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Born in London, England on 17 July 17 1969, Michele Aboro lived in Peckham
until she was sixteen.
Her first sport was motocross, but she took up kickboxing and Muay Thai when
she was nineteen. She went on to win five British titles, one European, and
three world titles. She went to Amsterdam in 1994 to train with
Johan Vos and compiled a 32-2-1 record with 23 KO's as a kickboxer.
Like many kickboxers with few worlds left to conquer in that sport, Michele
took up professional boxing. She left a trail of destruction in Europe rings, fighting as a (super) bantamweight or junior featherweight.
Michele's boxing career started with a string of first-round knockouts: of Marlene Lambert in
Jabeke Belgium
on March 4, 1995, Donatella Todde in Italy on May 11, 1995 and Silvia Porteleky of Hungary
in Budapest on March 9, 1996.
On October 19, 1996 at the Zoo-Gesellschaftshaus in Frankfurt am
Main, Germany, she TKO'd highly regarded kickboxer Severine Grandsire of France in the sixth round.
On April 26, 1997 in Leipzig, Germany she stopped Krisztina Krek of Austria in the second round.,
On Novermber 29, 1997 at the Rheinstrandhalle in Karlsruhe,
Daxlanden, Germany she took a six round
decision from then-unbeaten Daisy Lang of Bulgaria.
Laing dropped to 3-1 with the loss.
At the Sartory Säle in Cologne, Germany on March 7, 1998, she defeated Hungary's Krisztina Horvai by decision over 6 rounds.
Horvai fell to 0-2 with the loss. On May 2, 1998 at Hansehalle, in Lübeck, Germany, she
TKO'd France's Nadia Debras in the
fourth round, dropping Debras's pro boxing record to 0-4.
On August 22, 1998 at the Sport und Erholungszentrum in Berlin, Germany, she
defeated Brigitte Pastor of France by fifth-round KO for the vacant WEBF
European junior featherweight title, scoring a solid knockout that
left the French fighter unconscious on the canvas! Pastor fell to 0-2.
On November 28, 1998 at the Hansehalle in Lübeck, Germany,
she defended this WEBF title with an eighth-round TKO
over Galina Giumliiska of Bulgaria, who fell to 2-1. On March 13, 1999 in Lübeck, Germany, she weighed in at
118 lbs and moved her pro record to 11-0 with a first round TKO of
Renate Fuskova (also 118 lbs) of Czechoslovakia.
On May 22, 1999 at the Sport Palace in Budapest, Hungary, she
weighed in at 118½ lbs and moved to a perfect 12-0 record (9 KO´s)
by taking a six-round decision over Anastasia Toktaulova (115 lbs) of Russia.
Aboro won every round of this bout! Toktaulova fell to 3-4 (1 KO)
On September 18, 1999 at the Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany,
Michele (124 lbs)
had no difficulty scoring a
first-round TKO over Poland's Dorota Kosatka (119¼ lbs) in a bout
that had been scheduled for six. A vicious combination to the
head ended the bout in a hurry.
On November 27, 1999 at Hansehalle in Lübeck, Germany,
a crowd of 2,000 saw Aboro win a six-round decision over Nadia Debras of France
in a rematch of their May 1998 bout.
On February 5, 2000 at the Rhein-Rhur-Halle in Duisberg, Germany,
she weighed in at 122 lbs and won the vacant WIBF Junior Featherweight
title with a 10-round unanimous decision over
WIBF/IFBA Bantamweight champion Eva Jones-Young
(121 lbs) of South Bend, Indiana, USA, who fell to 13-3-1 with 5 KO's.
Aboro is now 15-0 with 10 KO's.
On May 13, 2000 at Sartory Säle in Cologne, Germany,
Michele (120 lbs) was more than a match for IFBA Junior Featherweight
champion Leona Brown
(121 lbs) from Pawling, New York in their 10-rounder for Aboro's
WIBF Junior Featherweight title. Aboro won by a comfortable unanimous decision
(99-92,100-90,97-93).
Aboro, who has shown a rare combination of skill and power,
had Brown hurt several times
during the bout and kept Brown where she wanted her with her jab. But Aboro
was also willing to go at it at close quarters with the scrappy
Brown when it suited her. Aboro was now an impressive 16-0 and had staked her
claim to pound-for-pound supremacy in women's boxing. Brown fell to
8-3 with the loss.
On October 1, 2000 at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany,
a capacity crowd of 600 fans saw Aboro
(121¼ lbs) move her pro record to 17-0 (11 KO's) with a TKO at 1:40 of the third round
over Marina Kozeroda (126¾ lbs) of the Ukraine.
On December 5, 2000, again at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Michele moved her pro boxing
record to 18-0 (11 KO's) with a unanimous decision over Krisztina Horvai of
Hungary, who slipped to 4-6-1 (1 KO). This fight wasn't close as Aboro steadily
punished her overmatched opponent.
On February 10, 2001 at the Estrel Covention Center in Berlin, Germany,
Michele won a 98-93,98-92,97-94 ten-round decision
for the WIBF Junior Featherweight title over WIBF Americas Featherweight champion Kelsey Jeffries
of Gilroy, California. This was a close fight early on with Jeffries working the body well,
but Aboro came on strong in the late going to take the decision.
Jeffries fell to 10-3 with 1 KO. [Fight
reports from Marcel Niessen and Rick Mello]
On June 16, 2001 at Kisstadion in Budapest, Hungary,
Michele moved her record to 20-0 (12 KO's) with a third-round TKO
over Krisztina Stefula of Hungary, who fell to 0-4.
On November 24, 2001 at Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany,
Michele cruised to a 10 round unanimous decision over Nadia Debras
(117 lbs) of France in another WIBF Junior Featherweight title bout.
Aboro won every round for a 100-90 score on all three cards, moving her record
21-0 (12KO).
This
would, however, prove to be Aboro's last fight, as further opponents could
not be found and the WIBF eventually vacated her title for non-defense.
Michele was trained by Torsten Schmidt and her fights
promoted by Universum Box Promotions. Like her stable-mate Regina Halmich,
Michele ran out of suitable competition
in Europe. .
Unlike some "protected" undefeated in this sport, Michele came
by her record taking on anyone who was willing step into the ring with her.
Aboro told me that she did not retire, but ran out of boxers who were willing to
face her.
In 2020, Aboro was inducted into the International Women's Boxing
Hall of Fame, along with the following other inductees. Kelsey
Jeffries,
41-11-1 (4KO), 1999-2014, Gilroy, California; Melinda
Cooper,
23-2-0 (11KO), 2002-2014, Las Vegas, Nevada; Mary
Ortega,
32-6-2 (9KO), 1997-2014, Kansas City, Missouri; Sharon
Anyos,
14-3-0, 1998-2007 (4KO), Australia; China; Isra
Girgrah Wynn,
28-3-2 (11KO), Maryland; Lisa
Brown,
20-6-3 (6KO), Ontario, Canada; Jaime
Clampitt,
22-5-1 (7KO), 2000-2013, Warwick, Rhode Island; Valerie
Mahfood,
19-14-4 (9KO), 1997-2008, Beaumont, Texas; and high-profile prominent pioneer
boxer, Graciela
Casillas who
fought professional in the late 1970s and 1980s, winning a world title belt, and
undefeated as a boxer. In the non-boxer category, we have the following; Mary
Ann Owen,
covering women's boxing for 22 plus years as a photographer and writer; Shelley
Williams,
a major force outside the ring, inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame
in 2016 and more.
Page last updated:
Tuesday, 02 April 2024 |
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