|
5'6" featherweight Jennifer "The Razor" Barber was
born on 14 September 1982
in Van Nuys, California.
She showed her competitive
drive
in combat sports at a young age while studying karate.
She grew up taking martial arts from world renowned Kickboxing champion
Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. Barber competed in karate tournaments for
five years and
participated in dance, basketball and in track and field while in high
school.
Barber became interested in
boxing after watching a female bout on television. She trained at Jet's
Gym under the instruction of Stan Ward. Her karate background may have
contributed to the quick footwork she showed in a very successful first
year as an amateur.
Early
Highlights of Barber's Amateur Boxing Career
National Blue And International Blue & Gold
Champion: 2002-2005
Diamond Belt Champion: 2002-2004
Southern California District Champion: 2003-2005
Southern California Regional Champion: 2003-2005
Southern California District "Best Boxer": 2003
Boxer for Christ Champion: 2003 & 2005
California Pal Champion & Best Boxer: 2003-2005
National Pal Silver Medalist: 2003
In the 125-lb senior division at the 2003
National Golden Gloves held from August 6 to 9 in Chicago, Jennifer
defeated Cara Castronuova of New York in her preliminary and Teresa
O’Toole of New York in her semifinal before defeating Jennifer Han of
Texas in the final. Following this performance, Jennifer was named
"Boxer of the Month" for August 2003 by USA Boxing.
In the 125-lb division at the
2004 National Golden Gloves held in October in Chicago. Jennifer
defeated Melissa Roberts of Connecticut
in her semifinal on October 21 but she lost to Jennifer Han the next
day, reversing the result of the previous year's GG final.
Although there was no amateur
boxing for women in the 2004 Olympics Barber still set high goals for
herself
and she entered the 2004 USA Women's National Championships.
In Jennifer's own words, "You can't just practice four to six
weeks before a tournament because boxing isn't a seasonal sport, it's a
year around sport."
Jennifer again lost to Jennifer Han of Texas,
this time by a 16-6 score in their quarterfinal on July 27.
At the US National
championships in Colorado Springs, CO in March 2005, Jennifer defeated Maureen Shea 16-14 in her 57-kg
quarterfinal.
Shea jumped out to the lead with a strong first round but Barber began
to work her way back into the bout, earning a one-point lead at the
halfway point that she was able to maintain through the last two
rounds. Barber then lost to Jennifer Han 23-17 in the semifinal. "She's
been studying me," said Han, "My left jab worked a
lot more in the past. I always lead with my left. My right hand,
though, worked better than it had in the past. I scored with my right."
(Melissa Roberts of Connecticut won the division by defeating Han
24-8)
At the 2005 National PAL
tournament in Oct.3-9, 2005.
she defeated Ana Julaton of California , Teresa O'Toole of Tennessee
3-1, and finally Jennifer Han of Texas 14-1 to win the 125-lb division.
Jennifer received the "Best Boxer" award for the female division for
this run.
At the 2006 USA National
Championships Jennifer won a 27-1 decision over Denise Sullivan in her
preliminary match but then fell to Ronica Jeffrey of New York in a
closely-fought quarterfinal by a punch countback - following an 8-8
draw on the initial scorecard. (Melissa Roberts of Connecticut won the
division for the second straight year, with a 21-18 win over Ronica
Jeffrey.)
Jennifer
turned pro in 2007 and won her debut on March 30 at 125½ lbs with a
four-round unanimous (40-36 x 3) decision over debuter Alex Kumbala
(130 lbs) at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California (see photo at
left)
On July 14, 2007 at the Civic
Auditorium in San Jose, California, Jennifer (124½
lbs) fought another experienced
amateur, Cynthia Talmadge (124¼
lbs) of San Francisco, to a four-round unanimous (40-36)
decision in Talmadge's pro debut.
On November 3, 2007 at Seven
Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Oregon, Jennifer (126 lbs) TKO'd local
pro debuter Maira Caberra (130 lbs) 40 seconds into the second round of
a scheduled four rounder.
On December 1, 2007 at Emerald
Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, Jennifer (125 lbs) TKO'd DJ Morrison (127
lbs) of Billings, Montana at 1:04 in the first round, The
loss dropped Morrison's record to 0-4.
On February 7, 2008 at the
Pechanga Casino and Resort in Temecula, California, Jennifer TKO'd
Handi Hernandez of Chandler, Arizona at 0:50 in the third round of a
scheduled six-rounder on the undercard of an all-female card that
featured three IFBA world title fights.
Hernandez fell to 5-3 (3 KO's) with the loss.
On April 24, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel, in Irvine,
California
Jennifer (123½
lbs) won by a clear four-round unanimous (40-36) decision over
Elizabeth Villarreal (127
lbs) of San Antonio, Texas. Villarreall fell to 5-6-2 (0
KO's).
“I wasn’t really satisfied with my
performance,” said Barber. “I wanted the knockout,
but I am happy with the win.”
On May 31, 2008 at the
Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colorado
Jennifer (119 lbs) TKO'd former IFBA
Bantamweight champion Adriana Delgado (120 lbs) of
Albuquerque, NM at !:02 in the third round of a scheduled
five-rounder.
Barber improved to 7-0 (4 KO's)
while Delgado fell to 10-3-1 (4 KO's).
“I thought I’d win,
but not like that,” said Barber. "Seeing that she’s
a former world champ, I didn’t think I’d dominate that easily. But it’s
exactly what I needed. I want three more fights, then a shot at a world
title.”
On September 20, 2008
at Mile High Events Center in Commerce City, Colorado,
Jennifer (125 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous (80-71,80-71,79-72)
decision over Brooke Dierdorff
(124 lbs) of Elgin, Illinois for the vacant NABF featherweight title.
Dierdorff fell to a deceptive 4-4-1
(3 KO's) as her losses have all been to top quality opponents - Ela
Nunez, Jeannine Garside
and
Alicia Ashley.
On November 20, 2008 at the
Palais des Sports in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France, Myriam Chomaz {128½
lbs) of Grenoble, France won a ten-round split (98-93 Barver, 96-94
Chomaz and 96-95 Chomaz) decision over Jennifer (126 lbs) for the
Interim WBC Super Featherweight title.
The controversial loss dropped Barber's pro
record to 8-1 (4 KO's) while Chomaz progressed to 10-1-0
(7 KOs).
On October 29 2009 at the
Marriott Hotel in Irvine, California, Jennifer (128 lbs) won a
six-round unanimous (59-55,59-55,60-54) decision over veteran Gloria
Ramirez (129¾ lbs) of El Paso, Texas.
Ramirez fell to 10-16-7
(1 KO) with the loss while Jennifer improved to 9-1 (4 KO's).
On
December 11, 2010 at Namseoul University in Choenan City,
South
Korea, Jennifer (127¼ lbs) defeated reigning
champion Ji Hye Woo (126¼
lbs) from Seoul, South Korea by
a ten-round unanimous (99-94,97-94,97-94) decision. Barber controlled
the fight throughout and survived a head butt in the sixth round and
the ring doctor's later inspections of the resulting gash to
become the new IFBA World Junior Lightweight champion. "The girl was tough,"
said Barber's trainer Stan Ward, "but
there was no way Jenny was going to lose tonight. This was her
best all-round performance, I was so proud of her. She had been
training nine years for this moment."
Woo
fell
to 11-2-0 (1 KO) while Barber progressed to 10-1-0 (4 KO's).
Before
the fight in South Korea, Jennifer had said on her web site
"I know my
career is coming to a
close because I want to start a family, so I plan on giving
it everything I have. I know I can win, but I need to
do everything possible to leave it out (of) the judges hands. I don't
want to experience what happened in France."
Jennifer
was named WBAN's "Fighter of the Month" in January 2011 for her win
over Ji Hye Woo.
Jennifer grew up with two deaf
parents, and this motivated her to major in Deaf Studies at Cal State
Northridge. She graduated with her B.A. in 2005 and she tells
WBAN that she made a pact with her coach not to turn pro until she had
graduated. She hopes to work with children with hearing impairments.
Her hobbies include: running, swimming, listening to a variety of
music, training, reading, and buying clothes on sale!
Stan Ward, a former California
heavyweight champion, has trained Jennifer as a professional. “She’s
very dedicated.” said Ward, "If she weren’t that disciplined I wouldn’t
waste time training her. She does everything I ask her to do with no
complaints.” Ward
stated in September 2011 that Barber was retiring from professional
boxing and the IFBA declared her Junior Lightweight title vacant.
Jennifer fought from 2007 to 2010 and has not fought since December 11, 2010.
Page
last updated:
Monday, 04 January 2021
|
