HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

FEBRUARY 2003

February 28, 2003 - Selland Arena in Fresno, California
The first fight of the night saw Fresno’s Lisa Lewis score a fourth-round TKO over Mikee Stafford in a lightweight battle. Lewis pressed relentlessly, forcing her way inside of Stafford’s superior reach, while landing many solid right hands. Stafford attempted to trade on the inside but had limited success against Lewis’ smothering attack. After a punishing third round referee Marty Denkin watched closely as the fourth round started. When Stafford got into trouble again and couldn’t find her way out, Denkin stepped in and waved off the contest at the :46 mark. Lisa Lewis improved to 5-6, 2KO’s, while Stafford saw her mark fall to 4-6, 3KO’s. Report by Steve Cummings, Ringside

February 28, 2003-The Orleans Casino/Hotel - Las Vegas, Nevada
17-year old Melinda Cooper remained undefeated when she stopped Reiko Muruyama in a controversial stoppage at 1:46 of the second round, in a scheduled four-rounder. 

February 26, 2003 - Marriott Hotel, Bristol, U.K.
Jane Couch, 34, stopped Bulgarian Borislava Gorunova in the 1:49 seconds in the seventh round of a non-title bout, after Couch trapped Gorunova in the corner, and throwing a series of combinations.  News sources reported that Jane defeating Gorunova proved to be a useful warm-up for her, and that Gorunova had gone the distance with Couch the first two times that they fought.  

February 23, 2003, Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana
Kristy Follmar  1:08 TKO1 Melissa Sturgeon in a scheduled lightweight four rounder. Follmar is now 4-1-0 (4KO).  Sturgeon is 0-1-0.

February 22, 2003 - Memorial Hall, in Waldron, Arkansas
Strawweight Melissa “TNT” Shaffer, 95, scored an impressive first round KO over Jayde Chafardon, 98 lbs. These “tiny” fighters showed the crowd that being small doesn’t mean that they are not tough. Shaffer and Chafardon immediately engaged in an exciting slugfest, until a combination of hooks to the body by Shaffer caused Chafardon to crumble to the canvas. Another exciting women’s bout, on the card featured Joy "Seek & Destroy" Irvin who fought a tough fight against Candace Lett. This fight was considered one of the best fights of the night, as both wanted the win and came to fight this night. Irvin and Lett fought toe-to-toe throughout the fight, until the third round when Irvin scored a big right hand that sent Lett to the canvas. The crowd was on their feet for most of their fight. The referee called a halt to the bout before the end of the third round. All these ladies showed that people do love women's boxing and that there is a demand for more female boxing.

February 22, 2003 - Pyramid Arena, Memphis, Tennessee
On the “untelevised” segment of Showtime, held at the Pyramid, in Memphis, Tennessee,  Tonya Harding, 122,  fought her pro debut and lost in a four-round split decision against local boxer Samantha Browning, 120,  of Mantachie, Mississippi, who was also making her pro debut.   Harding said that  it was not at all what she expected…Browning said that at the beginning that Harding was punching hard but could tell that she was weakening, and that she knew she had to pour it on to win.  Judges scoring was 39-37, 39-38 for Browning and 39-37 for Harding. One news source said, "In a wild bout that was more wrestling than boxing but had fans howling from the start, the former figure skating champion was beaten by another novice, Samantha Browning. At the end of four rounds that featured more stumbling than punching, Browning won a split decision." On the Fox Sports website, they wrote, "The crowd booed Harding, who entered grim-faced and wore black. She ran forward with her fist extended at one desperate stretch. The two hugged so much that referee Alan Lovell reminded them "This is a boxing match". Browning and Harding tumbled to the canvas during one wrestling exchange late in round two. Browning hit Harding after the bell but was not penalised. She opened the final two rounds with solid flurries and Harding had no answer." 

February 21, 2003 -at the Legendary Blue Horizon-Atlanta City
Holly “Buffy” Prescott, 171, lost her pro debut when she was stopped 34 seconds into the first round in a scheduled four-round super-middleweight bout.  Her opponent, Megan McBain, 165, Los Angeles, wasted little time in ending this fight.   McBain improved her record to 1-1-1 (1KO).

February 21, 2003 - Roxy Theater, Atlanta, Georgia (Report by Marc DeLamater)
Not since Cat Davis' ill-starred foray her e in 1978 has a female boxing match served as the main event in a fight card in Atlanta, GA. Yet, on this wet Friday night in Buckhead at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theater, local lightweight prospect Trisha "TNT"  Hill, 132,  squared off against Liz Drew, 130,  of Jefferson City, MO, in a six-rounder that arguably was the best-fought match of an excellent eight-bout fight card put on by David Oblas and Austin Wingo of Undisputed Production, LCC.   The match was a first six-rounder for both fighters, with Hill dominating the offense with an effective right that raised a bruise over Drew's left eye. Yet Drew doggedly hung on throughout the fight, even when taking a standing eight count in final round, although an answer to Hill's right hand lies in an agreed-to rematch. Hill won by a unanimous decision with final scores of 60-53, 60-54, and 60-54. Stay tuned because the two rock! Tonight's card is the first of an ongoing series of bimonthly fight card to be held on the third Friday by Undisputed Productions. Attendance was an impressive 1100. Intermission entertainment was provided by the incomparable Georgia Force cheerleader squad led by strawweight contender Nina "Tha Bomb" Ahlin. Also in attendance was pro prospect Natalie Brown, WBAN's fighter of the month for February 2003.

February 20, 2003 - Renaissance Hotel, Austin, Texas
Anissa “The Assassin”  Zamarron, San Antonio,  won a Flyweight six-round split decision over Maribel “Little Thunder” Zurita, Austin.  Zamarron improved her record to 11-9-2 (5KO), and Zurita is now 4-4-1.

February 18, 2003 - AMC Flea Market, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Angel Mast, Oklahoma City, OK, making her pro debut as a heavyweight defeated Mona Nelson in a four-round split decision.

February 15, 2003 - Zorah Shrine Temple, Terre Haute, Indiana
Katie O'Banion won her pro debut by TKO1 over Brandi Jeffreys. Jeffreys is now 0-2-0.

February 15, 2003 - Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas, Nevada
Layla McCarter won a six-round majority decision over Tracy Byrd.  This was a rematch for the two, as they first fought in July of 2001 where McCarter won by a decision.

February 15, 2003 -Flamingo Hotel, in Laughlin, Nevada
World Champion Vaia Zaganas, 103.5,  won a six-round unanimous decision over Stephanie Dobbs, 102.  There were no knockdowns. Final scores by judges was 58-56, 59-55, 59-55.

February 14, 2003, Louisville, Kentucky
On ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" in Louisville, Kentucky, hometown of her father Muhammad Ali,  Laila 'She-Bee Stingin' Ali, 167,  defended her IBA Super-Middleweight title against former World champion Mary Ann Almager, 168. Ali fought a flawless performance and just seems to keep getting better each and every time she steps into the ring.  Almager on the other hand appeared to be out of shape, and unprepared to take on a 10-rounder with the likes of Ali.  The fight ended in a fourth round stoppage, when Ali gave a devastating body shot to Almager, that left her (Almager) bent over until the ref called the fight to an end.  On the undercard, Fredia "The Cheetah" Gibbs fought a four-rounder against Kanicia "Queen Bee" Eley that ended in a unanimous decision for Gibbs. Gibbs was the quicker of the two, and control the tempo of the fight throughout the four rounds. Final judges scoring was 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37. 

February 12, 2003 - Centennial Garden, on the "Fight Night at the Gardens" card, in Bakersfield, California
Kelsey Jeffries won a six-round unanimous decision over Para Draine of Spokane.  Draine took the fight at the last moment after Marilyn Salcido had to pull out due to a hand injury. There were no knockdowns, and the final scoring was 60-54.  Jeffries has maintained her winning streak and is now 17-7-1 (1KO).  Draine fell to 12-6-1 (2KO).  WBAN caught up with Jeffries today, and she said that she was very impressed with Draine, who "had a lot of heart."  Jeffries said that she was originally going to fight Salcido @124 lbs, but that after that fell through, she was then matched up with Draine. Jeffries told WBAN that she went down two more pounds as Draine's weight was about 119 lbs. 

February 11, 2003 - Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, Arizona 
Tuesday night fights at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix Arizona saw Elena "BabyDoll" Reid do battle with Linda Tenberg in a six round tussle.  Tenberg, 122, got off to a good start by capturing the first round. Reid's experience then took over and she started pounding Tenberg with hard shots from all angles. To Tenberg's credit, she took them all and kept trying to get Reid, 117, out of her gameplan. It failed to work however and Reid dominated the fight.  The judges saw the fight 60-54 twice and 59-54. Reid is still # 1 in the world at 115 pounds and sports a record of 13-1-2 (4). Tenberg is 6-7 (2).  Tenberg came in from Austin Texas and was here to fight. She was 3-0 as an amateur and has never been down as a pro. She was in good shape but couldn't do enough to offset Reid. Tried as she might, she went home with a loss. She gave an effort to be proud of.  Both young ladies acted like professionals at all times and let their fists do the talking. They spoke volumes. Dale S Hausner 

February 7, 2003 - The Palace, in Auburn Hills, Michigan
In front of 12,123 witnesses…ah, I mean boxing fans, Mary Jo Sanders, daughter of former Detroit Lions star Charlie Sanders, made her pro debut against well-established "tomato can" Willicia Moorehead. According to the local Detroit News and certainly no surprise to WBAN they reported that Sanders had an "easy time of it in her pro debut, knocking out hapless Willicia Moorehead (2-12) in the first round." (2:03 of the first round -142 lb. division- Junior Welterweight) The news sources went on to say, "Moorehead, who struggled to throw simple punches, was down twice before referee Frank Garza stopped the fight." Another sad day in today’s sport when these inept matchmakers and people that have their "own agendas" in the sport continue to put these mickey-mouse matches together…In a second women’s match, Windsor Canadian Kara Ro, stopped Julia Day in the fourth round, and had been knocked down three times, and lost a point for excessive holding. Ro remains undefeated at 2-0-0, and Day is now 3-3-0.  Promoter of this event: Bill Kozerski.

February 7, 2003 - "Clown Prince of Boxing" card at the HP Pavillion, in San Jose, California, on Telefutura (Solo Boxeo)
Jo Jo Wyman fought Laura Serrano in a scheduled six-rounder. The ref stopped the fight in the fifth round when Wyman had what was described as a "slightly" swollen black eye. Boxing fans who viewed the fight wrote into WBAN saying that they felt Wyman was ahead 3 rounds to 2 rounds.

February 4, 2003 - New Daisy Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee
Strawweight Melissa "TNT" Shaffer won a second round TKO over Holly Dunaway. WBAN's Insider reporter said that the fight started off at a fast pace with Dunaway throwing straight jabs and big right hands from the opening bell but slowed as Shaffer wore her down with some accurate body shots and left hooks to the head. The second round was just as exciting until a big left hook to the body had Dunaway stunned and receiving a standing eight count and ended with Shaffer landing a huge left hook to the body that prompted the referee to halt the bout at the closing bell of round two.

February 2, 2003 - Riviera Casino, Black Hawk, Colorado
Featherweights Marsha Budde, 48,  of Denver, Colorado  won a four-round unanimous decision over Pro Debuter Lynsie MacMasters.  Budde improves her record to 5-4-1 (3KO). MacMasters is 0-1-0. 

February 1, 2003 - Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio
Kelli Cofer won a four-rounder by a unanimous decision over Terry Blair in a rematch.  WBAN's insider said that the fight was a closely fought bout.