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5'8"
flyweight Para Draine from Mead, Washington was born on December 28, 1972.
She had one career checking ID's
and acting as backup bouncer in a nightclub,
and another as a world champion boxer, winning the IWBF Flyweight and IFBA
Junior Bantamweight titles.
Her boxing career began in the basement of her family
home where she punched out an older female cousin in what she's described as "some pretty
brutal fights". The late 1990's surge in women's boxing was perfectly timed for Draine,
who progressed from basement boxing to the top of her weight division,
with wins over potent opposition like Eva Jones-Young, Bridgett Riley, JoJo
Wyman, Marilyn Salcido and Yvonne Trevino.
Para Draine remembers being turned away at her
local boxing gym in Spokane. "The gym didn't allow it (women to box)", she told WBAN's
Brian Ackley, "I remember my Dad told me that when I
was eight years old I came home crying because they wouldn't
let me." Undaunted, she boxed with her cousin until sanctioned amateur boxing
was finally opened to female competitors.
Para went undefeated in her four amateur fights, and won the Tacoma Washington
Golden Gloves (where she defeated Carla Wilcox, who's also gone on to pro
boxing, by just one
point).
Para won her pro debut in 1997 with a four-round decision over Dolores Lira of
Boise, Idaho. "She hit me and I hit her back real hard and she grinned at me,"
Para told Brian Ackley, "so I stepped up and hit her again with three or four
punches and knocked her on her butt. I'm like 'there, smile now'." Across
the Canadian border at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 21, 1997,
Para teamed with Sarah Schmedding of Spokane to defeat Canadians Tara Morneau of Vancouver and
Olivia Gerula of Winnipeg, Manitoba in a "Tag Team Boxing" event with one six-minute round.
Four days later, at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Bingo and Casino in Worley, Idaho,
she defeated another Canadian, Trena Drotar of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, by a
fourth-round TKO. Drotar fell to 2-1 wih this loss.
On July 10, 1997 in Lewiston, Idaho, she won a four-round decision over Natasha Wilburn
of Atlanta, Georgia, who was making her own pro debut.
On August 14 1997, back at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Bingo and Casino in Worley, she moved her pro record to 4-0, 1 KO with a 4-round
unanimous (39-36,39-37,40-35) decision over
Eva Jones-Young, who fell to 3-1-1.
On September 24, 1997 in Boise, Idaho, she won a four-round decision over Sue Chase of Ohio, who
fell to 0-12.
On November 12, 1997 again at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Bingo and Casino in Worley, Para (112 lbs)
lost to Teresa Arnold (118 lbs)
of Boise, Idaho by a 10-round split decision
for the IBA (International Boxing Association) women's bantamweight
(118 lbs) title in a battle of two then-undefeated fighters. The loss dropped
Draine to 5-1, and was her first fight scheduled beyond four rounds. Arnold
improved to 7-0 with the win.
On February 5, 1998 she advanced to 6-1 with a six-round unanimous decision over Winnipeg, Canada's
Shirley Prescott in bantamweight action at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal
Bingo and Casino in Worley, Idaho. Prescott was a last-minute substitute for
Oklahoma's Brenda Rouse, and fell to 2-3 with the loss.
On May 24, 1998 at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Atlantic City,
Para won the IWBF Flyweight title
by stopping Britain's Michelle Sutcliffe (9-2 as a Thai boxer, then 1-1 as a
pro boxer) in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-rounder.
On August 8, 1998 at the Spirit Lake Casino and Resort in North
Dakota, Para (110 lbs) defended
the IWBF Flyweight title with a hard-fought 10-round split (97-94, 98-92, 93-96) decision
over Peoria, Arizona's Yvonne Trevino (112 lbs).
On November 12, 1998 in Kansas City, Missouri, she lost an eight-round unanimous decision to
IWBF/WIBF bantamweight champion Eva Jones-Young of South Bend, Indiana,
who improved to 11-1-1.
On April 18, 1999 in Mannheim, Germany,
Silke Weickenmeier of Speyer, Germany moved her pro record to 9-2-1
and won the vacant WIBF junior featherweight title with a
unanimous (96-95, 96-94, 99-92) ten-round decision over Para,
who was fighting three classes above her usual weight!
Weickenmeier was the busier fighter throughout, but Draine came on strongly in
the late going to keep it close. "I had a lot left," said Draine afterwards, "I
was making sure I didn't get tired toward the later rounds, and then at the end,
I was like, 'Dang, I don't even feel tired.' That's not how it should be."
On July 10, 1999 the IWBF announced that it had stripped Para of the
Flyweight
title that she won against Michelle Sutcliffe for failure to sign a contract to
defend it within the mandatory period.
On November 4, 1999 at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Bingo and Casino in Worley, Idaho,
Para won a six-round split decision over previously unbeaten Jo Jo Wyman
of Los Angeles, who dropped to 4-1. Draine opened a cut over Wyman's left eye in the fifth
round and cut her again over both eyes in the sixth round of a rugged battle.
On February 17, 2000 at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Bingo and Casino in Worley, Idaho,
2700 fans saw Para (108 lbs) score a
six-round split decision over Brenda Burnside (115 lbs) of Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Draine dominated the first three rounds but was knocked down
for the first time in her career in the fourth.
"She hit me with a straight right hand, but I wasn't hurt.
I didn't see stars or anything" Draine told reporter
Hilary Kraus of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
"It was kinda like I thought `Hey, this is cool.' And
I got right back up." Burnside later said she felt she won the fight,
which dropped her record to 7-10-2 (many of her losses coming to top
competitors).
On April 6, 2000 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada, Draine lost by unanimous (99-91, 99-91, 96-95)
ten-round decision
to Margaret Sidoroff of Windsor, Ontario in a ten-round toe-to-toe battle for the IWBF Flyweight title. 3,500 fans saw Draine and Sidoroff trade punishing shots all night. These fans and women's boxing were
also winner as this female fight was the high point of a four-fight card. Sidoroff,
one of the best boxers ever to come out of the Canadian amateur ranks, moved to 8-0 in front of a partisan home
crowd. Draine continued to impress the women's boxing world with her willingness to take on tough opponents on their home turf.
On March 30, 2002 at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Para returned to competition
after a two-year layoff with a four-round
unanimous decision over 2000 Canadian amateur flyweight champion Robin Pinto of Summerland,
British Columbia. Pinto fell to 1-2 with the loss. According to Inside Women's Boxing
correspondent Matt Sorenson, "Pinto showed
skills way beyond her record, but Draine was sharp, using a stiff jab and a versatile right hand to earn a unanimous
decision".
On April 12, 2002 at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, In a 110-lb contest, Yvonne Caples
of Las Vegas advanced to 5-3-1 (1 KO) with a six-round majority (58-56,58-56,57-57) decision over Para. Both fighters
looked a little ring rusty, according to my correspondent.
On August 17, 2002 at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, Marilyn Salcido (115 lbs) of Rialto, California battled
Para (114 lbs) to a six-round majority draw (59-55 Salcido, 57-57, 57-57). Francisco Salazar writes that "Draine's awkward
style seemed to befuddle Salcido from the outset of the first round. However, later in the round, Salcido seemed to crack
the code to score against Draine as she began to land some shots to Draine's head. As the fight progressed, Draine seemed
to make the bout more difficult for her to fight. Taller and with a longer reach than Salcido, Draine tried to charge in
and score with awkward crosses and hooks when she might have been more successful establishing her jab. Salcido made her
pay by connecting with crosses and a few uppercuts. In the latter half of the fight, Draine began to connect a little more
with each passing round. Both traded in the final two rounds with each landing significant telling blows over one another."
Salazar said that Salcido felt she had won the fight. "You give it your all in the fight and then you get this from the
judges. It upsets me. Yeah, she was hard to figure out in the beginning, but I figured her out and scored at will against
her." Salcido's record moved to 8-3-3 (1 KO) while Draine's became 11-5-1 (2 KO).
Para (R) lands to the body of Bridgett Riley in
November 2002
©
Copyrighted photo taken by Sue TL Fox
On November 14, 2002 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, Para (115 lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-54, 59-55, 59-55)
decision over former IFBA Bantamweight champion Bridgett Riley (115 lbs) of Hollywood, California.
In this elimination bout for the IFBA Junior Bantamweight title, Draine used excellent movement, ring savvy and an effective
attack to Riley's body to hand Riley a convincing boxing lesson. Riley's left hook and aggressive style were no match for
Draine's skills and accurate counterpunching in a bout that Draine controlled. Both fighters did some dirty work at close
quarters, and Draine was warned twice for holding Riley behind the head. Riley
fell to 13-3-0 (6 KO).
On December 18, 2002 at the Marriott Hotel in Irvine, California, Para completed her ring comeback by winning the vacant IFBA Junior Bantamweight title with a ten-round split (99-91,98-92,94-96) decision over Marilyn Salcido of Rialto,
California. Salcido, the crowd favorite, began the fight aggressively. She took the
action to the
taller Draine at first, beating her to the punch and outworking her while Para
looked to box outside and use her reach
advantage. Draine got untracked in the third and fourth rounds, however, and began landing precisely timed right hands
and uppercuts on Salcido. In the fifth and sixth, Para was able to back Salcido up
and sometimes showed that she could outwork the Californian at close quarters. Draine paced herself to go the distance and
fought the later rounds looking sharp against an obviously tiring but still very aggressive Salcido.
Draine lost her balance in the ninth after swinging on a wild left, then tried to
tie Salcido up. Both put on a big show of toe-to-toe action in
the final round that had the crowd on its feet, cheering loudly ... for Salcido! Draine wobbled Salcido with a hard right but Salcido kept coming
forward to press the action as Draine finally began to tire.
The crowd went wild as both fighters were lifted in the air by their corner teams
after the final bell. Salcido fell to 9-4-3 (2 KO) with the split decision loss.
After
this fight, Draine stated that Marilyn Salcido was "a great fighter" and
that she herself had felt a bit sluggish in this fight. Para’s team also said that
she would like to unify the women's Junior Bantamweight belts and then move up in weight.
Each boxer had been guaranteed just $3,000 for this ten-round world title fight. Said Salcido
after the fight: "Para came to fight and I came to fight. I tried to stay away from her right hand. I tried to work her body. I
threw some right hooks and stepped in with my jabs. But I wasn't able to really get to her like I wanted to. I had never
gone 10 rounds before and it took a lot out of me." Salcido's trainer Bob Davison said his fighter couldn't match Para's
strength. "Marilyn did land some power shots, but she wasn't really able to hurt [her]."
WBAN named Para Draine "Greatest Comeback of the Year" for 2002 for recovering
her world title status.
On February 13, 2003 at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, California, IFBA featherweight champion Kelsey Jeffries of Gilroy,
California won a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,60-54) decision over Para. Jeffries advanced to 18-7-0 (1 KO) while
Draine fell to 13-6-1 (2 KO). This non-title bout was added to the card at short notice. Jeffries was originally supposed
to take on Marilyn Salcido and Draine stepped in to make the match possible at the last moment.
On October 17, 2003 at Orleans Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada,
a scheduled bout between Para
and Melinda Cooper of Las Vegas was called off
when Draine failed a pre-fight medical.
Page last updated: Saturday, May 1, 2004 |
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