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"Downtown"
Leona Brown, a 4’ 11 1/2" , 118 lbs. boxer, was born
and raised in Buffalo, New York, but is now living in Pawling, New
York. Leona trains out of the Hat City Boxing Club in Dansbury,
CT., by trainer Lou Fusco. She is managed by Diana
Rodriguez.
Leona began training
in boxing in 1996. She fought in Amateurs and became the
119 lbs. NYC Golden Gloves Champion. She was also a silver
medalist in the USA Boxing Women's Nationals. As an
amateur, she ranked #2 in the nation with a 5-1 record.
Leona turned pro in 1997. She
won the IWBF Jr.
Featherweight title on September 11, 1998 in Atlantic City's
Tropicana Casino on ESPN2, against Katie Burton from Thunder Bay,
Ontario, Canada.
For Leona's COMPLETE boxing record,
go here!
Some of the highlights of Leona’s
professional
boxing career:
- Inducted
into the Buffalo Boxing Hall of Fame, October 16, 1998 for being the
first women boxing champion and being the #7 champion to come out of
Buffalo.
- Inducted
into the world boxing hall of fame, Ontario, Canada.
- Received
a commendation from Duchess County Legislature.
- Received
proclamations from the village of Pawling and the city of Buffalo
and key to the city.
- Winner
of the News Center #6 Pepsi Sports Spotlight award.
- Voted
1998 Sports Person of the Year by the Poughkeepsie Journal.
- Voted
Poughkeepsie Elk's club night of champions 1999 Athletic of the
year.
- Champion
Sports Wear's athlete of the month, June 1999.
- Won
2nd world title, the IFBA Jr. Featherweight Championship.
Televised on Fox Sports Network internation, against Dee Dufoe of
Bakersfield, CA.
- September
11, 1998 – she won the IWBF junior featherweight title at the
Tropicana in Atlantic City.
- November
21, 1997 - won 4-round unanimous decision over Lisa Foster, at the
Yonkers Rackway, in New York.
- January
19, 1998 – won Sue Chase of Ohio, 3-rd TKO, Tropicana Resort /
Casino in Atlantic City.
- March
21, 1998 – won 4th round TKO of Nastasha Wilburn,
Tropicana Resort/ Casino in Atlantic City.
- July
31, 1998 – won 6th round split decision against Sonya
Emery of Austin, Texas Tropicana Resort/ Casino in Atlantic City.
- August
15, 1998, won 8-round Unanimous decision against Suzanne Riccio-Major
at Arizona Charlies, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- September
11, 1998 defeated Katie Burton at the Topican for the IWBF jr.
featherweight title.
- June
11, 1999 loss to Eva Jones-Young for the IFBA Bantamweight Title
that had been vacated by Bridgett Riley.
This was Leona’s first loss.
- July
20, 1999, at the Casino Windsor in Windsor, Ontario Canada, Leona
lost a six-round unanimous decision against Margaret Sidoroff. WBAN
viewed the tape of this fight and it was a very hard-fought loss for
Leona. Some boxing fans voiced that it may have been a home town
decision for Sidoroff. Leona's record was
then 7-2.
- Dec 2, 2000 Gdansk, POL, Nowa Hala Sportowa, est 800, Polish Boxing Promotion
Iwona Guzowska, 126, Poland, won by a
unanimous decision against Brown,
120, 25, USA. Guzowska won on scores of 77-75 twice and 78-74 in a fight where styles clashed badly.
According to news sources, the much shorter Brown rushed in with Guzowska looking to counter but most of the time they just ended up wrestling. Guzowska waited too much and didn´t impress.
Leona had one of the highest
accomplishments of her career when she was selected to be a
recipient of the Black Prestige Award for February 26, 2000. Other
celebrities and dignitaries will be awarded along with Roberta Flack
for Lifetime Achievement! |
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Worldwide
