Born in
Baltimore, Maryland, on December 20, 1976, Shelley Seivert was
raised by Charles and Linda Seivert in Severna Park, Maryland. Her
family has owned and operated Charles H. Seivert General Contractor
Incorporated for 35 years. As a child, Shelley was extremely
athletic. She played mostly team sports including soccer, lacrosse
and track. Excelling mostly in soccer, her
accomplishments included 1st team all-county, all-state, all-metro
and MVP. Shelley went on to play division 1 soccer at Towson
University and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Exercise
Physiology. Upon the end of soccer season in her senior year of
college, there was no alternative soccer team at the same level of
competition.
Seivert decided
to try an individual sport. "I always knew I was mentally strong
enough to pursue a sport that relied solely on me!" In December
1999, Shelley started training for boxing. At the time, female
boxing had started to really come out of the wood work. After 6
months of hard training, on June 1, 2000, Shelley had her first
amateur fight at Michael's 8th avenue in Glen Burnie, Maryland. She
walked away with a win and that started the ball rolling.
Throughout the next year Seivert won 3 more amateur fights,
including the Police Athletic League National Tournament in New
Orleans.
Seivert fought
amateurs for the next 6 years. " I really just wanted to take my
time. Every fight has been a learning experience and a lot of
fun."
After
accomplishing an amateur record of 10-2, Shelley decided to turn
professional before her 30th birthday. On December 7, 2006, Seivert
fought her first professional 4 round fight against Kita Watkins
from Camden, Arkansas. The scale read, Seivert 160 and Watkins 157
1/4. The fight was at a local venue, the National Guard Armory in
Pikesville, Maryland. The judges scored it 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37
all in favor of Shelley Seivert. Watkins fell to a record of 2-1,
while Seivert started her career at 1-0.
Almost 2 months
later, Seivert fought Cimberly Harris out of Tampa, Florida on
January 27, 2007 at the same venue in Pikesville, Maryland. Harris
weighed in at 157 1/4 and Seivert came in at 160 1/4. After a tough
3 rounds, Shelley suffered a broken right hand. Although Seivert
finished the fight, the judges scored it 37-39, 37-39 and 37-39 for
a unanimous decision in favor of Harris.
Due to the
broken hand, Seivert sat out almost an entire year. Shelley came
back in February 29, 2008, another 4 round fight, against Leslie
Lubaczewski hailing from Bramwell, West Virginia. Seivert came out
strong and knocked Lubaczewski out in 34 seconds, improving her
record to 2-1.
Shelley works
out of state in the summertime, putting boxing on hold from May till
September.
Returning to the
ring on September 10, 2008, Seivert was scheduled for a 4 round
fight against Carrine Hamlet from Mount Vernon, New York, at the
Maryland Sportsplex in Millersville, Maryland. In round 1, Seivert
went down for the first time in her career after Hamlet pulled a
left hook. Seivert overcame the 1st round knockdown and
aggressively came back to win the fight by a very close split
decision. The scores were 38-37, 38-37 and 37-39, bringing Shelley's
record to 3-1. (courtesy photos submitted by Seivert)
