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5'6" junior middleweight Shelley Burton from Kalispell,
Montana was born on October 12, 1976. Shelley says that she dreamed of being a professional athlete since the age of five. She competed in many
different sports but didn’t start boxing until she reached her twenties. In high school,
she was All-Conference and All-State in Basketball. She also competed in softball,
volleyball, and track. [Top Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen] Shelley started boxing in a Tough Man competition in Butte Montana
in February of 2002 because she needed extra cash. “I couldn’t
believe how hard the sport was,” Burton said. This became Shelley’s new challenge. She wanted to improve her skills so she started fighting in Club Boxing in
Missoula, Montana.
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen Shelley won Club Boxing’s State Tournament and achieved an amateur record of 7-0 (2 TKO). In May 2002,
Shelley returned to her home town of Kalispell to re-fight the first woman she had ever fought in the Tough Man competition, defeating the world champion Leah Stucker. This was not the first time Shelley had
defeated Leah but at that time Shelley was the only woman who had beaten her.
Shelley moved to Las Vegas and started training at Golden Gloves. After three months she was back in
Montana. Burton continued in Club Boxing and Tough Man. She won the State Championship for Club Boxing again in April
2003, obtaining an amateur record of 17-0 (7 TKO).
She made her pro boxing debut at junior middleweight on July 11, 2003 at Dixie Junior College in St. George, Utah,
winning a four-round majority decision over Sicilian-born Rita Turrisi of Italy. Turrisi, a former European ISKA and WAKO world kickboxing champion
now fighting out of Las Vegas, fell to 1-3-0 (1 KO)
as a pro boxer.
Photo credit: Mike Blair
On October 3, 2003 at Edgewater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, USA,
Shelley weighed in at 146½ lbs and won a four-round split decision over Angie Poe (142 lbs). Mary
Ann Owen of Boxing In Las Vegas, who was ringside, told WBAN
that the fight was a
"real battle." Burton was now 2-0 (0
KO), Poe fell to 0-2.
On February 27, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Shelley won a four-round unanimous decision over
then
#19 ranked junior middleweight Kelly Whaley of Cedar City, Utah.
Burton is now 3-0-0 (0 KO)
while Whaley fell to 4-13-0 (1 KO).
On June 3, 2004 at
Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon, USA, Shelley (160 lbs) TKO'd Yvonne Reis
(160 lbs) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 1:59 in the second round of a scheduled six-rounder. Burton caught Reis
with some good shots early in the fight. Reis took two eight counts and was
knocked down to the canvas with the first. Reis fell to 3-4-1 with
this loss.
Photo credit: Mike Blair
On June 26, 2004 at Silverton Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Monica Nuñez (5'8", 160
lbs) of the Dominican Republic won a six-round majority (59-55,58-56,57-57)
decision over Shelley (155½ lbs). Terry Insall of boxingkingdom.com
reported that in the first round, Nuñez pressed the action and they
traded punches. In round two, Nuñez took a few shots to the head, but got
behind her jab to back Burton up.
In round three, Nuñez used a stiff jab and hard right hand to back up Burton. In the fourth, Burton came
alive and landed some good counterpunches, but then Burton slowed a little while
Nuñez finished strong.
Nuñez improved her record to 9-1-0 with the win.
On January 29, 2005 at
Silverton Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Shelley (158 lbs) won a six-round
unanimous (60-54,59-55,59-55) decision over Elizabeth Kerin (162 lbs) of
Chicago. Bill Whaley wrote that "Burton still has a lot of work to do on her
'tough woman' type brawling style but I enjoyed
watching her get and deserve the UD against the much taller Kerin."
On February 26, 2005 at the
Silver Reef Casino in Ferndale, Washington, USA, a full house saw Shelley (158
lbs) win a clear six-round unanimous (59-55,59-55,59-55) decision over
Lisa Holewyne (158 lbs) of Crawford, Texas. Burton negated Holewyne's slight reach advantage with strong power punching which was the difference in
the contest. Holewyne didn’t get a chance to show her skills because of the pressure Burton put on the former WIBF welterweight world champion,
whose extra weight seemed to slow her down.
Burton did a nice
job of keeping a jab in the usually-quick Holewyne's face through most of the
fight and Holewyne was rarely able to connect with more than one or two punches
at a time. Burton did not do a lot of damage but she controlled the flow of the
fight with her jab, stayed out of trouble and moved well enough to avoid getting
caught with one of Holewyne's big bombs. There were no knockdowns. Burton improved to
6-1 (1 KO) while Holewyne fell to 20-15-1 (6 KOs) in front of a full house.
On March 26, 2005 at
Harrah’s in Laughlin, Nevada, USA, unbeaten Akondaye Fountain (153½ lbs) of
Houston, Texas scored a seventh-round TKO over Shelley (154 lbs) in a scheduled
eight-rounder. Burton pressed the fight but kept getting caught with left and right counters. It was a fight decided by Fountain's
ability to slip and counter as Burton pressed the fight she kept getting caught
with left and right counters. Fountain staggered Burton with big right hands in
the second and again in the third but Burton gathered herself and fought on even
terms through fast and furious fourth and fifth rounds. Fountain then had a huge
sixth round, teeing off on Burton with big shots to the head, snapping her head
back in a disturbing fashion. Referee Robert Byrd warned Burton between rounds
that he would stop the fight if she took any more clean punches. In the seventh,
Burton rushed Fountain with a fusillade of punches that caught Akondaye
off-guard and backed her up at first. But then Akondaye began to trade
bombs with her and Burton tired. After Akondaye landed two clean shots in a row
to Burton's head, Byrd stopped the fight at 1:29 in the round, to some boos from
the crowd. Fountain remained undefeated at 5-0 (3 KOs) with the win. On November 18,
2005 at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Shelley
(157½ lbs) won the vacant WIBA
Intercontinental Super Middleweight title with a ten-round majority
(97-93,95-95,97-93) decision over Laura Ramsey (163½ lbs) of Winter Haven,
Florida. Burton had been scheduled to fight
Leatitia Robinson of Chicago for a world title on this card but Robinson
dropped out due to an injury to her nose and Ramsey took the substitute
fight at 72 hours' notice. The bout was action-filled as Ramsey threw more
power punches but Burton boxed and handed a tiring Ramsey her first loss as
a pro, dropping her record to 5-1.
On February 28, 2006 at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, Montana, Shelley
TKO'd DJ Morrison of Billings, Montana at 1:27 in the first round.
Morrison, who was reported to be 20-4 in "club fights", was making her
sanctioned pro debut. Morrison came out swinging but Burton kept her cool
and slipped most of Morrison's winging shots while connecting with some
strong shots, one of which knocked Morrison into the ropes and nearly out of
the ring, producing a standing eight count on Morrison. Morrison landed a
few grazing shots before Burton took control with several quick jabs then
let loose with a barrage of rights to Morrison's head. The final shot lifted
Morrison off her feet and put her down, and the referee called the fight.
Shelley improved to 8-2 (2 KO's) with the win. On June 10,2006
at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, Montana, Shelley (157½ lbs) battled
to a ten-round majority (95-95,95-95,98-92) draw with Dakota Stone (5'10",
159 lbs) of Seattle, Washington. According to Greg Schindler of Daily Inter Lake, "Burton
came out swinging from the opening bell, but the tide turned in Round Six
when Stone unleashed a plethora of right jabs, keeping Burton at a distance
while she mixed in a firm left cross. Burton never backed down, even after
Stone bloodied her nose in Round Seven. The crowd erupted into a deafening
chant of “Shelley-Shelley” during Round Ten, but Burton didn’t dominate the
final round enough to earn a victory."
“We had a plan to box and then to go to war,”
Stone said. “The plan was to wear her down and then to start fighting.”
“I’m glad I fought in my hometown,” Burton said.
“I threw some good hits — I’ll be ready next time, more-so than I was
this time, so that’s all I have to say.”
Stone's record stood at 7-4-4 (1 KOs).
On November 11, 2006 at Madison Square Garden in New York City,
Laila Ali (166½ lbs) of Los Angeles, California TKO'd
Shelley (164 lbs) at 1:58 in the fourth round defending her WIBF and WBC
Super Middleweight belts. According to the Reuters report, "Laila
Ali fought conservatively at first, but soon it was clear she could land her
big right at will, stunning her challenger several times. As the fourth
round was drawing to an end, the 28-year-old Ali landed a left-right
combination flush to the nose of Burton, who stooped over as blood poured
out and referee Arthur Mercante Jr. called the fight off with two seconds
left in the round." Ali improved her record to 23-0 (20
KO's) wile Burton dropped to 8-3-1 (2 KO's).
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen
Shelley
was always ready to take a fight no matter the notice. She
announced her retirement in an
open
letter sent to WBAN in January 2008, saying: "I
honestly felt like I completed my goals after I got the opportunity against
Laila Ali at the Madison Square Garden. It was a great experience for a little
name like myself, coming from Montana to get this chance. It was awesome."
Shelley Burton is an athlete through and through. Her positive attitude showed in the ring and her drive
to succeed.
Page last updated:
Sunday, 10 January 2021 |
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