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5'2", 108-115 lb Elena "Baby Doll" Reid was born in Phoenix, Arizona on November 1st, 1981
and now lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Elena, who was interested in sport from an early age and began boxing at age 15,
says "a guy friend" sparked her interest in the sport. She did not compete
as an amateur boxer, but began her career in combat sports in karate and
kickboxing and won an Arizona state kickboxing title at age 17.
She also participated in soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball and
cheerleading from fifth grade through high school. She was the only girl on
her brother's soccer team.
Elena made her pro boxing debut on April 18, 2000, at Midnight Rodeo n Phoenix,
weighing in at 120 lbs and defeating debuter Jo
Ellen Caldwell (117½ lbs) by a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-37) decision.
This would be Caldwell's only pro fight. On July 16, 2000 at Arizona Charlie's in Las Vegas,
Nevada, her second pro fight pitted her against a tough opponent ...
Layla McCarter (126 lbs) of Las Vegas. Layla improved her
own record to 3-4-1 with a four-round unanimous decision over Elena
(122½ lbs) ... then went on to become the youngest boxer to win an
IFBA world title by defeating Sandra Yard for the IFBA Featherweight
belt on October 7, 2000.
On August 26, 2000 at Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada, Elena (118 lbs) TKO'd Jessica Elgin-Combs (121 lbs) at 0:58 in the first
round. Elgin-Combs, making her pro debut, was overwhelmed by Elena's
aggressiveness and the bout was stopped with Combs bloody-nosed and unable to
defend herself.
On October 2, 2000 at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, Elena
(114 lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,39-37) decision over
Yvonne Caples (112 lbs), who dropped to 2-3. Reid pressured
Caples throughout the fight, throwing many accurate combinations.
On October 10, 2000 at Webb Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, Elena
(119½ lbs) won by a TKO over
debuter Brandy Leon (121½ lbs) of Prescott, Arizona at 1:07 of the first round. Reid overwhelmed Leon with
straight lefts and right hooks and the referee stopped the bout because Leon was
not fighting back.
On November 19, 2000 at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona,
Elena (117 lbs) won a four-round unanimous decision over Nina (Bertha) Gonzalez
(118 lbs) of California. Reid got
a nasty gash over the right eyelid by a clash of heads in the opening round, but
she overpowered a plucky Gonzalez in all four rounds. Gonzalez dropped to 2-3-1
with the loss.
On January 28, 2001 on a card fought in an outdoor ring on a
parking lot at Park 'N Swap in Phoenix, Elena (116 lbs) battled to a four-round majority
draw in a rematch with Yvonne Caples (113 lbs). Elena won the
odd rounds, but Yvonne came back in the even stanzas as they fought to tallies
of 38-38, 38-38 and 39-37 (for Reid) on the scorecards. Yvonne's record moved to
3-3-1 with 1 KO.
On
September 25, 2001 at Midnight Rodeo in Phoenix, Elena weighed in at 113 lbs and
won by a TKO at 1:21 of the first round over Valerie Williams (118 lbs) of Las
Vegas, who was making her pro debut. Williams attacked the smaller Reid
aggressively but Reid's boxing skills soon dominated the bout. Williams took six
straight shots to the head that brought referee Nico Perez in to stop it.
On January 25, 2002 at the AVI Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, Elena
(112 lbs) battled Luz Rodriguez (113 lbs) of Mexicali, Mexico to a bloody
four-round split (39-37,38-38,37-39) draw. Reid moved her record to 6-1-2 (3 KO's) while Rodriguez's
record went to 1-2-1 (0 KO's).
On April 5, 2002 at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Elena (116 lbs)
won a hard-fought six-round decision over a game Monica Michel (113 lbs) of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, who fell to 0-3-0. My correspondent described it as
"six rounds of exciting, non-stop action" and said the fight was best of the
night with the crowd cheering hard for local favorite Reid (who had enough left
when the dust settled to celebrate her narrow win!). Reid took two attempts to
make the agreed weight for the fight.
On April 20, 2002 at MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Elena
(114½ lbs) won a four-round unanimous (39-36,39-37,39-37) decision over Luz
Rodriguez (111 lbs) of Mexicali, Mexico who fell to 1-3-1 (0 KO). Reid started
the bout slowly and Rodriguez was able to land clean lefts and rights to the
head, including a straight right that badly bloodied Reid's nose in the second
round. But Reid has been bloodied before and fought on to win, and this was no
exception as she roared back in the third and fourth rounds with hard-hitting
combinations that had Rodriguez hurt and covering up. Reid and Rodriguez had
previously battled to a bloody draw in January. On
June 7, 2002 at Rawhide Wild West Town Theme Park in Scottsdale, Arizona,
Elena (114 lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-35,40-35) decision over
Tracey Moulton (118 lbs) of Denver, Colorado, who was returning to the ring
after a layoff since August 2000. Moulton looked flustered by the southpaw
Reid's speed in the opening round and was knocked down for a quick count by
a straight left to the ear. Moulton got up quickly and Reid continued to
press the issue with both fists, though losing leverage by swinging her
punches against her taller opponent. Moulton used her reach advantage to
better effect in the second and caught Reid with some straight shots
although Reid continued to throw more leather. Reid became more mobile in
third and controlled the action from the outside, then went back to the
attack in the fourth and kept Moulton off balance all round. Moulton tried
to wrestle Reid and punch while they were tangled up, but Reid handled this
tactic well and cruised to a clear win on all the scorecards. Moulton fell
to 4-4-1 (2 KO). The bout was seen live on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights
because the men's Main Event was stopped early.
On July 19, 2002 at Yakima Legends Casino in Toppenish,
Washington, Elena (113½ lbs) won by TKO over Yolanda Gonzalez (114¼ lbs) of
Newark, New Jersey at 1:35 in the fifth round. Reid dropped Gonzalez twice in
the opening round and had the upper hand for the rest of the bout, landing
frequently with hard straight lefts and stunning Gonzalez again at the end of
the fourth. Gonzalez fell to 7-5-1 (3 KOs).
On October 1, 2002 at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, Elena
(119 lbs) won a six-round unanimous (58-56) decision over Terri Lynn Cruz (123
lbs) of Denver, Colorado. Reid dominated the first four rounds with hard shots
and a wicked jab. Cruz then came on stronger to take the last two rounds and had
the crowd on its feet cheering both on. Cruz fell to 4-3-2 (2 KO).
On November 19, 2002 at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, Elena
(117 lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-54,58-56,58-56) decision over LaKeysha
Williams (119 lbs) of Philadelphia. Despite the lop-sided score by one judge,
this was a good fight that had the crowd on its feet as they exchanged punishing
shots. Reid's boxing skills made the difference as she used good lateral
movement to keep Williams at bay. Williams fell to 6-4-1 (1 KO).
On February 11, 2003 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, a crowd
estimated at just 600 saw Elena (117 lbs) win a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,59-54)
decision over Linda Tenberg (122 lbs) of Austin, Texas. According to one
ringside correspondent, Tenberg got off to a good start in the opening round
but seemed stunned after taking four hard left hooks midway though the
fourth round in what may have been the bout's decisive moment. Another feels
that Tenberg won the fight and was "jobbed by the judges", however.
Tenberg falls to 6-7-0 (2 KO).
On June 28, 2003 at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, Elena (116 lbs) was
held to a majority draw over six rounds by Mariana Juárez
(5'4", 113½ lbs) of México City, México. The decision (57-57,57-57, and 58-56
Juárez) drew some boos from the crowd, who had cheered both fighters, both of
whom took hard shots throughout the fight. After a feeling out round in which
Juárez was warned for holding Reid behind the head while hitting, Juárez began
to take the action to Reid harder in the second, although Reid got busier as the
round went on. Juárez kept coming forward with Reid using more lateral movement
in the third, Reid looping her punches while Juárez more often came straight
through the middle. Juárez roughed Reid up against the ropes in the fourth and
appeared to have her in trouble but she didn't press her advantage hard enough
in the fifth. Reid picked up her pace and was more aggressive in the sixth but
Juárez met her blow for blow (and did just enough to win the fight in my view).
Juárez's record was now 9-3-3 (6 KO).
On September 26, 2003 at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, Elena
(118 lbs) won
a six-round unanimous decision over
Linda Tenberg (120 lbs) of Austin, Texas.
Tenberg was in good shape but could not do
enough to offset Reid's quickness and movement. Reid advanced to 14-1-3
(4 KO) with the win while Tenberg fell to 8-8-0 (4 KO).
On November 7, 2003 at Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona, Elena
weighed in at 114 lbs and fought Johanna Pena Alvarez (113 lbs, 20 years old) of
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to an exciting four-round (39-37 Pena, 39-37
Reid, 38-38) split draw. Reid landed the harder punches for most of the fight
but Pena came on strong in the final round to make it a close call on the
scorecards. Pena was 14-1-1 (10 KO) after her first bout outside the Dominican
Republic.
On September 11, 2004 at DM Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, local favorite and
German media darling
Regina Halmich (111¾ lbs) of Karlsruhe battled Elena
(111¾ lbs) to a draw over ten hard-fought and exciting rounds to retain her WIBF
Flyweight title. The scoring of this bout was highly controversial, Judge
Oliver Evers of Germany logging it as 98-94 for Halmich, Judge Leszek Jankowiak
of Poland assessing it as a 97-97 draw, while Judge Roger Tillerman of Belgium
had it 97-93 for Reid.
More people who saw this fight appear to agree with the Belgian
judge's assessment than with either of the other tallies. The media called the
scores of the German and Polish judges “scandalous” and the German television
commentator interviewing Halmich told her they felt she (Halmich) lost
convincingly. “I felt I was able to hit her with everything I
threw,” said Reid, "she was a very tough fighter.” Halmich
moved her record to 45-1-1 (15 KOs) while Elena progressed to
14-1-5 (4 KO).
Despite the controversy and her disappointment over the result, Elena remained
positive about her experience in Germany. “They were so wonderful to me,”
she said, "the people were so nice to me everywhere I went. I’ll never forget
them. They were really wonderful people."
Elena added in an
open letter
to WBAN: "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
to all the German fans and press. Despite the heart breaking decision, my
experience in Germany was more than wonderful. Everyone, including the workers
at the hotel, the media, all the German people, and Universum warmed my heart
with their compassion and kind words. I will certainly never forget the feeling
of being embraced by a country I thought saw me as the enemy. I pray to God,
that I get a second chance around. That Regina will do the right thing and give
me a rematch. After all she is not the one who made the decision, but she does
have the power to make it right. This was my first fight past six rounds.
I am more hungry than ever! I hope to light the world with my performances and
vow to always train and fight with all my heart. I still have a lot to learn. I
also would like to say thank you to my outstanding trainers, UNLV boxing, and
everyone that has taken the time to voice their opinions. I truly appreciate
everything. Thank you, thank you, thank you. With lots of Love, Elena Babydoll
Reid".
Elena Reid vs. LaKeysha Williams in Las Vegas
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen
On January 29, 2005 at the Silverton Hotel Casino in
Las Vegas, Nevada, in the main event on an all-female card promoted by Rock and
Sock Productions, Elena (117 lbs) knocked out LaKeysha Williams (120½ lbs) of
Philadelphia at 1:59 in the fifth round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Reid
put on a convincing performance using quick combinations and great defense to
control and outpunch the heavier Williams, who often fights at featherweight.
Elena snapped Williams's head back repeatedly with sharp left leads and
three-punch combinations, but she delivered the coup de grace with a hard left
to the solar plexus that dropped Williams to the canvas in obvious pain.
"This was Elena's best performance," said trainer Chris Ben.
"All I want is a chance to fight for the world title," said
Reid, adding that she was
looking for a rematch with Mariana Juárez or
Regina Halmich. "All my training is paying off."
Reid moved to 16-1-5 (5 KO's) with the win while
Williams fell to 8-7-3 (1 KO).
Alicia Ashley outboxed Elena in March 2005
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen On March
26, 2005 at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, USA,
Alicia Ashley (5'5", 116 lbs) of Westbury, New
York TKO'd Elena (116¾ lbs) at 1:04 in the seventh round of a scheduled
eight-rounder. Referee Jay Nady stopped the fight because of a cut over
Reid's right eye. Ashley had outboxed Reid before the stoppage in this match
between two southpaws, using her longer reach, hand speed and ring movement
to control the action. Ashley continually popped Reid with jabs and straight
lefts, one of which opened the cut over Reid's eye in the sixth. "I
hurt her in the third round," said Ashley. "After that, she didn't
want to come in any more." Ashley improved to 11-5-1 (1 KO) while Reid
fell to 16-2-5 (5 KO's).
"I'm a little disappointed," said Reid, adding "I have to go back
to the gym and improve." On July 2, 2005 at the Events
Center in Reno, Nevada, Elena (111½ lbs) won a six-round unanimous decision
(60-51,60-51,60-53) over tough but overmatched
Stephanie Dobbs (111 lbs) of Moore, Oklahoma. Dobbs fell to
17-18-2 (9 KO's) with the loss.
On December 3, 2005 at Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Elena (110½
lbs) lost a unanimous (97-94,96-94-94) decision to Regina Halmich of Germany
in a hard-fought rematch of their controversial draw for the WIBF Flyweight
title. Reid was bloodied by the much-improved Halmich in this second
encounter, but her supporters still felt that she had done enough to win the
bout.
Halmich had clearly learned more from their previous drawn bout which most
observers felt she had lost. WBAN correspondent Peter Guedens summarized
the result saying "When seeing the fight for the
first time, I thought it was very close, but the more I’ve seen the highlights,
the more I get convinced that it was a clear win for Halmich. Using a very
clever game plan, she outboxed an overconfident Elena who seemed like she was
already celebrating before the fight had even started."
(See Peter's illustrated
round-by-round report). Reid fell to 17-3-5 (5 KO's) with the loss while Halmich
improved to 49-1-1 (15 KO's).
Elena trades with Mary Elizabeth Ortega
© Copyrighted photo taken by Alan MessickOn August 31, 2006
at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada, Elena (111½
lbs)
won the WIBA Flyweight title with a ten-round
unanimous (98-92, 98-92, 97-93) decision over Mary Elizabeth Ortega
(112 lbs) of Kansas City, Missouri. As
reported
by Lee Bates of Inside Women's Boxing, "From the opening
round, Reid flashed her superior hand speed by boxing beautifully from her
southpaw stance, and countering the on-rushing Ortega with head-snapping
combinations. This trend continued on until the middle of the fight, when
Ortega's consistent pressure finally paid off and she was able to back Reid
into the ropes where she landed head shots of her own, winning a few rounds
in the process. Having been on the bad end of decisions in her two
previous attempts at a world title, Reid was not going to leave any doubt to
the judges. She began to use Ortega's pressure against her in the home
stretch of the fight, beating her to the punch and fighting of the ropes.
The two fighters had the entire crowd on their feet as they slugged it out
toe-to-toe in the final 30 seconds of the fight." Elena
improved her record to 18-3-5 (5 KO's) with the win while Ortega fell to 30-3-1
(7 KOs).
Elena was named WBAN's Fighter of the Month for September 2006 for this win.
Shin Hee Choi vs Elena Reid for the IFBA Title
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen
On July 2, 2007 at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California,
in the main event, Elena (111¾ lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (100-89 x 3) decision over
Shin Hee Choi (110½ lbs) of South Korea for the IFBA Flyweight title. Choi,
ranked #9 in the world by WBAN before the fight (to Reid's #2), came out cautiously and threw little offense in the first two
rounds. She went to the canvas twice in the third, once from a punch and once from a
slip. Reid's confidence was evident as she hurt Choi with body shots and stunned her
with hard punches to the head in the ninth. Choi was fighting for the first
time outside her native South Korea. Choi fell to 8-2-0 (4 KOs).
"It's got to be your life. It's a lot of determination. It's a lot of hours.
It's a lot of sweat and tears," Reid says of her chosen sport.
Elena made her debut as a MMA fighter on 28 December 2007 at the Riviera
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, defeating previously 0-2 Tammie Schneider of
Kansas City at 2:05 in the second round when the referee stopped the bout
after Reid landed a series of six hard punches.
On February 28, 2008 at the Roseland Ballroom in
New York City,
Eileen Olszewski (110½
lbs) of New York won the WIBA Flyweight
title with a ten round majority (98-92,98-92,95-95) decision over Elena (111
lbs). The 39-year-old Olszewski, who had an extensive
and successful career as an amateur boxer before turning pro in 2007, progressed to
5-0-1 (0 KOs)
as a pro.
On June 12, 2008 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut,
Elena (126 lbs) was held to a
draw over six rounds by 19-year-old Ava Knight (124 lbs) of Chico,
California who moved to 3-0-2 (1 KO). Reid was now
19-4-6 (5 KOs).
On March 20, 2009 at Sporthalle Hamburg
in Hamburg, Germany, Armenian-born Susi Kentikian (111½
lbs), who fights out of Hamburg, won a clear 10-round unanimous
(100-90,100-90,100-91) decision over Elena (112 lbs) defending the WBA and WIBF
Flyweight titles.
According to WBAN correspondent Torben L.: "Elena Reid was far from
her former glory in last night's challenge for the WBA-WIBF Flyweight titles
against Susi Kentikian. The experienced Reid seemed passive and without a game
plan, or, if she had one, unable to carry it out. Kentikian took control from
the first bell, and didn't have much trouble getting through the American's very
ineffective guard. Reid showed little imitative and was too slow to catch her
younger opponent. She received quite a punishment throughout the 10 rounds, as
Kentikian got through with her combinations without much difficulty. Reid proved
she is no quitter in the ring, and she absorbed everything the hard punching
champion threw at her." The 21-year-old Kentikian improved her pro record to
24-0-0 (16 KOs).
On June 5, 2010 at Stade Joffre Lefebvre in Lingolsheim, Bas-Rhin, France, Nadia
Hokmi (115 lbs) of Strasbourg, France won a ten-round unanimous
(100-90,99-91,99-91)
decision in dominant fashion over Elena (114¼ lbs) for the vacant WBF Junior
Bantamweight title. Hokmi improved to 10-6-1 (2 KO's) with the win while Reid
fell to 19-6-6 (5 KO's). Her first trainer.
Mack Walker said of Reid:
"She is one of the most dedicated and hardest working boxers I personally
have ever had the pleasure to work with. I have seen countless other boxers
become world champions with lesser work ethics. We are convinced that she
will reach her goal, a world championship."
Elena also told me that she spars with both male and female
partners.
"Sparring with girls is good because I fight girls", she says, "but I
enjoy sparring with guys more. When I spar with guys that are heavier then me,
it helps build my confidence. One of her male sparring partner says "I
don't think of Elena as a girl, rather a machine so I don't mind hitting her.
Besides, she can take it and hits as hard as I do."
Asked what
boxing brings to her life, Elena says "Boxing taught me discipline,
determination and the importance of my body. Those three things have given
me the inspiration to lead a healthy and goal-oriented life. It's bettered
my education and raised the quality of my relationships with my friends and
family. My teachers, family and peers always treat me with respect and
admire my aspirations and hard work."
Her advice to other youngsters who are wondering if they want to
box ...
"There are tons of opportunities now. Women haven't always had the option or
the support to participate in professional sports. I believe girls should really
take advantage of the opportunities professional sports have given women these
days. Boxing not only keeps you in shape, but builds the confidence we need."
Outside the ring, Reid places a strong emphasis on family. She credits her
parents ... Kyle, an international broker, and Rose Reid, a registered
nurse ... for molding her. They paid a lot of attention and were strict with
manners, says Reid, and her parents, older sister and two younger brothers are a
big part of her life.
Photo credit: Mary Ann Owen - Las Vegas Photographer/WBAN
Elena Reid was inducted into the
International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019, in Brisbane, California.
Page last updated:
Sunday, 18 June 2023 |
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