HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

AUGUST 2000

August 26, 2000  Fresno, California
Tulare's Correena Grizoffi, a former bodybuilding champion, lost her  professional debut against Erin Toughill of Los Angeles by unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 40-35).  Correena Grizoffi, 29, has been concentrating on the physical part for 17 years. She weighin in at 169 1/2, for her four-round bout against Toughill.  Grizoffi has competed in nine different shows and has won most of those.  She also participated in rugby and was in the American Gladiators television show seven years ago.  

August 26, 2000-Las Vegas, NV 
Elena Reid TKO'd Jessica Combs 58  seconds in the first round.  The Jessica Combs v. Elena Reid fight on the undercard of the Vargas/Thompson match held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas tonight, turned out to be exciting in ways not predicted by the advance publicity on Jessica Combs. 

August 26, 2000 - Reno, Nevada
Jo Jo Wyman defeated Sandy Yard with a six-round unanimous decision.  According to reports, Wyman knocked Yard down twice. Wyman is now 7-2, and Yard's record fell to 11-3-2.

August 25, 2000 - Barranquilla, Colombia
Darys Pardo TKO'd Consuelo Paternini in the third round, and  won the first WIBA title. It was the iberoamerican title at 140 lbs.  According to the "Colombian friend" at end of the third round round Consuelo she went to her corner she was almost knocked out.  When the bell rang to begin the fourth round, Consuelo said, "no more."  Consuelo was a good boxer, but the technical quality of the bout was not  good.  It was a good fight for Pardo. (A special thanks to the Colombian friend for the fight report.)

August 24, 2000 - Worley, Idaho 
Spokane featherweight Layla McCarter (5-4-1) scored a first-round TKO over Jamie Day of Salt Lake City. Day is now a WBAN 0-3 fighter with a 0-3 record.

Aug 20, 2000 - The Harrahs, Kansas City, Missouri
Franchesca Alcanter evened her record at 3-3 (2 KO), scoring a four-round unanimous decision over Gina Greenwald in a women's featherweight bout. Greenwald is now 1-5.

Aug 19, 2000 Silkeborg, DEN, S-hallerne, est 250, AV Sportpromotion (First professional boxing show ever in Silkeborg.)
Anita Christensen (119) , Denmark,  TKO'd Romy Heine (110), Germany in a scheduled six rounder.  As one observer stated about the fight, "A single eight count, and a knockdown and this inept little, working from a southpaw stance, German girl was stopped. Her record was given as 7-2-1. A mismatch."

Aug 19, 2000, Sturovo, SLO 
Liz Mueller (134) defeated Jane Couch (133) in a lightweight six-round unanimous decision.  The final scoring in the lightweight bout was 59-55 for all three judges.  Mueller  is now (5-0, 2 KOs) and Couch dropped to (13-3, 6 KOs).  According to news sources, Couch won the first round, but Mueller, the state's only female professional boxer, hit her stride in the second round and dominated the rest of the way. Mueller was quoted as saying “I could feel her fatigue,”  WBAN has another word that could be substitutution for "fatigue----It is  called "Jet Lag."   A congratulations to Mueller for stepping up her competition and taking on the best!  

August 17, 2000 Civic Center, Columbus, Ohio Tinitia Austin defeated Cynthia Lozano in a four-round majority decision. Austin is now 3-0, and Cynthia, who was making her pro debut is now 0-1.

August 13, 2000 Elgin, Illinois
Jimi Chartrand  TKO'd Lonita Dow of at 1:42 of the second round.  Chartrand is now 1-0-1, Dow is now 0-2.

August 13, 2000 -Reno, Nevada
Nina Gonzales (118 lbs) defeated Trena Drotar (116) in a UD.  Gonzales is now 2-1, and Drotar dropped to 2-3.

August 12, 2000 Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada 
Christy Martin  defeated Dianna Lewis in a welterweight 10-round unanimous decision.   Martin moved her record to  (40-2-2) and  Dianna Lewis dropped (9-2-1). All three judges scored the fight 100-90. Las Vegas Inside reporter said that even though the fight went the distance. Martin dominated every round.  Martin threw some heavy leather on Lewis, but Lewis is a very tough fighter and showed that she could, "Take a punch." 

August 12, 2000 Florida
Melissa Salomone (128 1/2) and Laura Serrano (127 1/2)  fought to a ten-round majority draw. One judge gave the fight to Salomone, another judge scored it for Serrano, and the third judge scored the fight a draw. Salomone is now 19-0-1, and Serrano is 19-0-2.  

August 12, 2000 Toppenish, Washington
Kelsey Jeffries defeated Cynthia Prouder in a WIBF Featherweight champion with a 10-round unanimous decision.  Jeffries is the champ and has improved her record to 8-1-1.  Jeffries said in a local Yakima Newspaper, "I've been training for this for a while," said the Apple Computers employee from Gilroy, Calif. "When I got inside the ring, I felt I was the stronger fighter ... and just wanted to play my fight." The final judges scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92. 

August 11, 2000 - Atlantic City NJ
Kathy Collins, (140) defeated Cheryl Nance in a six-round unanimous decision. Collins improved her record to 14-1-3, and Nance has dropped to 5-5.

August 10, 2000 Houston, Texas, Astro Arena, Middle Lite Series:  Valerie Mahfood (165) defeated Mary Ann Almager (165) with a TKO 57 seconds in the fifth round and retained her IWBF Super-Middleweight belt! Mahfood's record improved to 10-3-0 (6KO), and Almager's fell to 12-4. 

August 5, 2000, Wisconsin, HBO, KO Nation
Andrea Nelson of Dodgeville, Wisc., pounded out a unanimous decision over a fired up Brenda Bell Drexel of San Marcos, Tex., Saturday, Aug. 5, in their four-round lightweight bout, a preliminary to a KO Nation boxing program aired over HBO from Madison, Wisc. The women's bout and the other three men's matches were not broadcast by the television network.  Nelson advanced her professional record to 4-0 on the unanimous decision while Drexel slipped to 4-6-1. The lightweight women's bout was well fought and counted as one of the better fights on the undercard for the
two featured title fights. 

August 5, 2000, Silver Star Casino, Phila, Miss
Karen Bill defeated Geneva Buckhalter by a unanimous decision. Bill has improved her record to 3-5.

August 4, 2000 - Oklahoma
Mary Wells won a four-round unanimous decision over Dorothy Foss. Foss was making her pro debut, and is a local fighter in Oklahoma.  While making her debut, Dorothy Foss is no stranger to combat sports--she is also a submission wrestler, kick boxer and ultimate fighter. In an interview with Wells,  she said that she felt she had dominated the fight all four rounds. Wells said that Foss landed a solid over hand right at the end of the fourth which almost knocked her out. At the end of the third round, Mary said that she felt like she "almost had Foss."  Both women according to Mary had bloody noses. Wells is now 3-0, and Foss 0-1. (Report sent in by Esteban Erik Stipnieks)

August 4, 2000 -Austin, Texas   
Sara Goodson vs. Jay Vegas- Vegas won by UD Decision.  As one timekeeper  commented, "She is too tough for her own good" referring to Goodson.   Goodson had her plan already set in place at prefight to "attack and attack". Her opponent, Jay Vegas's strategy was to out box Goodson.  Jay did it from the first to the last round. She was the more polished of the two fighters while Goodson tried to bulldog. This was one while going to the cards was an easy decision.  Melinda Robinson vs. Justina Nielson brought up the question whether Melinda is in the waning moments of her career. The decision was split and two of the judges discussing the bout in an intermission said simply they voted for Nielson because she hit harder and was more accurate as well as being better on the defensive. Melinda was the brawler of the two forcing the action throughout the fight. Linda Tenburg vs. Layla McCarter was a four-round strategic battle.  Complaints about women's boxing lacking defensive skill or boxing skill were defeated in this bout. McCarter won by unanimous decision. She was slightly more skillful of the two.  If there was any controversy for the night,  it involved a close bout between Lori Lord and Yvonne Caples. Lord won by UD. 

August 4, 2000  Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada (ESPN2) 
Geraldine Iglesias defeated Irichelle Duran with a four-round split decision.  The decision was followed by "boos", and Duran was disappointed to receive a loss.  Iglesias was very excited and has decided to move to Las Vegas to find a good trainer and succeed in the sport. It was a good fight for two fighters that had little experience. 

August 5, 2000 - HBO - Wisconsin
  Andrea Nelson of Dodgeville, a lightweight trained by Lynch, improved to 4-0 with a four-round unanimous decision over Brenda Bell Drexel of San Marcos, Texas.

August 4, 2000 - South Korea
Kim Messer defeated Yumi Takano with  a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant IFBA Jr. Flyweight Title.   Messer is the new champion! Scoring 116-115, 119-114, 117-114. Messer improves to 9-2 (2 KOs). Takano drops to 9-4. It was the first official women's bout in Korea.