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5'5" "Mean Snodene" Blakeney is one of several female pro fighters who
trained at
Richard Lord's gym in Austin, Texas. She was born on August 7, 1972 in San Antonio, Texas.
She made her pro boxing debut at the Music Hall in Austin on July 24, 1998, weighing in at 139 lbs
and knocking out Randi Saenz (138 lbs) of Tyler, Texas at 1:45 of the second
round of a scheduled four-rounder. Blakeney was the
aggressor from the start in this fight.
In 1998, on August 21, 1998 at the Belle Casino in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
she weighed in at 136 lbs and won a four-round unanimous decision
over Mary Ann Haik (133 lbs) of Pearl River, Louisiana, who fell to 2-4 with the
loss; on October 23, 1998 at the Music Hall in Austin, she weighed in at
138¼ lbs and won by TKO at 1:13 in the second
round over Deshaun Mohammed (138 lbs) of Aurora, Colorado. Mohammed fell to 1-2;
and on November 20, 1998 in Marksville, Louisiana, Jeanne Martinez of Slidell, Louisiana moved her
own pro record to 6-2-1 with a six-round split decision over the Texan.
"Because I was in her backyard, I knew I had to knock her out to win",
said Blakeney after this fight.
On January 29, 1999 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas, Snodene
weighed in at 139 lbs and fought a three-round exhibition bout with
fellow Texan Lisa Holewyne (143 lbs)
of Waco.
On March 20, 1999 at the Yakima Reservation Casino in Yakima, Washington, Snodene
(129½ lbs) won a four-round unanimous decision
over Cathy Boyes (129¼ lbs) of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, who fell to
0-2.
On May 7, 1999 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas she weighed in at
130 lbs for a four-round unanimous (shutout) decision over Lisa McRae (133 lbs)
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who fell to 0-3 with this loss.
On June 11, 1999 at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,
Snodene (135 lbs) lost a ten-round unanimous (98-93, 96-94, 97-94) decision in a rematch with
Jeanne Martinez (133 lbs) of Slidell, Louisiana for the IBA Women's
Lightweight Championship. Martinez moved to 8-3-1 with the win.
Just eight days later, at Miccosukee Indian Gaming in Miami,
Snodene won a four-round unanimous decision over Brenda Vickers of Tampa,
Florida, who slipped to 1-1.
On October 7, 1999 at the Community Center in Victoria, Texas,
Snodene (134½ lbs) lost a four-round majority (39-37, 40-36, 38-38)
decision to veteran Marischa Sjauw (132 lbs) of Holland, who
improved her own record to 12-4-1 (5 ko's) with the win. Sjauw, fighting her fourth bout in nine hectic
weeks, improved her record to 12-4-1 (5 KO's) with the win, while Blakeney slipped to
7-3. Sjauw was clearly the more polished fighter, moving in against Blakeney and throwing
more punches. "I wanted to knock her out in the second round", Sjauw told a local
reporter, "but she kept her head down". Blakeney allowed that she was disappointed with
her own performance. "I got pretty tired", Blakeney said. "I guess I didn't train hard enough.
She was pretty strong and in really good shape".
On November 12, 1999 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas, Snodene (136 lbs)
won a four-round unanimous decision over the durable Martha Flores (134¼ lbs)
of San Antonio, Texas who fell to 0-3.
On December 3, 1999 at the Pechanga Center in Temecula, California,
Snodene weighed in at 132 lbs and defeated then
unbeaten 36-year-old Margaret
McGregor (128 lbs) of Bremerton, Washington.
Blakeney was too aggressive for McGregor, who had become notorious
by fighting a man in Seattle the previous October. The decision
was unanimous for the determined Texan after six rounds.
On March 8, 2000 at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan,
former national amateur champion Denise Moraetes
(140 lbs) handed Snodene (also 140 lbs) what my
correspondent described as "a boxing lesson, pure and simple"
for a clear six-round unanimous (59-55, 59-56, 58-56)
decision as she moved her own pro record to 9-1.
On April 1, 2000 at the Yakima Nation Legends Casino in Toppenish, Washington,
Snodene (142 lbs) moved her pro record to 10-4 with a six-round split (58-56,
59-57, 57-58) decision over Gloria Ramirez (143 lbs) of New Mexico, who fell to
3-10-2.
On February 17, 2001 Snodene fought Agnieszka Rylik in
Kolobrzeg, Poland, for the WIBF world Junior Welterweight title. A capacity
crowd saw home town KO specialist Rylik retain the title and move her boxing
record
to 5-0 (4 KO's) with a ten round unanimous (99-90,100-90,100-89) decision.
Blakeney was knocked down once and took an eight count. Promoter
Krzysztof Zbarski said that Snodene "showed unusual durability,
taking punishment during all the contest. She was very strong mentally and
extremely durable, well prepared physically but ... couldn't find a way to fight
southpaw and (was) having problem with distance and timing. It was a
very clean fight (no fouls at all). At (a) press conference after the bout
the girls showed sympathy and respect to each other."
On June 1, 2001 at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
Snodene dropped to
130 lbs to take on Isra Girgrah (5'4", 128 lbs) of
Hyattsville, Maryland for the vacant IWBF Junior Lightweight title.
Blakeney pressured Girgrah successfully in the early going
but Girgrah countered effectively in the later rounds and won a ten-round unanimous decision.
Judges John Reilly and Luis Rivera both scored it 97-93 for Girgrah,
while Alan Rubinstein saw it 97-94.
"I thought I was winning," Blakeney said later, "I thought I landed a lot more punches.
I should have used my jab more in the later rounds, but I figured I’d have to knock
her down to get the decision." Girgrah moved to 18-3-2 (8 KO's).
On September 23, 2001 at Sunset Station in San Antonio, Texas,
Snodene stepped in at one day's notice to take on
WIBF Junior Lightweight and IWBF Intercontinental Lightweight champion Laura Serrano (125¾ lbs) of Mexico in a
four-round bout. Snodene lost a tough fight by a unanimous (40-36,40-36,39-37) decision
She started well and won the first round on one card
but Serrano's boxing skills and counterpunching won the second. Serrano
pressed her attack in the third and fourth and was able to outpunch Snodene in
the late going. Serrano moved to 12-0-2 (4 KOs) while Blakeney fell to 10-7, 2 KO's.
Snodene stepped up to this tough challenge as a same-day substitute when
a scheduled six-rounder with Layla McCarter was scratched.
On October 26, 2001 in Austin, Texas, Brenda Bell Drexel (133 lbs)
of San Marcos, Texas won a six-round
unanimous decision over Snodene.
On November 16, 2001 at the Convention Center in Austin, Texas,
a scheduled ten-round bout between
WIBF Intercontinental Super featherweight champion Chevelle Hallback (128½ lbs) of Tampa, Florida and
Snodene (129½ lbs) for the WIBA 130-lb world title was ruled a technical draw after the second
round because Blakeney had received a deep gash to her head.
Hallback had been taking the fight to the durable Blakeney when a clash of heads caused
the gash. Hallback advanced to 5-3-1 (4 KOs) while Blakeney was 10-8-1 (2 KOs).
Page last updated:
Saturday, 09 January 2021 |
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