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5'4½" Sharon Gaines was born on July 10, 1973 in
Seattle, Washington. She attended Bothell High and received a BA in
Communications and Journalism from the University of Washington in
1995.
Sharon had an
athletic background as a child and competed in track and cross-country
while at the University of Washington. After leaving college
she became interested in boxing as a way to stay in shape and improve
her self-esteem. She began to train at the Hillman City Gym in Seattle
in June 2001 and had her first amateur fight just six weeks
later.
"After
one day of training I just knew without a shadow of a doubt that this
was the sport for me", says Sharon.
She competed at the amateur
level for just over two years, and while in Kansas City for the
Ringside Tournament she made contact with a coach who trained local pro
boxer Mary Ortega
and worked with
Sumya Anani.
In the final of the 126-lb division at that championship Sharon lost to
Jeannine Garside of Canada by a third-round knockout.
 Sharon moved to Kansas City to begin her career
as a personal trainer and she made her pro debut there on November 21,
2003. At the Beaumont Club (see left) Sharon weighed in
at 123 lbs and won a four-round unanimous decision over Leora Jackson
(133 lbs) of Springdale, Arkansas who fell to 1-2.
On March 24, 2004 at the
Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, Missouri, Sharon (124 lbs) won a
four-round unanimous decision over
Nikki Lawson (5'10", 135 lbs) of Gardner, Kansas with body shots and
body-head combinations.
On April 3, 2004 at the SAS
Radisson in Aarhus, Denmark, Frida
Wallberg (128.5 lbs) of Gøteborg, Sweden won a four-round
unanimous (40-36 x 3) decision over
Sharon (126.5 lbs). WBAN's European Correspondent Torben L. reported
that Wallberg won convincingly and used her extra height and reach very
well. Wallberg improved to 3-0-0. Wallberg had had a very
successful amateur boxing career, compiling a 48-5 record at the
national and international levels before turning pro as a lightweight
in February 2004.
On September 2, 2004 at
Harrah's Casino in Kansas City, Missouri,
Sharon (120 lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36,39-37,39-37)
decision over Leslie McNamara (121 lbs) of Cameron, Missouri, who fell
to 0-3-0. The fight was a little sloppy, with both fighters pushing and
butting heads.
On October 23, 2004 at the
Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington,
Sharon (122 lbs) won a four-round unanimous (39-37,39-37,40-36)
decision over late opponent Mercedes Mercury (124½ lbs) of Centennial,
Colorado. The southpaw Mercury had a reach advantage but seemed
unwilling to mix it up with Gaines.
On November 6, 2004 at the
Eccles Convention Center in Ogden, Utah, local boxer
Betty Stephens (122 lbs) of Salt Lake City, Utah, defeated Sharon (120¾
lbs) with a four round unanimous decision.
Gaines started well in the first two rounds but Stephens picked up her
pace in the third and outworked Sharon for the decision. By the end of
the fight the crowd was on its feet, cheering both fighters on. There
were no knockdowns or eight-counts. Stephens improved to 3-1-0 with the
win.
Sharon works on Camille Casson
© Copyrighted photo by Lori Steinhorst
On December 3, 2004 at the
Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri,
Sharon (121 lbs) won a four-round unanimous decision over pro debuter
Camille Casson (120 lbs) of Covington, Kentucky. Gaines was now 5-2-0
(0KO), and Casson 0-1-0.
Sharon vs. Jennifer Salinas
© Copyrighted photo by Mary Ann Owen
On January 29, 2005 at the
Silverton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jennifer Salinas (120
lbs) of Grand Rapids, Michigan won a four-round unanimous
(40-36,39-37,39-37) decision over Sharon (121 lbs). Sharon was the
busier fighter and kept Salinas on the ropes for much of the fight and
the crowd booed the decision.
On April 8, 2005 at the
Hanover Marriott in Whippany, New Jersey,
Cindy "Checkmate"
Serrano (122 lbs) of Queens, New York won a six-round
unanimous
(59-53,58-53,59-51) decision over Sharon (122 lbs). The hard hitting
Serrano came out strong in round 1 with one power punch after another.
Gaines opened up round 2 nicely and was probably out-punching her
opponent until she was dropped with a perfectly placed body shot.
Gaines answered the eight-count only to be dropped again by the same
devastating body shot. Serrano's fans went wild, thinking the fight was
over, but Gaines answered the eight-count and survived to battle on.
Gaines recovered in round
3 and launched a comeback in the next two rounds as Serrano apeared to
tire.
Gaines out-boxed Serrano for those rounds, and showed she was in better
condition, but was unable to close the gap on the scorecards.
Sharon said after the fight "so
many people came up to me and told me how much heart I had, how they
thought I was down for the count in round 2 and couldn't believe I came
back to win some rounds. Although I appreciate their comments, my only
thinking was 'I wish I hadn't had to show so much heart!' When someone
has to have a lot of heart to finish a fight you know something went
wrong early on. Serrano does have a lot of power and she threw a lot of
punches in the first two rounds. However, she was not conditioned to
take that power through to the end of the fight. Although I lost fair
and square and am not proud of hitting the canvas, I am proud that I
had the strength and stamina to come back fight a couple of the best
rounds of my career."
Serrano improved to 8-0-0.
On May 26, 2005 at Whiskey
Tango's in Grain Valley, Missouri, Sharon (120 lbs) won by a four-round
unanimous decision over over Tiffany Young (5'8", 128 lbs) of
St.Joseph, Missouri. Young came out throwing haymakers and was very
active for
the first part of the opener. Gaines kept her defense tight and waited
until
Young wore down, then took control to finish the round on the attack
with well-placed punches. After that Gaines
continued to land squarely to the face and body of Young, who
had little movement but tried to counter-punch.
"I give her credit for her toughness, in a
street-fighting kind of way,"
said Gaines. "She definitely knows how to fight, but doesn't
know how to
box. Her lack of conditioning definitely helped me have an easy night,
but
I've still got lots to work on. Next up at the gym, I've got
to learn to
step into my punches a little more and stay inside so I can stop my
opponent. This fight should not have lasted 4 rounds!"
Young fell to 0-2 wit the loss.
On July 8, 2005 at Harrah’s
Casino in Kansas City, Missouri,
Sharon (121 lbs) TKO'd debut fighter Amanda Hilton (120 lbs) of Kansas
City at 1:26 in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder. Gaines
landed numerous power punches and combinations to which Hilton
had no effective reply. Hilton kept turning sideways
and received several warnings from the ref. The bout was
stopped when Hilton turned her back to Gaines and faced the ropes.
According to Sharon, "I had another opponent originally, but
no one could locate her the week of the fight. Hilton came in at the
last minute
to make the bout happen. I am thankful she took it and give
her credit for
having the guts to get in the ring, but it was not a great match for
me, she obviously had no experience."
On August 19, 2005 at the
Hanover Marriott in Whippany, New Jersey, Sharon (120 lbs) won by a
third-round TKO over 34-year-old southpaw Antoinette Weaver (117 lbs)
of Atlanta, Georgia. Early in the bout, Sharon probed the
taller Weaver from long range while Weaver landed some arm punches. By
the second round Sharon was walking through Weaver's shots to land hard
right hands on the inside. By the third, Sharon was scoring at
will and a rapidly tiring Weaver had little left.
Sharon wobbled Weaver with a right to the jaw as the round ended and
the ring doctor called a halt between rounds. Weaver fell to 0-5 with
the loss.
"I didn't know she
was a lefty, but that is part of learning", said Sharon.
"She is not as good as me, so that was a great place to
make an adjustment. Usually the taller people try to
out jab me and I can establish my jab better, but she didn't lead so I
couldn't really counter. I am used to being a counter puncher because I
am
the shorter fighter. I usually dodge a couple punches and come in. I
couldn't slip any punches because she wasn't throwing until I threw"
On November
15, 2005 at Hohenstaufenhalle in Göppingen, Germany, Alesia-Tamara Graf (118 lbs) of
Germany won a 10-round unanimous (99-91,99-91,
100-91) decision over Sharon (118 lbs) for the WIBF
Intercontinental Bantamweight title. Graf
improved to 12-1-0 (5 KOs) while Gaines fell to 9-5-0 (3
KO's).
On April 1, 2006 at the Sky
Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colorado,
Monica Lovato (116¼
lbs) of Española, New Mexico won a six-round split (60-54,58-56,56-58)
decision over Sharon (116½ lbs). Lovato improved to 6-1-0 (4 KO's).
On May 12, 2006 at the Orleans
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,
Monica Lovato (117 lbs) of Albuquerque, New Mexico, TKO'd Sharon (116½
lbs) at 1:13 in the fourth round in a scheduled six rounder. Lovato won
with ease in this rematch and was picking her shots throughout the
bout. Gaines was knocked down twice. Lovato improved to 7-1-0 (4 KO's).
On July 15, 2006 at the
Legends Casino in Yakima, Washington,
Sharon (114¾ lbs) won a six-round split decision over Tonia Cravens
(114½ lbs) of Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to Mike Blair: "While
Cravens threw more punches, many were off target while Gaines waited
to find openings and took advantage of them when they appeared, often
firing a jab through Cravens' arms touching her chin or her body.
Cravens was more effective when she was able to keep Gaines in the
middle of the ring, from there Cravens could use her height and reach
advantage. Gaines however kept throwing jabs, often lunging to do so,
but that caused Cravens to step back, and when the action moved to the
ropes or a corner, Gaines stepped inside and was able to connect and
score. Though one judge scored the fight even, the difference was
Gaines' accuracy. She may not have thrown as many punches as Cravens,
but she certainly landed more.". Cravens fell to 2-4-1 (1 KO)
with the
loss.
On September 14, 2006 at San
Manuel Casino in Highland, California,
Heather Percival (112 lbs) of Fontana, California won a six-round
unanimous (58-55,58-55,58-55) decision over Sharon (113 lbs), improving
her record to 9-3-0.
On February 16, 2007 at the
Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California, Sharon won a four-round
split decision over previously unbeaten Heather Donoho of San Diego,
California, who fell to 4-1-1.
On
January 11, 2008 at the Viking Hotel and Conference Center in St.
Louis, Missouri, Hollie Dunaway
(108¾ lbs) of St. Louis won a ten-round unanimous decision over Sharon
(111¼ lbs) for the vacant NABF Flyweight title. According to a WBAN
report by Jim Compton: "While Sharon Gaines was continually
on the attack, Hollie "Hotstuff" Dunaway patiently picked her
shots and was able to ... grab the ... title."
Dunaway improved to 21-6-0 (10 KOs).
On February 9, 2008 at Aquarius Hotel in Laughlin,
Nevada, Ava Knight (112 lbs) of Chico, California defeated Sharon (112
lbs) with a unanimous (58-56x3) six-round decision. Gaines fought a
tough fight but Knight fought a better fight dropping Gaines's record
to 11-10-0 (3 KO's) while improving her own to 3-0-1 (1 KO).
On May 15, 2008 at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in Irvine, California, British-born Carly Batey (112 lbs)
of San Diego, California defeated Sharon (112¼ lbs) by an eight-round
unanimous (72-80,72-80,73-79) decision. Batey improved to 4-3-2 (0
KO's).
On September 27, 2008 at the
Paris Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Sharon (112 lbs) fought to an
eight-round majority draw (57-57,57-57,58-56) in a rematch
with Hollie Dunaway. Gaines's record stayed even at
11-11-1 (3 KO's) while Hollie Dunaway's moved to 21-7-1 (10 KO's).
Sharon (L) versus Carina Moreno
© Copyrighted photo by Mike Harris
On February 6, 2009 at the
Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California Carina
Moreno (109¼ lbs) of Watsonville, California defeated Sharon
(109¼ lbs) by an
eight-round unanimous (79-73,80-72,80-72) decision. Moreno
controlled the fight with her overhand right and Gaines was unable to
use her height and reach advantages to negate Moreno's speed and
accuracy. Moreno improved to 21-1-0 (6 KO's) while Gaines
dropped to 11-12-1 (3
KO's).
© Copyrighted photo by Lori Steinhorst
On
October 28, 2011 at Sherwood Hall in Salinas, California, Carina Moreno (112
lbs) won a six-round unanimous (59-55,58-56,58-56) decision in
an
undercard rematch with Sharon Gaines (111 lbs). Moreno who
had
been sidelined with severe flu for two weeks in September, seemed a
shade slower than usual and appeared to tire late in the fight but she
picked up her pace in the final round to secure the win.
Gaines fell to 11-13-1
(3 KO's) with the loss while Moreno snapped her two-fight losing streak
and improved to 22-3 (6 KO's).
For serious fight offers or to
correspond with Sharon, contact her at SharonGaines@hotmail.com
Other Sharon Gaines links
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with
huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records
Member Site
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last updated:Sunday, 05 November 2017
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