HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

July 31, 2001 - Jamaica
Jane Couch won a four-round decision over Shakurah Witherspoon.

July 31, 2001 - Sunset Station -Outdoor Pavilion,  San Antonio, Texas
Maribel Zurita won a four-round decision over Anna Mora. 

July 28, 2001 - The Palace Indian Gaming Center, Lemoore, California
Lisa Lewis, of Fresno, defeated Bambi Bertoncello with a unanimous decision in a four-rounder.  Lewis improved her record to 2-4, and Bambi's fell to 3-3-0.  Jesus Sanchez covered this fight and said that Lisa controlled the fight from the outset scoring repeatedly with right and left hooks. Neither fighter went down but Lisa was the aggressor and landed the more telling blows. One judge scored the fight 39-37 for Lewis, while the other two scored it correctly at 40-36 for Lewis.  In rounds three and four Bambi did what can be best described as a mule kick with her right leg that sure got the crowd's attention.

July 28, 2001 - Los Angeles, California
Mia St. John had a majority draw, when she fought the much shorter, and heavier opponent, Imelda Arias, who came in at 139 1/2 lbs.   Mia weighed 128 1/2. There fight was on the undercard of the Roy Jones Jr./ Julio Gonzalez card.  The final scoring of that fight was 38-38, 38-38, 39-37 for Mia.  Mia's record is now 22-0-1 (12KO), and Arias is 8-12-1 (8KO).

July 28, 2001 - Green Bay, Wisconsin
Lisa Foster defeated Jessica Flaharty, 115, lost to Lisa Foster, 118, in a four-round unanimous decision.

July 27, 2001 - Niagara Falls Convention/Civic Center, New York     
Leona Brown stopped Trinidad's Ria Ramnarine in the fourth round. News sources reported that there were a couple of knockdowns, one in the third, and one in the fourth round.." 

July 24, 2001 in St. Louis, Missouri
Tiffany Clark won a four-round unanimous decision over Yolanda Blackmer. 

July 21, 2001- Ice Stadon in Aachen, Germany
Regina Halmich pulled another decision against Alina Schaternikova in a 10-round Jr. Flyweight WIBF championship bout.  According to news sources it was a hard-fought and close fight. Final scoring by judges was 97-95, 98-96, and 96-94.

July 21, 2001, Umbertide, Italy
The first  of two matches on the same night that was history making: 
Sonja De Biase, TKO3 Viktoria Varga (from Hungary) in a light flyweight division.  Biase is a WAKO Pro Full Contact World Champion) -49 Kg. Varga has a reported record of 8-3. Biase record is now 2-1.

July 21, 2001-Castel Ritaldo, Italy
The first of two matches on the same night that was history making:  Maria Moroni, 58kg, defeated Angela Nagy of Hungary with a TKO in the 4th round. According to news sources this was a mismatch as Nagy did very little in the ring.

July 20, 2001 - Crystal Park Casino, Compton, California
Marsha Valley, 171, TKO3 Kendra Lenhart, 171 in a scheduled six-rounder.  According to WBAN's Photojournalist, Brian Low reported that Lenhart was not aggressive in the fight and Valley was doing what she wanted in the ring at will. In the second round, Lenhart did pick up the action, but was knocked down, taking an eight count.  In the third round, the fight was stopped near the end of the round, after Valley delivered her into the ropes, and the ref stopped the fight.  In she was a little more aggressive. scheduled six rounds. In the second women's bout, Wendy Rodriguez, 111, won a four-round unanimous decision against Sue Goodwin, 114. Final scoring was 40-36, 39-37 39--37.  Laila Ali was a special guest at the event and received an award as  "Boxer of the year" by the promoters. 

July 20, 2001 - At Harrah's Casino,  Reno, Nevada
Jessica Mohs, 120 1/2, Phoenix, won a four-round majority decision over Trena Drotar, 117,  Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Canada.  Final scoring by judges was 39-37, 39-37, 38-38.  Mohs improved her record to 2-2, and Drotar dropped to 3-6 (3KO). 

July 20, 2001 - Columbus, Ohio ESPN2 Card
Kelli Cofer, 22, weighing in at 124, of Willard, Ohio, won a four-round unanimous decision against Kathleen Drotos of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cofer  remained undefeated with 3-0. Drotos dropped to 3-2.  

July 20, 2001 - Welterweight elimination tournament -Pala, California 
Summer Deleon won by a four-round majority decision against Sunshine Fettkether.  Mary A. Lehman reporting from ringside said the following:  Summer landed good hard rights and jabs in the first round with good countering.  Sunshine stood too much like a kickboxer that has the weird shoulder rolling thing with no head movement.  Sunshine basically only jabbed.  In the second round, Summer dominated the round, with good countering and landing some hard rights.  In the third round, Sunshine came on in the third round with good combinations and a lot more confidence-- Including an Ali like shuffle! Both gals throwing good straight punches. I gave the third round to Sunshine.  in the last and final round, Summer appeared to be tired.  Sunshine was the aggressor chasing Summer around the ring. I gave the last round to Sunshine as well.  After the fight, The Summer and Sunshine embraced each other and waited for the decision. (A special thanks to Mary for sending a fight report into WBAN.)  

July 19, 2001 - at the Arrowhead Pond, in Anaheim, California -
Mary Duron won a four-round Majority decision against Mandy LaPoint who was making her pro debut.  Duron is now 3-1, and Mandy is 0-1. 

July 15, 2001 - Soboda Casino, San Jacinto, California (Televised on Univision)
Gloria Ramirez won a four-round unanimous decision against Mikee Stafford in a jr. lightweight bout.  Univision disappointed some boxing fans when they only televising rounds one, two, and three.   One disappointed boxing fan wrote, "Following the main event, an alphabet title bout, which went to a "technical decision" following a head butt, Univision "filled" with the Ramirez /Stafford bout. I had Staffford winning the first round, with the second round even but Ramirez coming on in the final thirty seconds with some good body punching. Staying with what works, Ramirez took the third round and seemed to have Stafford bending over and looking tired. End of the third round, Univison cuts to a commercial, a Miller Lite spot, I believe, and then runs four or five station 'promos" for soccer, a talk show and several other upcoming programs. Needless to say, by the time they get back to "live" coverage of the fight, the boxers are in the center of the ring, the fight is over and, following a brief establishing shot, Univision cuts away again and goes to the next program. No coverage of the decision, just on to the next show.  (Excerpt by the real McCoy from the Boxing Rumble Forum.") ." Ramirez is improved her record to 7-10-3 (2KO) and Stafford fell to 2-3 (2 KO).  

July 14, 2001, Centennial Hall- Hayward, CaliforniaThe four fight card pitted Gina “Boom Boom” Guidi against Britt VanBuskirk for the WIBA Super Welterweight belt in the ten- round main event. In more women’s action Mary Tourtlotte and Andrea “The Cobra” Johnson both made their pro debuts in a scheduled four rounder. Also in attendance was one of the best  “pound- for-pound” fighters in the world, Lucia Rijker.  Mary Tourtlotte, from San Jose, CA, won an impressive four-round unanimous decision against Andrea Johnson,  San Francisco, CA. Mary repeatedly used a stiff left jab to keep Andrea at a safe distance and then followed up with straight rights to stun Andrea on several occasions during the fight. Johnson was tough and put together some good combinations of her own but it wasn’t enough as Tourtlotte was in control of the fight from the beginning. There were no knockdowns.   Gina Guidi, San Leandro, CA, scored a tough ten- round decision against Britt VanBuskirk, Illinois, to earn the WIBA Super Welterweight crown. Britt was the busier of the two fighters but Guidi landed the more telling blows. There were no knockdowns in the fight.  Van Buskirk was content to fight on the inside most  of the night. She threw many punches but none with “mean intentions.” Gina landed hard rights to Britt's nose round after round forcing Van Buskirk’s corner to deal with a constant bloody nose. Gina finished the fight strong and it was enough to earn her a points win.  

July 14, 2001 - Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, Pay-Per-View - Televised
Ann "Brown Sugar" Wolfe won by a TKO4 against Diane Clarke after Clarke's corner retired her during the one minute rest after the fourth round.  Both fighters took the fight with a weeks notice.  Clarke began to get tired after the third round. Wolfe was coming on very aggressively in the fourth round, and Clarke appeared to get more fatigued. Toward the end of the fourth round, Clarke slipped to the canvas.  After the bell rang, she was asked if she wanted to continue. She knodded that she did, but her corner had the fight stopped. Wolfe improved her record to 9-1-0 (6KO), and Clarke dropped to 7-3-0 (4KO). Cedric Golden of the American-Statesman said, "Each fighter took the non-title bout on one week's notice, but Wolfe looked sharp against the 7-3 Clark, who employed a hard-charging style before running out of gas in the fourth.  Wolfe came out confident in the fourth, staggering her opponent with a crisp four-punch combination. Clark, in her first fight in nearly two years, looked exhausted, fighting backward and gasping for breath. Wolfe stalked her opponent, patiently landing right hands and uppercuts. Wolfe showed her Ali Shuffle move and landed a vicious right hand near the end of the round. Wolfe followed with two consecutive right hands, the latter nearly dropping Clark as the bell rang.  Clark slumped on her stool in the corner and when referee Russell Mora walked over and asked if she could continue, Clark mumbled, "We're outta here," ending the bout.  Wolfe celebrated with trainer Donald "Pop" Billingsey, mugging for the TV cameras and uttering a one-word question: "Next?"  

July 14, 2001, Laughlin, Nevada
Marilyn Salcido of Rialto, California won a four-round unanimous decision over Brandy Leon of Prescott, Arizona.  Final judging was 40-36, 39-37, and 39-37.  News sources reported that was it was a good solid match. Salcido displayed more solid technical skills with Leon being the heavier puncher. Salcido improved her record to 4-2-1 (1 KO) and to 1-3.

July 12, 2001, Edie Deen's Ranch, Dallas, Texas
In front or 1,200 boxing fans, Patricia Acosta (1-0-1), Allen, KO (1:32 first round) Tracy Fortner (0-1), Oklahoma City, woman's super featherweight. 

July 12, 2001, Radisson Astrodome in Houston, Texas
Lelana Ellis of Houston won a four-round unanimous decision over Patricia Linton of Dallas, Texas.  Ellis remains undefeated at 5-0 (3KO), and Linton dropped to 1-4.  Ellis has moved up in weight class to lightweight.

July 12, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Jo Anne Brooks won a four-round unanimous decision over  Pascale Bruyére of Montreal, Quebec. Pascale was the  2001 national 71-kg amateur champion.

July 12, 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Darlene Sabo of Edysburg, Pennsylvania  TKO4 Angelee Gardner of Williamsport, Pennsylvania in a middleweight division.  Sabo is now 1-2, and Gardner dropped to 1-3 (1KO).

July 8, 2001 - Texas Station, Las Vegas, Nevada
Laura Serrano, 130,  won a close majority decision against Chevelle Hallback, 130, in a six-round junior lightweight bout.  It was a toe-to-toe fight from the first round to the last. There were no knockdowns, and Serrano received a cut in the fourth round by an accidental headbutt. Her head was checked by the doctor, and the fight continued. Judges scoring, 57-57 58-56 59-55.  Serrano improved her record to 11-0-2.  Hallback dropped to 5-3-0 (4KO).  Another women's bout was between Jessica Rakoczy,134, and Imelda Arias, 136.5. Rakoczy won the four-rounder by a unanimous decision with final judging of 40-36.  This was the 100th show on Fox Sports Net, and the commentators said that it was the best female fight they have ever seen. 

July 8-10, 2001 - Cairo - historical First
In Cairo, there was the First African Tournament of women's boxing that started on July 8 and ended July 10. Egypt won the first place. Uganda won second place. Moroco finished third. Tunisia won fourth place. News sources said that African girls proved to be very tough, and some of the matches ended in a KO.  Egypt's champions are Nagwa Ibrahim, Asmaa Mahmoud.

July 8, 2001 Vicksburg, Mississippi 
Adriana Watkins, 134, of Meridian, Mississippi won KO1 Tanya Apple, 137, of Arkansas. Watkins was making her pro debut. 

July 8, 2001 - State Line Silversmith Casino, Westover, Utah
Luz Rodriguez, 102, won a four-round bout against newcomer Canadian Vaia Zaganas, 105, who was making her pro debut.  Rodriguez won her first professional fight and is now 1-1.

July 7, 2001 - Sky Ute Casino, Ignacio, Colorado
IFBA Featherweight Champion Layla McCarter knocked down challenger Tracy Byrd late in the fifth round on her way to an unanimous decision. McCarter's defense of her title against Byrd, came only 30 days after she defeated Jo Jo Wyman to retain her IFBA crown and stay one of the most active champions in women's boxing.  The judges scores read 95-94 (Judge Ashe), 98-91 (Judge Basshaw) and 96-93 (Judge Martinez) all in favor of Layla McCarter. McCarter showed superior punching power over Byrd, but Bryd's inside fighting frustrated McCarter who held Byrd to diminish Byrd's effectiveness. McCarter knocked down Byrd with a good combo of punches late in the 5th round, which lead to a furious exchange of punches in the opening seconds of round 6. Ringside observers, called the fight ever close, and disagreed with Judge Basshaw's scoring at 98-91. 

July 3, 2001 - Riot at the Hyatt, Monterey, California
Carol "Double Barrel" Wirth, Oakland, CA, 140 lbs, won a unanimous four round decision over San Francisco's Nicole "Mad Bird" Beard, 134-1/2 lbs. All three judges scored the fight 39-37 earning Wirth her first pro victory. Carol's record now stands at 1-1 while this was Beard's pro debut.  Promoted by Jerry Hoffman - 12 Sports Productions. (Jesus Sanchez - Ringside)

July 3, 2001 Southern Star Amphitheatre, Georgia
Corinne VanRyckDeGroot of Atlanta TKO2 Shakurah Witherspoon. Witherspoon was knocked down twice before the fight was stopped.  Corinne improved her record to 7-0 (4KO). Witherspoon dropped to 8-22-1 (4KO).