:
When you do stop boxing in the
future, where do you see yourself in the boxing arena, as are
you interested in promoting, managing other fighters, or
training other fighters?
Julaton:
There's a lot I'd like to adventure
to after boxing and I haven't decided yet. I can see myself
doing a number of things, from teaching/coaching to promoting to
commentating.
TL Fox:
There have been many female
boxers who have not only been a pro boxer, but they then venture
into MMA, do you have any plans to do the cross over of fighting
MMA and boxing?
Julaton:
No. I have a lot of respect for MMA
fighting but there's an appreciation I have for boxing that I
don't quite share for MMA.
TL Fox:
With the experience that you
have now in the sport, what advice would you give to new boxers
that are entering into the sport?
Julaton: If
anyone, male or female, considers boxing at a professional
level, know what you want out of yourself and the sport and
devise a plan. Be educated in the business aspects of the sport,
not every boxer has the ability to be a "full-time" fighter. You
would need to learn how to invest in yourself.
TL
Fox: In
closing, is there anything that you would like to say to boxing
fans and the boxing community?
Julaton:
Thank you for all the support over
the years, boxing fans and non-boxing fans, I appreciate all the
encouragement. Special thanks to my family and friends for all
their love and care; my promoter, Allan Tremblay, (who has been
like a father to me throughout my career) for giving me the
opportunities and experiences I've received in this sport; my
team, for putting up with me during the ups and downs; West Wind
Schools for their genuine continued support; and to my teacher,
Sifu Keith Sheppard, for his generous guidance. Big thanks to
WBAN for their integrity and support for women boxers and a big
shout out to all of our Olympic women boxing representatives,
for there will always be new Olympic champions but you all will
forever be known as the first. Make us proud and live the dream
that many women boxers never had the opportunity to.
WBAN would like to thank
Ana for taking time out of her busy schedule to be interviewed!
WBAN
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