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5'3½" Eileen Olszewski was born Eileen Miyoko Kuwaye on September 17, 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
She attended Kaimuki High School, graduating in 1986.
She studied ballet and was a "Knicks City Dancer" for
the New York Knicks
NBA team for three seasons (see picture, right). She also did stunt work for "Mortal Kombat
Live - The Tour".
Eileen began competitive boxing in 2000, though she can trace her interest in
the sport back to the age of ten, when her father showed her how to punch.
She now lives and trains in New York, N.Y., coached by her husband Matthew, who she met
in a New York martial arts studio while preparing for a role as a stunt double for
a movie.
"I hit her with the first punch and it was pretty hard", her husband
recalls of her early training. "But her reply was,
That's nothing man, my brother used to hit me three times harder than that. That was
when I knew that not only did she have potential, but a hard head, which is what you
need to be a boxer."
In the 112-lb Open Division of the 2000 US National/international Golden
Gloves in Augusta, Georgia, Eileen defeated Camille Casson of New York by RSC-3 in the
semi-final on August 11 and Jessica Flaharty of Conestoga, Pennsylvania by a 4-1
margin in the final on August
12.
On April 6, 2001 in the 112-lb final of the 74th New York Daily News Golden Gloves at
Madison Square Garden,
Eileen defeated Veronica Garay of Bedford-Stuyvesant Boxing Club by RSC-2,
1:58 into Round 2. The final was something of a mismatch but Eileen had had
the most satisfying success of her boxng career when she handled previously undefeated defending champion Jamie McGrath
in the semi-finals at Holy Cross High School in Queen's on March 16.
McGrath's record before the loss to Eileen was 49-0 (she was also the 1998 and
1999 national USA Boxing champion).
In the 112-lb Open Division at the 2001 US National Golden Gloves in Augusta,
Georgia, Eileen defeated Lindsey Knight by 5-0 in the semi-final on August 10,
and
Karen Strickland 5-0 in the final on August 11.
On September 19-22, 2001 in the 112 lb division at the
2001 USA Boxing National Championships at the Marine Corps Base at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Camp Lejeune, North Carolina:
Eileen defeated Heather Percival of Fontana, California 27-7 in the preliminary,
Karen Strickland of Alpharetta, Georgia by 26-2 in the semi-final, and
Becky Garcia of Mesa, Arizona by 27-5 in the final.
On October 13 2001 in the 112-lb finals of the Women's Pan-American Boxing Championships in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA,
Eileen defeated Agnes Kittoe of Ontario, Canada by 20-2.
At the Inaugural AIBA World Amateur Championships held at the
Scranton High School in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
Diana Ungureanu of Romania defeated Eileen by a 17-16 score in the
quarter-finals on November 29, 2001. This narrow defeat was Eileen's first
loss as an amateur boxer.
(The division final was won by Simona Galassi of Italy on December 2.)
On April 11-12, 2002 in the 119-lb final of the 75th New York Daily News Golden
Gloves Tournament in the Theater at Madison Square Garden
Eileen defeated Tyrene Walton by a 3-2 tally. She had defeated Star Rivera on
March 8 in the semifinals at Manhattan PAL by a stoppage 26 seconds into Round
1.
In
the 2002 USA Boxing National Championships in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
Eileen defeated
Vanessa Greco of Brooklyn, NY, by 30-6 on July 29, Leanna Romero of Commerce, California by 27-1 on July 31,
Mandie Muglie of Canton, Ohio by RSC-1 on August 1
and Sacred Downing of Trenton, NJ by 18-8 in the final on August 2.
On August 24, 2002 in the 112-lb Open Division at the US National Golden Gloves in Chicago,
Illinois, Eileen defeated
Cecilia Barazza of Illinois by RSC-1 in the quarter-final,
Heather Donoho of California in the semi-final and
Rosa Rubio of Chicago, Illinois in the final.
In the 112-lb (51-kg) division at the 2002 AIBA Women's World Championships
October 21-28 in Antalya, Turkey,
Eileen lost to Lidia Andriejewa of Russia in the quarter-final on October 24.
She married Matthew in Hawaii in February, 2003.
She competed in her final Women's U.S. Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
from July 6 to 13 2003, winning her third straight national championship title, this time at 114 lbs. She began by defeating
Emily Kelly in the first round 19-4, then defeating hometown girl Marisol Miranda in
the quarterfinal round by 19-1. She went on to win her semifinal bout over Maria Cash, 10-3
and to take the championship with a 4-1 victory over Karen Davis.
She was honored
after the tournament for her outstanding run over three years of amateur
competition and
her commitment and dedication to women's boxing.
At a US-Russia dual meet in Russia in September 2003,
Sofia Ochigava of Russia defeted Eileen by a 3-0 tally in St.
Petersburg on September 5 and by a 2-1 tally on September 7 in Moscow.
Both bouts were at 114 lbs (52-kg).
Eileen retired as an amateur at age 35 after compiling a 28-0 (7 TKO's) record in national
level amateur competition and a 3-4 (2 TKO) record at the international level.
She made her pro debut on November 3, 2007 at the Monticello Raceway in Monticello, New York,
weighing in at 113½ lbs and winning a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over
Kimberly Tomes (115½ lbs) of New York, who fell to 0-2.
On February 17 2007 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Eileen (114¾ lbs) won
a six-round split (56-58 | 58-56 | 60-54) decision over Noriko Kariya (116¾ lbs)
of Toronto, Canada, who fell to 6-2-1 (1 KO) with the loss.
On May 18, 2007 at the Beacon
Theatre in New York, Eileen (112 lbs) won a six round unanimous (60-53,59-54,59-54)
decision over Kimberly
Tomes (113½ lbs) of Brooklyn, NY, who fell to 0-4-0.
On August 24, 2007 at the Paradise Theater in the
Bronx,
Eileen won a close,
fast paced four round majority decision over Suszannah
Warner of New York. Both fighters had weighed in at 107 lbs. The scorecards
were: 38-38, 39-37 and 40-36. Warner
dropped to 7-5-0 (2 KOs) with the loss.
On September 14, 2007 at the Palasport in Rovigo,
Italy,
Stefania Bianchini (110¼ lbs) of Italy
retained her WBC Flyweight title after gfighting to a ten-round majority draw
with Eileen (110 lbs). The scorecards were 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 for
Bianchini. Bianchini defended by holding on to
Olszewski a
lot during the fight. Bianchini moved her record to 16-2-3 (2 KOs).
"People questioned whether I was ready for
a title fight because I'd only had four (professional) fights, but I think I
proved myself," said Olszewski after the draw. Eileen's manager David
Selwyn questioned why Bianchini was not warned for excessive holding. "If you
give a warning, the next time she does it, he can deduct a point," said
"If that happened, Eileen would have been the winner on two of the three judges'
scorecards."
On
February 28, 2008 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City,
Eileen (110½
lbs) won the WIBA flyweight title with a ten
round majority (98-92,98-92,95-95) decision over Elena Reid
(111 lbs) of Las Vegas.
According
to WBAN correspondent Bernie McCoy, "Olszewski controlled the early
rounds with her straight up, come forward style. Reid made a valiant attempt at
salvaging her title in the middle rounds with effective counter punching to the
body. But the new champion clinched the decision by landing the bigger punches
more effectively and more often in the last three rounds." Olszewski
progressed to 5-0-1 (0 KOs)
as a pro, dropping Reid to 19-4-5 (5 KOs).
Olszewski's win over Reid earned her WBAN's Fighter of the Month award on March
1 2008.
On June 13, 2008 at the Isleta Casino and Resort in
Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Carina Moreno (107¾ lbs) of Watsonville, California
won a 10-round unanimous (100-90,100-90,97-93)
decision over Eileen (107¾ lbs) for the vacant IFBA and IBA Junior Flyweight
world titles.
Moreno improved to 17-1-0 (5 KOs)
with the win.
On July
18, 2008 at Piazza XX Settembre
in Civitanova Marche, Italy, Simona Galassi (111 lbs) of Forli, Italy won a 10-round
unanimous (99-91,99-91,99-92) decision over Eileen (111½ lbs) for the WBC
Flyweight title. Both boxers
showed respect for the other's technical skills in a matchup that was
mosty fought at long range with good movement and defense. Galassi's
reach and accuracy with her rights over Olszewski's jabs were
the difference in the bout. Galassi improved her pro record to 8-0 (3 KO's) with the
win while Eileen fell to 5-2-1 (0 KO's) with her second straight title loss.
On December 20, 2008 at
Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland,
Eileen (111 lbs) retained her WIBA world Flyweight title with a ten-round split
(95-95,92-98,96-95) draw
over undefeated Nadia Raoui (111¼
lbs) of Herne, Germany.
There was some post-fight controversy over the widely different scoring, after
Raoui had been more aggressive for much of the fight while Olszewski used her
boxing skills to land more precisely. Eileen
was quoted after the fight as sayng "I feel that I landed the more effective
punches throughout the fight and did more than enough to win." Eileen was
the only fighter from the red (non-promoter) corner not to lose that night. The 23-year-old Raoui moved to 8-0-1 (2 KOs).
On
October 22, 2010 at the Capitale Club in New York City, Eileen (109
lbs) won a six-round unanimous (58-56,58-56,59-55) decision over British-born Suszannah Warner (107½ lbs) of New York. WBAN correspondent Bernie McCoy wrote that "It was, to me
seated at ringside, a very close fight, each round competitively
fought, although the fourth round was clearly a big round for
Warner. On my very unofficial scorecard, I gave Warner the
second, fourth and fifth rounds. I awarded Olszewski the first
and sixth rounds and I called the third round even. I made it
58-57 Warner. Would I have argued with a score of 58-57
Olszewski? No. Does 58-56 for either fighter seem terribly out
of line? No. Was 59-55, for either fighter, an accurate
assessment of the bout? Not for the six round flyweight fight I
watched at the Capitale last Friday night. I don't believe
either of the two fighters dominated the six round bout to the
extent that she should have been awarded five of six very close
rounds ... while there could and, probably, should, be room for
discussion over the decision, there can be no disagreement over
the fact that the standing room crowd of boxing fans saw two
very good female fighters put on six rounds of very good boxing". Warner fell to 9-10-1 (2 KO's). On
December 17, 2010 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami,
Florida, Eileen Olszewski (110¾ lbs) won an impressive eight-round
(80-72 x 3) unanimous decision over Anastasia Toktaulova
(5'3", 109½ lbs) of Moscow, Russia for the GBU and WIBA 8rd
Flyweight titles. Toktaulova fell to 14-10-1 (2 KO's) with the
loss while Olszewski improved to 7-2-2 (0 KO's). On June 24, 2011 at Cordon Bleu in Woodhaven, New York, Melissa McMorrow
(111
lbs) of San Carlos, California won the vacant New York State Flyweight
title with an eight-round
split (74-78,79-73,78-74) decision over Eileen (110½
lbs). Olszewski fell to 7-3-2 (0 KO's) as McMorrow improved to
5-2-3 (0 KO's) On April 13, 2012 at
Lanxess-Arena in Cologne, Germany, Nadia Raoui of Herne, Germany retained the WIBA
Flyweight title with a unanimous 98-93,98-93,100-90 decision over
Eileen Olszewski of New York. The tactical fight was closer than the
scorecards suggest but Raoui was more aggressive in this rematch and
did enough to secure the win. Raoui advanced to 14-1-1 (3 KO's) while
Olszewski slipped to 7-4-2 (0 KO's).
"Boxing can't be emotional", says Eileen. "It has to be science.
Women fight like they're trying to kill each other. There are only a
few women fighters I like to watch. I try to emulate guys."
Page last updated:
Monday, 14 November 2022 |
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