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6'0" Sheree Nichole, a.k.a. Nikki "No Slack" Eplion,
from South Point, Ohio was born on November 13 1978.
Nikki
credits her brother Aaron for introducing her to
boxing.
"He
picked on me," she said,"we played basketball
a lot. He knew how tough I was." Eplion took her name "No Slack" from the
2nd
Battalion 327th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne
Division, in which her brother served. The unit
earned the name during the Vietnam war for its "No
Slack" attitude. Aaron's
death in a car accident at age 19 inspired Eplion
further. "We
were very close growing up. I wanted to win (a world
title) for him."
She won regional Toughwoman titles in Huntington, West Virginia in 1999, in Huntington
again in January 2000 and in Portsmouth,
Ohio a month later. "I was ready," she said.
"I knew I had something. I needed the right people to
teach me."
"She’s
a student of the game. She wants to learn," said
Jeremy Bates, a pro fighter from Greenup, Kentucky who
has helped
to train Eplion. In
December 2000 Eplion saw Bates make quick work of George Randolph in
a heavyweight bout. "I
loved it," she said. "It changed my life.
I knew what I had to do."
Nikki fought in the 2002 Toughwoman World
Championships at the Grand Casino in Gulfport, Mississipi.
Eplion (168 lbs) battled Yvonne Laderach to a draw on
the opening night of the 32-woman single-elimination
competition, and both advanced to the next round. The next night,
in front of a big live crowd and a PPV audience, Eplion
defeated Katie Schneider
and then Laderach to reach a semifinal showdown with
238-lb Becky Levi, a two-time runner-up in the contest.
Levi kept smothering Eplion to prevent her her from
mounting an offense but Eplion
said she thought she’d won the bout. One judge indeed had it
in her favor by a 29-28 score ... but the others
called it 29-28 and 30-29 for Levi, who won by a split
decision (and went on to lose in the final to Leah "The
Katz" Stuker).
"I
did enough to win. She just laid on me," Eplion
said. "When they said split decision, I was mad.
When they announced the decision, taking into consideration
all the hard work I had put in ... I was devastated."
Eplion turned pro after this setback and says she is determined
to box "as long as I can".
She made her pro boxing debut on April 20, 2002 at the High School Memorial
Field House in Parkersburg, West Virginia, winning by a third-round TKO over
another world Toughwoman graduate ... Gwen Wood of Glenn Easton, West Virginia. Wood was unable to
continue after the second round of their scheduled heavyweight four-rounder.
On
May 22, 2002 at Shakee's Lounge in Louisville, Kentucky, Nikki fought Liana
Owens to a four-round draw. Owens was now 1-0-1 (0 KO).
On
June 1, 2002 at the VFW Hall in Morgantown, West Virginia, Nikki won a four-round
majority (38-38,39-38,39-37) decision over Christin Annie of Morgantown.
Eplion took the fight to Annie for three rounds but Annie fought back in
the fourth to keep it close on two of the scorecards. Annie fell to 1-1 (1 KO).
On
June 11, 2002 at Mountaineer Racetrack and Casino in Chester, West Virginia,
Nikki (160 lbs) fought Pittsburgh's Shadina Pennybaker (5'5", 155 lbs)
to a four-round majority draw (38-38,38-38,39-37 for Eplion)
on ESPN2 Tuesday Night Fights. Women's Boxing Page correspondent
Craig Ogawa wrote "Not many punches connected as 6’0" southpaw Eplion and 5’5" right-hander Pennybaker had
a hard time figuring out each other’s style. Pennybaker, filling in at the last minute for Sherry Huchber,
did a good job negating Eplion’s height advantage and kept her left hand out high to block right jabs.
Her strongest moment seemed to come in the fourth when she came over with the left in succession three times
to tag her opponent. Eplion, a four-time regional Toughwoman champion in only her third pro fight after
making it to the semifinals of the World
Toughwoman’s Championship earlier this year, appeared to be overdoing it in trying to make use of her height
and reach advantage ... targeting Pennybaker long-range at the very end of her extended reach with the result
that her punches lacked force." Pennybaker progressed to 5-1-1 (2 KO), her only
loss at the time being to Laila Ali.
On
July 12, 2002 at Applebee's Park in Lexington, Kentucky, Nikki (170 lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36) decision over
pro debut fighter Bonnie Mann (160 lbs) from Morrisville, North Carolina. (Mann later told me that her weight for this fight was really only 153
lbs.)
On December 28, 2002, Nikki won by a second-round TKO over Courtney Elliot of
Cleveland, Ohio, who
was making her pro debut.
On January 18, 2003 at Civic Arena in Huntington, West Virginia, Nikki won by a
second-round KO over
Carlette Ewell
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina in scheduled six-round pro bout that was the main event of a card
that also featured a Toughman contest.
Former North Carolina Toughwoman champion Ewell fell to 2-1-0 (1 KO).
On
March 29, 2003 at Jefferson Elementary Center in Parkersburg, West Virginia,
Nikki again
won by a TKO over Gwen Wood. Wood stayed on the stool after the first round,
much like in their previous fight when she was unable to
continue after the second round. Wood, 0-2 as a pro boxer, said that she had not been in
the ring since she first fought Eplion, but took the fight because she needed the money.
In a post-fight interview, Eplion told local TV that
she "would have Laila Ali's belt by the end of the
year" and would fight Ali for nothing to get it.
On
April 6, 2003 at the VFW in Morgantown, West Virginia, Nikki won a first-round TKO over newcomer Christine Butch.
On
June 13, 2003 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, Nikki (167 lbs) won a four-round unanimous decision over
Yvonne Reis (163 lbs) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
who is trained by former IFBA world champion boxer and kickboxer Bonnie Canino. This bout was
fought with three-minute rounds. Reis fell to 2-1-0 (0 KO). (Read also
Behind the Scenes
of this fight by Bonnie Canino).
On
July 11, 2003 at Island Racetrack and Gaming Center, Wheeling, West Virginia, USA,
Nikki weighed in at 156½ lbs and won by a first-round TKO over Kitty Pugh of Southhaven, Mississippi.
Eplion dazed Pugh early in the
first round with a straight left. Then another straight
left to the head and a left hook to the body had Pugh
reeling at the bell sounded and she did not come out for the second round, due to what was thought to be a broken rib.
Their fight was the
co-main feature on the Friday Night Fights show. Pugh fell to
4-3-0 (3 KO)
with her second loss in two weeks.
On August 22, 2003 at Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, Texas, Nikki (162 lbs)
won an eight-round decision over former world champion Mary Ann Almager (168 lbs), who fell to 14-7-0 (9 KO).
The win
earned Nikki the Miller Lite Texas Middleweight title.
On
December 6, 2003 at Veterans Memorial Field House in Huntington, West Virginia,
1100 fans gave Eplion a rousing ovation as she made her way to the ring and cheered
her on as she repeatedly rocked Angela Hull of Cleveland, Ohio
before the referee stopped the bout at 1:40 in the first round. The win earned Eplion
the newly-formed Tri-State Boxing Association's
middleweight title (the association was started by Ken Artrip, her manager).
Eplion rocked Hull several times and earned a standing eight
count before the fight was stopped. Although this was the headline professional
bout on an otherwise amateur card, a report I received from ringside "[Hull] acted like she had never been in a ring before. When
the referee gave her a standing eight count she was crying but said she
wanted to continue. Eplion charged right by the referee as soon as he
said 'box' and landed several power shots making Hull turn away and
the referee had to stop it." Eplion improves her record to 11-0-2 (7 KO)
with the win. Hull's boxing record was reported locally as 5-2, but this is
the first pro fight that I am aware of for her.
The
fight was the first for Eplion
with Charlie Hanshaw as her trainer. "Another
stepping stone," Hanshaw said after the fight. "The
fans came to see a first-round knockout and they did,"
said Eplion.
Robinson stalks Eplion in the WIBA title fight
© Copyrighted photo by WBAN Senior Editor Brian Ackley
It was a different story back at the same Huntington venue on
February 28, 2004 when, in a rare world title battle between two undefeated
female fighters, Leatitia Robinson (159 lbs) of Chicago, Illinois
won the WIBA Middleweight title with a ten-round unanimous (98-92,97-94,99-91) decision over
Nikki (160 lbs). Eplion was again cheered on by her home crowd, estimated at 1,000, but Robinson's
ring skills, honed in a long 37-1 amateur career that included national and
international chamionships, were more than she could overcome. Robinson
constantly beat Eplion to the punch and also appeared to be in better condition for the long fight.
A ringside report said that Robinson "hammered Nikki from the left side and it was like when she was tired with
that she hammered Nikki from the right. Nikki didn't have the endurance that Robinson had. From the stands
it looked like Robinson was just having fun, she didn't look like she was working at all. Nikki on the
other hand was shuffling around and couldn't react quickly enough. Robinson didn't sit there and wait
for Nikki. Maybe that's why it looked like Nikki was only fighting with one hand, she never had a chance
to throw the second punch. About the only thing Nikki had left was to keep hugging Robinson, that was
annoying because we didn't get to see much continued punching for that reason."
Robinson, already the IWBF middleweight champion, improved to 11-0-0 (8 KO)
with this win
while Eplion slipped to 11-1-2 (7 KO). (See Brian Ackley's full
fight report
and photos)
"It was devastating," Eplion said
of her first pro loss. "I turned my cell phone off that night, went to a hotel and stayed the night. After that, the hardest thing was people questioning if I would continue to fight. I haven't stuck in it this long to give up my dream."
Eplion has said she over-trained for the Robinson fight and felt "very run down" by the time she entered the ring.
"Leatitia has a whole lot of skill and won the fight," Eplion said.
"Even though I respect Laila Ali for all the attention she has brought to women's boxing, I think Robinson is a better quality fighter."
Ironically, Nikki's loss to Leatitia Robinson may have been the key that opened the door to
a match with undefeated Laila Ali for the IBA Super Middleweight
title. That fight was originally set for June 12, 2004 at the Mohegan
Sun Resort Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, but then was rescheduled to July
17.
Eplion's manager
Ken Artrip opined that the bout was rescheduled after southpaw Antonio Tarver surprised
the boxing world by knocking out Roy Jones. As Eplion is also a southpaw, Artrip
said that "Ali has gone to Buddy McGirt's camp to get additional training for a southpaw,
that's what this is all about."
Eplion
preferred not to discuss
her purse for the Ali bout, but said it will be her biggest
payout ever, and that her sons Kyle and Ryan often
talked about the "big house and swimming pool"
they could buy after she beat Ali.
"This
is not just a fight, it’s my life," she says,
"I’ve been training to do this since Day One. I do this
because I love the sport and I want to establish a better
lifestyle for my kids."
Eplion added that
"I
hope (Ali's) studying me from the Leatitia film because that
was me at my worst. I hope she’s
expecting that type of fighter. I think she’s underestimating
me".
Of Ali, Nikki said: "She’s a good fighter, but
I think Leatitia is 100 percent better."
About the rescheduling: "I had a feeling something like this was going to happen. I don't want Laila
to back out of this fight. Now I know it's because she was
scared. I
think she is avoiding a fight with Leatitia Robinson and
I’m the only other quality fighter she can find."
Ali’s
promoter and husband, Johnny McClain, said that Eplion’s
size and her
often-expressed wish to fight Ali made her
a worthy opponent for Laila: "She’s
bigger and taller and that presents a whole new set of dynamics
... (Laila) faced some opponents that were big but they
were lesser quality opponents."
The bout took place on July 17, 2004 at Prince
Georges Stadium in Bowie, Maryland, and was televised live on Pay-Per-View. Laila Ali (167¼ lbs) successfully defended her IBA World
Super Middleweight title by TKO'ing Nikki (167¾ lbs) at 1:30 in the fourth round.
Ali’s boxing skills and aggressive style were too much for Eplion, who was game but
could not compete with Ali's mobility and power, despite stating in the pre-fight
press conference that "I don't think she [Ali] will have an answer for
[my] big left hand." Eplion began the fight aggressively, trying to
land with that left, but her plan apparently went out the
window when Ali walked past her punches and began
landing lead rights. Eplion
began going backwards and was backed against the ropes and into corners as Ali
picked up her pace and ramped up the pressure on her with
the crowd chanting, “Ali, Ali”. Eplion was knocked
down four times in the third and fourth rounds and Ali was
scoring hard right hands and short left uppercuts before
referee Gary Camponeshi stopped the bout. Ali advanced to
17-0 (14 KO).
 On
March 12, 2005 at the Radisson Hotel in Huntington, West
Virginia, 600 fans saw Eplion (177½ lbs) win a six-round
unanimous (59-55,58-56,58-56) decision over Nigerian-born
Ijeoma Egbunine
(175 lbs) of Marietta, Georgia. "I knew it
would be rough. I’m going to have to take this kind of
fight," said Eplion, "I knew I had every round. I
showed heart." Eplion was fighting for the first time
under her former trainer Corky Salyer, from whom she had
split in 2003. Egbunine's trainer Henry Okafor
disagreed with the decision, saying that Eplion "never
threw any punches". Egbunine fell to 2-1 (1 KO).
On May 27, 2005 at Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington,
West Virginia, Kathy Rivers from
Hollywood, Florida won a ten-round unanimous decision over
Nikki for the IBA Americas female Cruiserweight Title.
The fight
was the co-main event on the 11-bout Tri-State Showcase of
Champions card. The Huntington Herald-Dispatch
reported that
Eplion
controlled the action in the first two rounds but Rivers
took over at that point, doing most of the damage with
Eplion on the ropes, and dropped the Ohio southpaw several
times. Overall, Eplion took nine standing 8-counts. Rivers
had been 0-2-2 in action in fights in hometowns of her
opponents in the last four outings. "I had to feel her
out," Rivers said while admiring the championship belt
around her waist. "That’s what it’s all about. The third
round, my trainer (Bert Rodriguez) said go to work."
Eplion fell to 12-3-2 (7 KOs) while Rivers
improved to 14-5-2 (5 KOs).
Nikki says she brings her sons to the gym at
times, but not to her boxing shows. "When
I get into the ring, I’m ready to kill somebody. I’m
a totally different person."
* * * * * * * *
After Eplion left the sport...Nikki is and has
always been the favorite hometown girl. Like Christy Martin,
Nikki started out her boxing career by fighting and winning
in the local West Virginia Toughman Contest in 1999. She
went on to fight in the World Toughwoman Contest. Although
she didn’t win the World title, it was at that moment she
found a true passion to pursue a professional boxing
career.(2002) Even from the beginning, it was evident that
Nikki was a true boxing talent. She was immediately
approached by several local boxing trainers who offered to
train her, and did. It didn’t take long for her skills and
talent were notable to some of the most notorious boxing
coaches in the world; Emanuel Stewart and Freddie Roach who
both acknowledged her boxing skills.
Her team told WBAN, "Nikki is a true warrior! During her
boxing career, she managed to raise her two sons by herself,
work a full-time job, continue her college education, and
pursue her passion for boxing--- all while spending much of
that time in a homeless shelter with her sons. She has also
demonstrated an extraordinary will to overcome so many
adversities and be successful. She has gained the respect of
both men and women and, she has inspired thousands of young
girls to pursue their dreams! Still today, years after her
retirement from boxing, Nikki continues to promote the sport
of women’s boxing by speaking at conferences and special
events across the country, detailing her story of overcoming
extraordinary adversities- both in and out of the ring- to
becoming the success that she is today. (please visit her
website: Nikki Bryant |
Be Extraordinary (nikki-bryant.com)
Nikki’s fighting spirit not only paid off in the ring but
also outside of the ring as well. Despite her dire
circumstances of being homeless, Nikki fought her way to
success, obtaining two Master’s degrees. Today, she is a
leader in (WV) state higher education. Additionally, Nikki
has donated so much of her time and boxing expertise to the
kids at the local Boys & Girls Club, as well as, donated
hundreds of hours to her community by volunteering and
helping to collect donations for the Huntington City
Mission, Safe Harbor Domestic Violence Shelter, the Shelter
of Hope, Inc."
Other Nikki Eplion links
Page last updated:
Wednesday October 20, 2021 |
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