HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

5'7" bantamweight Alesia "The Tigress" Graf was born Alesia-Tamara Klimovich in Gomel, Belarus on October 14, 1980.  She moved to Germany in 1999. She has said that she did not move to Germany in order to box, but intended to study. However, she found that her knowledge of the German language was insufficient and she changed her plans when she found herself becoming successful in a boxing career.  She moved to Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, in 2011 and trains there with coach and promoter Lee Murray (who coached several Australian men's champions at the University boxing gym).

An athlete who also enjoys swimming, basketball and beach volleyball.  Alesia Graf began boxing as an amateur in 2001. After fifteen fights she won the 54-kg division of the first international women's tournament organized by the German Boxing Federation in Meppen, Germany in November, 2003.  In this event, which attracted considerable interest from journalists, radio and TV stations as ell as spectators, 35 women competed in eight weight divisions.  Alesia first defeated Magdalene Dalecki (Bayer Leverkusen) 40-14, then dispatched Carmen Carrido Chadez (BSC Augsburg) by 56-14. In the tournament final she won by a convincing 36-9 score over Halim Ay (BV Ibbenbüren) and was awarded the title of "best boxer" in the tournament.

Alesia joined the professional ranks with Universum Box Promotion and manager Klaus-Peter Kohl in February 2004. Under the direction of trainer Torsten Schmitz, who has guided the career of long-time German WIBF champion Regina Halmich, Alesia competes in the bantamweight division where Universum had previously promoted Bulgarian fighter Daisy Lang.  Alesia is benefiting from Universum's ongoing contract for live boxing shows on German television and is also sponsored by Stuttgart jeweler Ralf Haeffner.

She made her professional debut on February 14, 2004 at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart at 119 lbs, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Petra Jachmanova (119 lbs) of Slovenia who fell to 0-3-1 with the loss.

On March 2, 2004 at the  Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, Alesia progressed to 2-0 (1 KO) with a second-round TKO of debut fighter Marina Zhekova of Bulgaria in a scheduled four-rounder.

On May 29, 2004 at Ostseehalle in Kiel, Germany she won a decision over Simone Suciu of Romania who fell to 0-7-0 with the loss. 

On July 2, 2004 at Stadthalle in Hattersheim, Germany, she won a four-round decision over debut fighter Julia Kulikowa of the Ukraine.

On July 17, 2004 at Stadthalle in Zwickau, Germany, she won a six-round decision in a rematch with Petra Jachmanova, who was now 1-7-1.

On September 21, 2004 at Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany she weighed in at 118½ lbs and TKO'd Pavla Stankeova (120 lbs) of Chechnya at 0:29 in the second round of a scheduled six-rounder. Stankeova fell to 0-4-0.

On November 6, 2004 at Erdgas Arena in Riesa, Germany, Alesia (116¼ lbs) TKO'd Agnes Adonga (117 lbs) of Uganda in a ten-rounder for the WIBF intercontinental bantamweight title.   Graf won the bout after Adonga's corner threw in the towel after the third round. Adonga had already pleaded with her trainer to stop the fight after the second round, but he persuaded her to fight on for another stanza. However she was outclassed and he agreed to stop her suffering after the third. Adonga fell to 1-2-0 with this loss. 

On January 15, 2005 at Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany Alesia (117¾ lbs) TKO'd Dayana Santana (118½ lbs) of the Dominican Republic when Santana would not continue into the fifth round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Santana fell to 2-3-0. 

On February 15, 2005 at Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (118 lbs( won a six-round unanimous decision over Oksana Romanova (114¾ lbs) of the Ukraine who fell to 2-3-1 with the loss.

On March 16, 2005 at Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany Alesia (119 lbs) won a hard-fought six round majority (60-55,57-57,59-57) decision over Oksana Vasilyeva (120¼ lbs) of Russia. The hard-charging Vasilyeva provided a very clear step up in the level of competition for Graf, and came prepared to do battle despite the abundant technical skills of the German. Graf controlled the early action with her jab and her varied repertoire of following punches while the undaunted Russian came on strong and turned up the pressure on her in the later rounds. Graf's cleaner scoring punches in the early going were apparently sufficient to persuade one judge to award her five of six rounds, while the others saw a much closer fight that could easily have resulted in a draw.  Vasilyeva fell to 5-2-0, her other loss being to Anastasia Toktaulova.

On May 28, 2005 at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (115¾  lbs) lost a ten round split (96-94,96-95,94-96) decision to Alicia Ashley (115¾  lbs) of Westbury, New York, USA for the GBU Bantamweight title.   Alicia Ashley improved her record to 12-5-1 (1 KO) while Graf suffered her first pro loss and fell to 10-1-0 (4 KO).

On September 10, 2005 at DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, Alesia (118 lbs) knocked out Liliana Martinez (119 lbs) of the Dominican Republic at 1:42 in the third round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Martinez fell to 3-6-0 (3 KO's).

On November 15, 2005 at Hohenstaufenhalle in Göppingen, Germany, Alesia (118 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (99-91,99-91, 100-91) decision over Sharon Gaines (118 lbs) of Kansas City, Missouri for the WIBF Intercontinental Bantamweight title. Gaines fell to 9-5-0 (3 KO's).

On February 28, 2006 at Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (114 lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (99-91,98-92,99-91) decision over Marylin Hernandez (114¼ lbs) of the Dominican Republic for the vacant GBU Junior Bantamweight title. Hernandez fell to 13-6 (7 KO's) with the loss.

On April 29, 2006 in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (112½ lbs) made her first defense of her GBU Junior Bantamweight belt, winning by a TKO at 1:42 in the sixth round over Beatrix Farago (5'0", 113½ lbs) of Sopron, Hungary.  Farago showed a lot of fighting spirit and courage, but simply did not have the boxing skills to pose any kind of threat to Graf. Farago had a clear disadvantage in reach, and hardly managed to get inside to deliver any telling punches. Graf was in command all through the fight, until the referee stopped it. Farago fell to 4-2-1 (2 KOs) with the loss.

On September 9, 2006 at Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Maria Jose Nunez Anchorena (114¾ lbs) of Uruguay did not have the boxing skills to pose any threat for a very motivated Graf (114¼ lbs).  Anchorena was wide open, and Graf took full advantage and punished her from the beginning of round one.  Graf continued to catch Anchorena with left jabs and follow up with powerful rights in round two. The referee stopped the fight 42 seconds into round three, after Anchorena was caught with some very powerful blows on the ropes, and failed to return any punches.  Anchorena fell to 5-1-0 (4 KO's).

On November 18, 2006 at the Burgwächter Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany, Alesia (114¾ lbs) defeated Heather Percival (114¾ lbs) of Fontana, California, by a ten-round unanimous decision.  Graf was defending her GBU Junior Bantamweight title. Percival fell to 9-4 (1 KO).

On June 30, 2007 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (113¾ lbs) TKO'd late substitute Natasha Guthier (114½ lbs) of Karlsruhe, Germany at 1:03 into the third round of a scheduled ten-rounder defending her GBU Junior Bantamweight title. Guthier fell to 5-2-2 (2 KO's).

On September 15, 2007 at the Stadthalle in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, Alesia won a 10-round unanimous (97-92,96-93,97-92)  decision over undefeated NABF bantamweight champion Zulina Munoz of México City, México defending the GBU Junior Bantamweight title. After Munoz demanded a rematch, Graf stated, "The Mexican can have a rematch if she likes to get hit so much. However, then she'll get KO'd."  Munoz fell to 16-1-0 (15 KOs) in her first appearance outside México.

On November 30, 2007 at the DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Alesis Graf (113½ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (97-93,97-94, 98-92) decision over Esmeralda Moreno (113 lbs) of Mexico City defending the GBU Junior Bantamweight title.  Moreno, who was fighting outside Mexico for the first time, fell to 8-3 (3 KO's).

On March 8, 2008 at the Königspalast in Krefeld, Germany, Alesia (114¾ lbs)  won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,98-93,97-93) decision over Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer (114¾ lbs) of Tel-Aviv, Israel for the GBU and WIBF Junior Bantamweight titles.  Shmoulefeld Finer, who had taken the fight at short notice, fell to 16-6-3 (4 KO's).

On May 3, 2008 at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (116 lbs) won by TKO at 1:32 in the fifth round over Rosilete Santos (114¾ lbs) of Curitiba, Brazil.  About five minutes of the fight was televised on ZDF.  When the referee stopped the fight in round 5, after a series of hard punches from Graf, Santos was very displeased with the ref's decision. Graf stated after the fight that she didn't understand why the fight was broken off at that stage.  Santos fell to 10-3-0 (7 KO's).

On November 22, 2008 at Stadthalle in Rostock, Germany, Alesia (114½ lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (99-91,97-94,97-93) decision over previously unbeaten Magdalena Dahlen (114¾ lbs) of Poland. Graf won the WIBF/GBU Junior Bantamweight title.  Dahlen fell to 9-1 (3 KO's).

On March 7, 2009 at the Frieberger Arena in Dresden, Germany, Alesia Graf (114¼ lbs) again defeated Magdalena Dahlen (114¼ lbs) by a 10-round unanimous (98-92,98-92,96-94) for the WIBF and GBU junior bantamweight titles.  Dahlen fell to 9-2 (3 KO's).

On July 4, 2009 at the Color Line Arena, in Hamburg, Germany Alesia Graf (114¾ lbs) won a ten-round split (96-93,94-95, 95-94) decision over Terri Lynn Cruz (114¾ lbs) of Denver, Colorado, USA  for the WIBF Junior Bantamweight title. Graf was severely tested when she was knocked down at the end of the sixth round by a perfect right cross. She beat the count, which ended two seconds before the bell, and then came on strong late in the fight to earn a somewhat controversial decision.  Former IFBA bantamweight titlist Cruz dropped to 17-6-2 (4 KO's).

On September 11, 2010 at Plaza de Toros in México City, Ana Maria Torres (114½ lbs) of México City, México won a ten-round unanimous (100-88 x 3) decision over Alesia Graf  (114½ lbs) for the WBC Junior Bantamweight title.  Graf, who was down twice in the third round, fell to 24-2-0 (9 KO's) with the loss while Torres improved to 22-3-2 (13 KO's).

On December 21, 2011 at the Fraternity Bowling and Recreation Club in Fairy Meadow, New South Wales, Australia, Alesia Graf  (119¾ lbs) TKO'd Naruemol Ubuabon (116 lbs, aka "Jubjang Lookmakarmwan") of Thailand at 0:53 in the fifth round of a scheduled ten-rounder for the vacant WBU Junior Featherweight title.  Graf had a significant advantage in height, reach and experience against the Thai boxer, a Muay Thai specialist who fought with heart but had few answers for Graf's quick, accurate jabs and combinations. The fight was stopped by the referee after Ubuabon/Lookmakarmwan was hurt by a series of body punches.  Graf, who is now based at the University of Wollongong, Australia, improved to 25-2-0 (10 KO's) while Ubuabon fell to 3-4 (0 KO's).

Page last updated:
Monday, 25 March 2024

WBAN Boxer Bio by Dee Williams