PACIFICA - CA -- I don’t like to live in the past but with
boxing you always must revisit to gain perspective on not
only the past but on the present and the future. Beautiful
Brawlers was created in 2007.
It was a rough draft back then. A huge challenge I took to
not give up on female boxing. I started fighting in a time
where women were not even considered peers or teammates in
the local bay area gyms.
After training and putting in the
work we struggled to get a matched bout. Promoters weren’t
worried about matching any of us at first until we made a
statement and made a difference. Hell, we couldn’t even box,
that’s why many of us veterans kick boxed first or
mostly. The Muay Thai and kickboxing community was fond of
us and believed that if we could last in the ring with guys,
we were halfway worth it. So, they would put us on shows
even if the weights, ages and experience were not a
match----after all a real warrior would fight if she could get
a chance for the most part.
Never
Underestimate a Pretty Girl...
As
our team of both male and women kickboxers traveled to other
dojos to spar, we would point out the other females and sizing
them up. There was one thing that we all realized
is---pretty girls
can fight too! Yup, our brand was about to be created. Never
underestimate a pretty girl especially if they wore pink
gloves. Beautiful Brawlers was coming.
Going to fights we knew we would have to fight each
other. Carina Moreno and I fought on Strike Force, and we were put on
ESPN. That was huge back then. Moreno was only 16 and I was
almost double her age. The rules were loose. This was
kickboxing and Scott Coker was an incredible local promoter. As
we tried to get as many fights as possible in the kickboxing
world a new world was opening, which was boxing. The Bay Area
gyms would literally hide their women boxers and not let them
train or get sparring outside their club. It was
ridiculous. It was a chauvinistic trend and honestly the
coaches didn’t want to train us. We were often told, “Woman
should not fight.”
As I went to many different boxing shows, I started scouting
women/girl boxers. I was introducing myself to coaches, some
receptive, some not. I would let them know that I would throw
all female sparring events if their female boxers needed work
and frankly there came a time where coaches really started to
bring them.
We started with about 10 boxers and ended up having
25-50 showing up in a small gym in Pacifica called Babyface
Boxing. There was a rule that amateurs could not spar with the
pros and we broke the rules and we broke barriers. And we made
some impactful changes in female boxing.
World Champion Gina Guidi led the pack and really got us
training and learning about running, plyometrics and being tough
in the ring. She is the only boxer to drop me with a liver shot
but that’s another story. Salazar was a rising star, and Gina
Guidi got her pro debut on the local promoter’s card. We were
building a foundation. We were building community and our faith
in each other never wavered.
Stay tune for Part 2!
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