5'4" bantamweight Kaliesha (Kay) "Wild Wild" West was born on February 11, 1988 in South Haven, Michigan, USA. Her heritage is multi-cultural:  her father Juan West is of Black, Puerto Rican and Seminole Indian descent while her mother Melissa is of Korean and Mexican heritage.  She lives in Moreno Valley, California, a small suburb between Riverside and Palm Springs.  She attended Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley where she was an honors student and ran cross-country. Her boxing trainer and manager is her father, who was a US Navy amateur boxing champion and a pro welterweight from 1994 to 1995. (He left the competitive sport to support his family better.)

Kaliesha first got excited about boxing while attending her father's fights but he was reluctant to involve her in the sport. According to WBAN correspondent David Avila, Juan West tried to appease the 10-year-old Kaliesha by showing her the proper boxing stance and how to punch then giving her monotonous training exercises to discourage her.  When she persisted, he took her to a gym to fight, and she lost.  “I thought that would make her quit,” Juan West told David Avila, but instead it made her more determined!  

Kaliesha went on to become one of the best amateurs in California, winning numerous tournaments and honors including the 2002 and 2003 Junior Olympic championships and the 2003 and 2004 Silver Gloves and the 2002 125-lb National Golden Gloves championship for ages 13-14. Her overall amateur record was 98-10 when she turned pro in 2006.

She made her pro debut on February 23, 2006 at San Manuel Indian Casino in San Bernardino, California, weighting in at 118 lbs., and winning a four-round unanimous (40-35 x 3) decision over Suszannah Warner. (117¾ lbs). Warner was knocked down in the second round and fell to 2-3 (1 KO).  As West had only just turned 18, she had to be sneaked in to the fight arena because there was a minimum age of 21 to enter the casino.

On March 25, 2006 at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, Kaliesha won a four-round unanimous decision over Tonia Cravens of Albuquerque, New Mexico who fell to 2-2-1 (1 KO).

On May 19, 2006 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California, Kaliesha (116¾ lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-37,39-37,39-37) decision over Elizabeth Cervantes (5'1", 114 lbs) of Lakeside, California who fell to 1-5 (0 KO's).

On July 8, 2006 at the Conference Center in Monterey, California, Kaliesha won a six-round unanimous (60-55,59-55,60-54) decision over Maria Contreras of Houston, Texas, who fell to 1-5 (0 KO's) and has not fought since.

On November 18, 2006  at the Conference Center in Monterey, California, Kaliesha won a six-round unanimous (59-55 x 3) decision over former amateur standout Stella Nijhof of New York who fell to 1-1-1 (0 KO's) and has not fought as a pro since.

WBAN named Kaliesha its "Rookie of the Year" for 2006.

On March 30, 2007 at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, Kaliesha (116 lbs) won another four-round unanimous (40-36 x 3) decision over Elizabeth Cervantes (114 lbs) who fell to 1-7 (0 KO's).

On August 17, 2007 at Harrah;s Rincon Casino in Valley Center, California, Kaliesha (116½ lbs) won a six-round split (58-56,59-55,56-58) decision over British-born Carly Batey (116½ lbs) of San Diego, California who fell to 3-2-2 (0 KO's).

On March 29, 2008 at Gimnasio Oscar “Tigre” García in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, Kaliesha TKO'd Flor Verdugo of Mexico at 1:43 in the second round of a scheduled six-rounder. 

On June 27, 2008 at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon, California, Kaliesha (123½ lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,59-55) decision over Elizabeth (Villarreal) Moreno (5'7", 123¼ lbs) of San Antonio, Texas who fell to 5-7-3 (KO's).

On July 23, 2008 at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon, California, Kaliesha (123½ lbs) KO'd Elizabeth Cervantes (124 lbs) of Lakeside, California at 0:55 in the first round of a scheduled six-rounder. Cervantes fell to 2-9 (1 KO). [Video]

On November 18, 2008 at Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California, unbeaten Ava Knight (117½ lbs) of Chico, California won the IFBA North American Bantamweight title with a hard fought eight-round unanimous (77-75x3) decision over Kaliesha (117¾ lbs).  Knight improved to 5-0-2 (2 KO's) with the win.

On August 1, 2009 at Aqua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California, Kaliesha (125 lbs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Rolanda Andrews (124 lbs) of Atlanta, Georgia who fell to 8-8-1 (4 KO's) and has not fought again. Kaliesha had moved up to featherweight because of difficulty obtaining opponents at bantamweight.

On January 21, 2010 at San Manuel Indian Casino in Highland, California, Kaliesha (120¾ lbs) battled to a six-round majority draw with former IBF and WIBA world bantamweight champion Ada Velez (121½ lbs) of Hollywood, Florida.   Velez moved her record to 16-3-3 (6 KO's) with this, her first fight after a 26-month layoff.

On March 26, 2010 at Arena Midt in Kjellerup, Denmark, Kaliesha (117¾ lbs) fought to a 10-round majority  (95-95,95-95,94-96) draw with former WBC, WBA, WIBA, WIBF and GBU world bantamweight champion Anita Christensen (116½ lbs) of Randers, Denmark for the vacant World Professional Boxing Federation bantamweight belt.  West moved her pro record to 11-1-2 (2 KOs) while Christensen's went to 24-1-1 (8 KOs).

On June 26, 2010 at the Jockey Club in Lima, Peru Kaliesha (119¼ lbs) TKO'd Vannessa Guimaraes (5′0½″, 118¾ lbs) of Curitiba, Brazil who fell to 8-3 (7 KO's).

On September 18, 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Kaliesha (118 lbs) won the vacant WBO Bantamweight title with a TKO over Angel Gladney (5'1", 117 lbs) of South Carolina at 0:59 in the seventh round of a scheduled ten-rounder.   Gladney fell to 6-3-2 (5 KO's). Boxing writer David Avila named West's knockout of Gladney the "Knockout of the Year" and West the "Fighter of the Year" for 2010.

On June 18, 2011 at the Sports Arena in Pico Rivera, California, Ava Knight (117 lbs) of Chico, California and Kaliesha West (118 lbs) fought to a 10-round split draw in a rematch for the WBO Bantamweight title. The scores were: 96-94 West, 96-94 Knight, and 95-95.  Knight's record moved to 6-1-3 (3 KO's).

On August 20, 2011 at Casino Black Pyramid in Manzanillo, Colima, México, Kaliesha West (118 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (97-95,99-91,96-94) decision over Jessica Villafranca (118 lbs) of Nicolas Romero, México defending the WBO Bantamweight title. West wrote on her Facebook page that "The fight was tough. Jessica has a big heart.”  Villafranca fell to 12-3 (6 KO's). 

On April 14, 2012 at Gimnasio Municipal Ernesto Ruffo Appel in Rosarito, Baja California, México, Kaliesha West won a hard fought ten round majority (98-92,98-92,95-95) decision over Claudia Lopez of Argentina defending the WBO Bantamweight title.  The action went back and forth throughout a battle in which West at first looked off balance and awkward against the sturdy southpaw.  Lopez was busier when the early action got to close quarters but West found her composure and distance better in the later rounds and also landed the straighter, harder punches of the two as Lopez began to tire.  Lopez kept coming forward and gave a good account of herself in a match that was far from one-sided.  West improved to 15-1-3 (4 KO's) with the win while Lopez fell to 18-6 (4 KO's).  

Page last updated: Monday, 16 April 2012

WBAN Boxer Bio by Dee Williams