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5'8" welterweight Jill
Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 20, 1970.
Although she competed in Shotokan karate while in high school, she
appeared to be heading towards a career in theater; she graduated from
Bucknell University in 1992 with a Bachelor’s in Theater. After she
moved to New York City to pursue an acting career, combat sports began
to reappear on her agenda.
Jill's boxing career began in
1998 after she helped a friend train in kickboxing and she fell in love
with the sport after preparing for an acting role that required boxing
skills. ."
The amateur boxing scene began
to draw her in deeper and she fought in the 147-lb final of the New
York Golden Gloves in Madison Square Garden on April 3, 1998, losing to
Kathleen McFeely from the Nassau PAL Gym. The experience convinced her
that she wanted to pursue boxing, and it was her first loss, in front
of a crowd of 5,000 people that made her determined to become a
champion.
She entered the New York
Golden Gloves competition again in 1999, but on April 9, 1999, Desiree
Mistretta (Academy of Boxing) defeated Jill in the 156-lb final..
At the 1999 US National
championships, Dakota Stone defeated Jill by 9-6 in the 156-lb
semifinal.
In 1999, she noticed a new
coach in Gleason’s Gym training his fighter in a unique style of
boxing. His name is Michael Kozlowski. “When I
approached him, he said he would only train me if I wanted to become a
world champion.”
On June 25-26, 1999 in the
USA vs. Canada Dual Meet at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, Canada, Jill defeated Becky Henderson of Canada by 22-4 in a
156-lb contest.
On August 14, 1999 in the
156-lb final of the US National Golden Gloves at the Augusta Boxing
Club in Augusta, Georgia, Jill defeated Kathleen Brauer of Michigan by
RSC-3.
On April 15, 2000 in the
156-lb final of the 2000 USA Boxing Everlast Nationals at the Chaparral
Center in Midland, Texas, Jill stopped Ann
Marie Saccurato at 1:52 in the second round (RSC-2) when
Emery was up 22-3 on points. Jill had previously won her semifinal when
Cheryl Jacobs of Muncie, Indiana retired at 0:31 in the third round.
On April 27, 2000 Jill again
defeated Ann Marie Saccurato,
in the 156-lb division of the New York Golden Gloves, for her first
title from the competition that had motivated her boxing career.
On May 7, 2000 in the finals
of the Feenix Box Cup in Turku, Finland, Jill defeated Anita Ducza of
Hungary after stopping Natalia Korpovits of Russia in the first round
of the semifinal.
At the 2000 USA Boxing
National Championships in Midland, Texas, Jill won the 156-lb division,
defeating Angelique (Angel) Bovee of New York on points, 18-10.
On April 6, 2001, again in
Madison Square Garden, NYC she defeated defending 147-lb
champion Micki Pryor (Suffolk PAL) in the New York Golden Gloves final
by a 5-0 margin.
On June 30, 2001 at Westwood
Recreation Center in Dayton, Ohio. Jill defeated Tristan Whiston of
Toronto, ON, Canada.
On June 23, 2001 at Nye's Gym
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jill defeated Angel McNamara of Baltimore,
MD by RSC-2.
At the National Golden Gloves on August 11, 2001 in Augusta, Georgia
Jill lost to defending champion Natalie
Brown of Lithonia, Georgia by 4-1 in the 147-lb final. She
had previously defeated Heather Evans 4-1 in the semifinal.
In the final of the 147-lb
division of the 2001 USA Boxing National Championships at the USMC Base
in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jill and Natalie Brown ended the bout
tied at 13-13 on the points scorecard but Emery bested Brown by 17-15
on the punch countback.
On October 13, 2001 in the
147-lb final of the Women's Pan-American Boxing Championships in
Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jill defeated Kanicia Eley of Norfolk, Virginia
5-5 (36-25). She had previously defeated Roxane Lanacette of
Quebec, Canada by 9-4 in the semifinal.
On November 28, 2001 in the 147-lb preliminary round of the inaugural
2001 AIBA World Championships in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jill lost to
Mehtap Bakis of Turkey by an 18-17 decision.
On April 12, 2002, Jill won
the 156-lb division of the NY Golden Gloves by walkover over Geneve
Brossard, also of Gleason’s Gym. She had previously defeated
LaShawn Roberts in the semifinal in March.
In October 5, 2002 in the 139-lb Open Division Finals at the US Police
Athletic League Championship in Augusta, Georgia, Jill defeated April
Alavez of Baltimore, MD by 19-5 and received the “Outstanding Boxer”
trophy.
On April 4, 2003, Jill
defeated Melissa Hernandez
of NYC PAL in the 138-lb division final of the New York Golden Gloves.
On July 12, 2003 in the
138-lb final of the USA Boxing National Championships in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida: Jill defeated Nasheba Thomas of Toledo, OH, by a
17-2 margin. She had bested Charmaine Carrington of Fort
Walton Beach, FL, by a RSC-2 in the semifinal and Esther Zamora of
Fayetteville, NC by 16-2 and Beth Raymer of Brooklyn, NY 14-4 in
preliminary bouts.
In 2003, Jill represented
Team USA in the first Female Boxing Russian-American Dual in Moscow.
She also won many other national level tournaments including the
Ringside Tournament in 2002 and 2003.
In April 2004, Jill won the
gold medal in the 63-kg division of the Female World Cup in Tonsberg,
Norway, defeating Yesil Yetiz of Turkey in the semifinal and stopping
Vinni Skovgaard of Denmark in the second round of the division
final. She also received the “Outstanding Boxer of North
America” award.
In May 2004 at the
prestigious Ahmet Comert Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, Jill won the
63-kg ladies' division, again defeating Yesil Yetiz of Turkey, this
time by a 20-9 score.
Emery
won the USA Boxing Female Athlete of the Month award several times, and
in 2004 she was named as USA Boxing’s Female Athlete of the Year.
She is still the only
American to have won a gold medal in the Ahmet Comert Tournament.
Jill's impressive 62-8
amateur national and international career missed only one medal - a
World Championship - when she finally turned pro in 2005 at age 34.
On February 2, 2005 at Club Med Sandpiper in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
Jill (140 lbs) won her pro debut with a four round unanimous decision
over Cassandra Lindsey (140 lbs) of Columbus, Mississippi who
fell to 0-2.
On March 12, 2005 at the
Radisson Hotel in Huntington, West Virginia, Jill (146 lbs) stopped pro
debuter Katrina Peterson (154 lbs) at 1:32 in the second round. The
deciding blow was a body shot. "I stayed busy and got on her,"
said Emery. "This was a great time to go pro."
On May 20, 2005 at the
National Guard Armory in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Jill (140
lbs) TKO'd pro debuter Vicky Denmark (135 lbs) of Cincinnati.
Ohio in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder.
On October 7, 2005 at the Blue
Horizon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jill (144 lbs) won a six-round
unanimous (60-52,60-53,60-53) decision over Maria Nava (140½
lbs) of Little Rock, Arkansas, who fell to 1-4 (0 KO) with
the loss.
On March 18, 2006 at The
Centre in Evansville, Indiana, Jill (143 lbs) TKO'd Susan Winner (144
lbs) of Lawrence, Kansas at 0:42 in the third round of a scheduled
four. Winner fell to 0-3 with the loss.
On June 30, 2006 at the Blue
Mega Club in El Paso, Texas, Jill (143¾ lbs) won a six-round unanimous
(60-54,59-55,59-55) decision over Victoria Cisneros (147 lbs) of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, who fell to 3-5-2 (0 KO's) with the loss.
Jill battles Daria Hill in August 2006
© Copyrighted photo taken by Alan Messick
On August 31, 2006 at Harvey's
in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Jill (143½ lbs) won a six-round unanimous
(59-55,59-55,58-56) decision over Daria Hill (6'1" 145 lbs) of Camden,
New Jersey. Jill was tested in this fight against the
talented and heavy-punching Hill, who fell to 3-4 (3 KO's) with the
loss.
On January 13, 2007 at Brandberge
Arena in Halle an der Saale, Germany, Emery jumped up two weight
classes to fight ten rounds at 152 lbs for the vacant WIBA World
Middleweight title against the undefeated Karolina Lukasik (154 lbs).
Jill lost by a controversial split (99-92 Lukasik, 96-94 Emery, 97-93
Lukasik) decision. The Polish-born Lukasik, who also had an
extensive amateur boxing career before turning pro, improved
her pro record to 6-0-0 (0 KO's) with the win.
On June 21, 2007, at The
Point in Dublin, Ireland, Jill (140 lbs) made history by fighting in
the first professional women’s boxing match held in the Republic of
Ireland, defeating Russian-born Angel McKenzie (139 lbs) of England by
an eight round referee's decision (80-72). Emery dominated the fight
from the start, scoring readily on the much less experienced McKenzie
before McKenzie opened a cut on Emery’s forehead in the sixth (Jill
tells me this was the result of an accidental head butt). Emery hung on
for the win despite the injury but the crowd’s muted response to the
action suggested that Dubliners may not be quite ready for more women's
pro boxing action (or that the bar outside the arena was a more
compelling attraction to some fans than the undercard). McKenzie fell
to 2-3 (0 KO's) with the loss.
On December 6, 2007 at the
Tachi Palace Casino in California; Jill (139½ lbs) fought for the NABF Junior Welterweight title
against former world champion Terri
Blair (5'6", 137 lbs) of Louisville, Kentucky. Jill lost the
action-packed eight-rounder by a 78-74,74-78,75-77 split decision. This
fight won the NABF Female Fight of the Year designation in
2007. Blair improved to 10-13-2 (6 KO's) with the win.
On June 12, 2008, Fox Sports ‘The Best Damn Sports
Show” aired the IFBA Welterweight World Title Fight at the Mohegan Sun
Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, between Jill (146¼ lbs) and the then
#1 ranked Angelica "Angel"
Martinez
(146¼ lbs) of Dallas, Texas. Emery won a convincing
99-91,97-93,96-94 ten-round decision over the scrappy Martinez to win
the vacant title. the evening, Emery utilized her reach and southpaw
stance to control the scrappy Martinez action from the start of the
fight. Martinez, one of only four boxers to defeat Christy Martin, fell to 6-5-1
(1 KO) with the loss.
On March 19 2010 at the Twin River Events Center
in Lincoln, Rhode Island, USA, former world champion Jaime Clampitt (139½ lbs) of
Rhode Island won a six-round majority (59-55,59-55,57-57) decision over
Jill Emery (141 lbs). Scott Ploof
reports that "Emery came out firing in the first
round using her reach advantage. Clampitt kept digging from
down low to try and work on the inside of Emery. Clampitt got
at Emery in round two as she worked around the long jab and reach of
Emery, who kept her glove extended throughout the fight in a way to
keep a safe distance from Clampitt. Clampitt continued to
move around the ring well which allowed her to land punches and fight
on the inside. Emery again kept a safe distance from Clampitt
in round three. When Clampitt is able to get in on the
inside, she is tied up by Emery. Clampitt lands a
right to the body, while Emery missed a right hook. Emery
seemed to cause Clampitt some trouble but really did not do much to
capitalize on this advantage. Clampitt was more active during
the six round bout, however Emery used her reach well as she never
fought in close with Clampitt and kept her arm extended throughout
while trying to find a way to attack. In the end it was
Clampitt that got the narrow decision in a close fight." Clampitt
improved to 22-4-1 (7 KOs) as Emery slipped to 9-3-0 (3 KOs).
On September 24, 2010 at Sundsta
Idrottshus in Karlstad, Sweden, Mikaela Lauren (146½
lbs) of Sweden won a six-round unanimous (58-56,59-56,59-56) decision
over Jill (146 lbs) for the vacant WPBF Welterweight title. Sweden
lifted a ban on pro boxing in 2007 but as the lengths of pro fights
there are still limited the WPBF sanctioned a six-rounder for its vacant title.
This abbreviated title fight was a high profile home stand event for the
athletic but relatively inexperienced Lauren, a former member of the Swedish
national swim team who had previously fought unranked opponents from central
Europe.
Lauren improved her record to 7-0 (2 KO's) with the
decision.
On
November 20, 2010 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT,
USA, Jill Emery KO'd Adelita Irizarry
of Hartford, Connecticut with a solid left at 1:26 in the first round.
Emery improved to 10-4 (4 KO's) while Irizarry fell to 8-5 (2
KO's). [Video]
Jill Emery vs Cecilia Braekhus in April 2011
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen
On April 2, 2011 at Herning
Kongrescenter in Herning, Denmark, undefeated
Cecilia Braekhus (147 lbs) of Bergen, Norway won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,98-92,99-91)
decision over Jill Emery (145 lbs) defending her
WBA, WBO,
and WBC Welterweight titles. Photographer Mary Ann Owen told WBAN. "Braekhus was very aggressive
all ten rounds landing more punches.
Emery had problems with Braekhus's pressure through out the
rounds. Emery landed a few punches but not enough pull out a
win. Both fighters showed good sportsmanship and hugged and
talked after the fight." Braekhus progressed to
17-0 (4 KO's) with the win while Emery fell to 10-5 (4 KO's).
To pay the bills during her amateur career, Jill called on her
former passion and her engineering background and took jobs in the technical
areas of theater, doing lighting for fashion, TV, and theater events.
Page
last updated:Monday, February 12, 2024
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