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5'2" featherweight/junior lightweight Donna Lee "Nature Girl" Biggers
was born in Shelby, North Carolina on November 21, 1973 and is trained at
Headhunter's Gym in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
She says that she got into boxing by accident. "I just kind of fell into it,"
she told Shelby Star reporter Randy Capp. "I've always been into staying
in shape and working out, and I ran into Billy Mitchem one day. I went to his gym, tried boxing out
and really liked it."
Donna made her pro debut on July 19, 2003 at the National Guard Armory in Crossville, Tennessee, USA.
She weighed in at 132 lbs and won a four-round unanimous decision over Helen
Shari Penson (135 lbs) of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who was
also making her pro debut. Biggers had been training for her first fight
since November, 2002.
On September 6, 2004 at the Showplace in Richmond, Virginia, Donna faced
Penson again, this time TKO'ing her at 1:17 into the first round.
On February 12, 2004 at Club Gemini in Raleigh, North Carolina,
Donna won a
second-round TKO over debut fighter Brandy Lynn Smith when Smith received
an injury to her jaw.
On March 27, 2004 at Jarrell's Gym in Savannah, Georgia, USA,
Donna (128 lbs) moved to 4-0 with a third-round knockout of
Brandy Lynn Smith (5'7", 128 lbs) of Union, South Carolina. Biggers was now
4-0 (3 KO) with her second straight win over Smith who is now
0-2.
On April 3, 2004 at Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina,
Donna (122 lbs) TKO'd pro debuter Kristen Masterson (121 lbs) at
1:56 seconds of the second round. According to
ringside reports, the fight started off slow, but Biggers landed some good right
hands in the second round that sent Masterson to the canvas.
On April 24, 2004 in Savannah, Georgia,
Donna won by a second-round TKO over southpaw Kim Jeffreys of Cincinatti, Ohio,
who fell to 0-5.
On May 29, 2004 at Morrell Park in Savannah, Georgia, a crowd of 2500
saw Donna (127 lbs) fight to a four-round draw with
Susan Nance (5' 6½",125 lbs) of Gore,
Oklahoma. Nance moved her record to 1-5-1 (0 KOs).
On July 17, 2004 at the Marriott Downtown in Greensboro, North Carolina,
Donna won by a KO at 1:15 in the first round over Nicole Perkins of Greensboro
for the WBE Women's Super Featherweight title. WBAN's insider reported that
Perkins, making her pro debut, was overmatched.
On August 28, 2004 at the National Guard Armory in Leesburg, Virginia,
Donna TKO'd Nicole Perkins at 1:20 in the first round.
On November 18, 2004, at the Palmetto Boxing Academy Gym in Columbia, South
Carolina, Donna (126 lbs) TKO'd Nicole Perkins
(128 lbs) at 0:50 in the first. Perkins fell to 0-3-0, all by losses to Biggers.
On December 3, 2004 at Earthlink Live in Atlanta, Georgia, Donna KO'd April
Wigington in the first round.
On December 10, 2004 at Golden Gloves Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, Donna
knocked out Domesha Allen in the second round.
On March 24, 2005 at Martins West in Woodlawn, Maryland, local favorite
Angel McNamara TKO'd Donna at 1:40 in the second round of a scheduled
four-rounder. McNamara gave Biggers her first pro loss in devastating fashion,
landing a brutal right hand midway through the second round that staggered
Biggers into the ropes. McNamara landed one more punch before referee Bill
Holmes stopped the contest. The win raised McNamara’s record to 3-1 (2 KO) and
dropped Biggers to 11-1-1 (10 KO's).
On April 30, 2005 In Savannah,
Georgia, Donna (127 lbs) knocked out Susan Nance (137 lbs) or Gore, Oklahoma at
1:59 in the first round. Nance fell to 1-6-1 (0 KOs).
On June 18, 2005 in Columbia, South Carolina, Donna Biggers TKO'd Samantha
Browning of Mantachie, Mississippi in the first round of a scheduled ten-rounder
for the WIBC Featherweight Title. Browning was no match for Biggers, who
kept her at bay initially with her jab but then came forward and cornered
Browning. Biggers unleashed several hard body shots and landed an uppercut that
finished the fight. Biggers dropped Browning to
3-1-0 (2 KOs).
On July 16, 2005 in Florence, South
Carolina, Donna (132 lbs) TKO'd pro debuter Jennifer Johnson (132 lbs) in the first round.
On August 20, 2005 at the Capital
Gym in Beijing, China, Mia St. John (133 lbs) advanced
to 42-5-2 (17 KOs) with a 10-round unanimous (99-91,95-94,99-91) decision over
Donna (133 lbs) for the IBA Continental Lightweight title. Donna
fell to 14-2-1 (13 KOs) with the loss.
On September 24, 2005 at Jarrell's Gym in Savannah, Georgia, USA Donna (129 lbs)
won by a third-round KO over Kerri Hill (129 lbs) of Arkansas, who fell to 0-2
with the loss.
On October 15, 2005 at White Rock
Boxing Gym in Columbia,
South Carolina, Donna won by a six-round unanimous decision over Tiffany
Ibanez of Gulfport, Mississippi. WBAN was told by an insider that this was the
best fight of the night on the card, and that the two battled it out for six
rounds. Ibanez fell to 2-5-1 (0 KOs) with the loss.
On November 5, 2005 at the Lawrence
Joel Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Donna (131 lbs) won a
four-round majority decision over Darnella Barnes (140 lbs) of Wilson, North
Carolina. WBAN was told that this was an "all-action" bout and that Barnes
showed a lot of heart and determination during the bout, but Donna's experience
won the night. Barnes is now 0-2.
On
January 21, 2006 at White Rock Boxing Gym in Columbia, South Carolina,
Donna (128 lbs) TKO’d Joy Irvin (128 lbs) of Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the third
round of a scheduled six-rounder. A ringside correspondent writes "Joy
started off fast and determined but toward the end of the first round Donna had
landed some hard shots that backed Irvin up and it seemed that Donna was
controlling the fight. The second round more hard shots to the head and body.
Joy was never able to resume control of the fight. Joy went to the stool with a
bloody nose and a swollen left eye. The third round was more punishment for
Irvin. She was stopped with an uppercut and left hook to the head."
Irvin fell to
7-2-0 (7 KO's).
On March 24, 2006 at the Shaw Conference Centre in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, WBAN #7 ranked junior lightweight Jelena Mrdjenovich of Edmonton won a defense of
her WBC Junior Lightweight title over Donna when Biggers retired after the
second round. Mrdjenovich found her range
early and pummeled Biggers with a barrage of left hooks and straight rights.
The assault led to the ferocious right at the end of the first that almost
knocked Biggers through the ropes. "As soon as I hit her hard a couple of
times, I knew she was in trouble,"
said
Mrdjenovich. "I hurt her and I jumped right on her." Biggers stayed on
her feet in the second despite taking more punishment, but ended the round
bleeding from the nose and had her left eye nearly closed, according to a
ringside report by Scott Zerr of the Edmonton Sun. Mrdjenovich
improved to 15-1 (10 KOs) while Biggers fell to
17-3-1 (15 KO's).
On January 5, 2007 at the Orleans Casino and Hotel,
in Las Vegas, Nevada, Layla McCarter of Las Vegas
TKO'd Donna at 2:28 in the second round of a scheduled twelve-3min-round bout
for the GBU and WBA Lightweight titles.
Layla
McCarter moved her record to 22-12-5 (4 KOs).
On June 23, 2007 in the National Guard Armory in
Gastonia, North Carolina, Donna (121¾ lbs)
won by a second round TKO over pro debuter Sharon Harris (117½
lbs) of Wilson, North Carolina.
On July 2, 2007 at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California,
in the co-main event, Kelsey Jeffries (122¼ lbs) of
Gilroy, California won a 10-round unanimous (10-90 x 3)
decision over Donna (124 lbs)
to retain her IFBA Featherweight title.
“I’m not surprised it went the distance", said Jeffries, "the girls I
fight always bring their best. The girl can punch. Now I know how she got 15
knockouts. Nothing comes easy for me”.
Biggers fell to 19-5-1 (15 KOs) with the loss while Jeffries improved to 38-9-1
(3 KOs).
On August 25, 2007 at Blackham
Coliseum in Lafayette, Louisiana
Kasha “The Fighting Marine” Chamblin of
Lafayette won an eight-round unanimous (80-72 x 3) decision over Donna.
In a post fight interview, Chamblin said,
““Because she [Biggers] had so many first and second-round knockouts (16 of
Biggers’ 19 wins had come by KO, 14 of them in the first two rounds), I
wanted to set a tone and show I wasn’t backing down. I went in wanting to throw
every punch hard in every round.” Biggers said after the fight, ““I was
trying to get my counterpunching down. she (Chamblin) caught me with some good
shots. She had a good jab and she has heart because I know I caught her a couple
of times. She’s a little better than I anticipated.”
On September 16, 2007 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,
Jackie Nava (122 lbs) of Tijuana, Mexico won a 10-round
unanimous (100-90) decision over Donna (122 lbs) for the WBC interim Super
Bantamweight title. Nava improved to 15-2-2 (9 KOs)
while Biggers fell to 19-7-1 (15 KO's).
On June 12, 2008 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut,
unbeaten former amateur standout Melinda Cooper (120 lbs)
of Las Vegas, Nevada returned to the ring with a fourth round TKO
over Donna (120 lbs) in a scheduled six
rounder.
Cooper improved to 19-0 (11 KO's) with the win. On December 4, 2009 at the HP Pavilion in San
Jose, California, Ana Julaton of Daly City, California won a ten-round unanimous (100-90,90-91,90-91)
decision over Donna for the
vacant WBO Junior Featherweight title and defending her IBA Junior
Featherweight title. Biggers fell to 19-9-1 (16 KO's) with the loss while Julaton improved to 6-1-1 (1 KO).
Donna spars primarily with men. "Not too many girls around here
are into the sport, so I have to fight with the guys," she told Capp. "Everyone thinks that's
an advantage, but I think of it as a disadvantage. Girls fight differently than guys. Men get in there,
and they're real slow. They dance around a lot, and they don't throw many
punches until the last round. Women get in there, and we're swinging from the opening bell.
I guess we're just smaller and faster than the men."
I asked Donna how she got her nickname "Nature Girl". She told me
"I'm
very outspoken like the wrestler Ric Flair, and he was known as 'Nature Boy',
and the fact that when I acquired the name I was also a blonde like him. I was
also a big fan of his when I was growing up."
A 1992 graduate of Crest High, when she's not training Donna works at her family
business, which sells machine shop
equipment and industrial supplies. She also enjoys spending time with her
friends and riding
motorcycles.
Her goal as a pro boxer ... "to be a nationally recognized World Champion."
Page last updated:
Tuesday April 02, 2024 |
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