|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(AUGUST 3) In the third installment
of "Where are they NOW", WBAN will publish our next set of updates
on the women boxers. As just a review, WBAN
ran a story this week
reaching out to the women boxers to get the latest updates on
where they are right now and the latest in what they are up to!
Part I
Part II
Part III
LAYLA MCCARTER
|
 |
|
Even though
the economy has not been kind to the boxing industry
lately, I am staying positive and working hard in the
gym every day. I am currently working on a couple of
promotional deals one of which could be the deal of a
lifetime. I will confirm this with details by September,
but there is good reason to be excited. I will be
defending both of my lightweight titles by then (WBA and
GBU) and have shifted my training into the next gear.
Meanwhile, I frequently play Texas Hold-Em Poker at some
big casinos in Las Vegas to suppliment my income. For
inspiration, I watch "youtube" videos of great fighters
like Sugar Ray Robinson and keep pushing to become
better than ever. The boxing industry will bounce back
and we must be ready. God Bless America and Women's
Boxing!
|
|
JO JO
WYMAN
 |
| Still
in the S.F.V. personal training. Mostly weight training.
I have a girlfriend that is an amateur fighter I help
out now and then with her strength training. She just
got third in the nation up in that Colorado meet.
I hold some mitts for clients just for fitness. Other
then that I am doing very well. I do not train in the
boxing anymore my body just can't handle it anymore.
Mostly because of my brain surgery. I still
get nasty tension headaches very easily. I do a
lot of Scuba Diving and Harley riding now. I
forgot to mention--I am hoping to finish it early next
year, a book! Started it way back when '03-'04 and then
brain surgery got in the way. But I am back on track! It
is all about health and fitness. I hope to promote it as
"The book Personal Trainers don't want you to see!"
Can take a couch potato all the way to elite athlete. To
include the plyometric, Stadium stair workouts that I
used to do. It will have a small Bio separate from my
boxing career related to my health issue and how I have
over come them and much, much more. |
|
VALERIE
MAHFOOD
 |
Let's
see....I'm still just as incredibly good looking! That's
always a plus.
I'm still in school. When I started boxing, my father
would only give me his blessing if I also enrolled in
college. I enrolled in the Spring of 1995. With my last
fight being in July of 2008, I had already enrolled in
the PhD program for the Fall 2008 semester. So, despite
my not boxing, since I had already started the PhD
program, I stayed enrolled in school. I figure I'm just
a professional student. Besides, it's going to be so
cool for people to call me Dr. Wolfe.
My brother (Sebe) and I are still running our marathons.
Our goal is to run one marathon in each of the fifty
states. We have twenty-one marathons under our belt. By
far, the prettiest run was in Honolulu, Hawaii. To keep
the 26.2 miles fun, especially in the theme marathons,
we occasionally dress in costumes. While running in San
Diego, we wore dairy cow outfits. That worked out really
well since we then had the costumes to wear during
National Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a. Sure; we
looked strange, but me and my former corner woman
(Sandy) won free chicken combos!
And, I'm working on writing a book. I've heard that
writers should write about what they know best. For me,
that's boxing and prison. The book will be fiction. I
may draw some events in the book, such as fights, from
events that may have actually happened. But even in
those instances, I may dramatize or lessen any incidents
that may have occurred. That's why I'm sticking with a
faction genre. If anybody wants to, they can e-mail me
any concerns they may have about the book. Of course,
I've been trying to write this thing for years, but I
never get far before something else comes along and
takes my attention away from it. As of now, I've written
through the rough outline. I'm currently drafting and
editing.... I sure would like to finish this book
sometime before I die.
Well, that's about it for me, other than it's hurricane
season. Y'all say a prayer for me the next time one of
those little rainstorms blows through the Gulf Coast!
Valerie Wolfe Mahfood
thewolfebreed@aol.com
|
|
LISA
LEWIS
 |
Well
as you probably already know I'm not boxing at this
time. I do miss it so Much! I had a shoulder injury and
a knee injury due to my job (firefighter...22yrs) that
kept me out of commission. And now, I have been
suffering from a long term illness since July 28, 2009.
so, I doubt I'll be back to fighting anytime soon.
Lisa Lewis
|
|
BONNIE
MANN
 |
Hello
Sue and WBAN,
Just wanted to give you an update as to what I have been
up to in recent months. I am still the General Manager
of LA BOXING in Cary, NC. We have been open since May
8th, 2008. It has truly been a blessing to work with
this company over the past couple of years. I am
constantly surrounded by BOXING,MMA and fitness minded
individuals both competitive and non.
I am currently still training with Coach Anthony Bradley
and heavyweight Pro Paul Marinaccio. I last fought on
May 8th of this year scoring a 1st round KO. We are
currently set to fight again on September 25th and are
in negotiations to fight Carlette Ewell at the end of
the year for the WIBA Lt. Heavyweight World Title.
I keep busy with running LA BOXING which also houses my
amateur boxing team. In addition to that I assist Paul
Marinaccio with his Jawbreaker Promotions Boxing and MMA
Shows which starting this month will be a monthly series
here in Raleigh, NC.
I am enjoying and loving life and am excited that
FINALLY women have been accepted into the Olympics. My
younger girls on the team are starting to realize that
they have the opportunities that I could only dream
about. That to me is amazing.
I recently attended the Women’s National Golden Gloves
Tournament in Florida hosted by Bonnie Canino and let me
tell you she puts on an amazing event. I was inspired by
the talent of every competitor. The future is bright
indeed for women’s boxing.
I would just like to thank anyone and everyone
especially you Sue for all of the support and love you
provide for past, present and future women boxers.
Without all of you none of us would be doing or able to
do what we do. Also a special thank you to Mary Ann Owen
for her book Extraordinary Women of The Ring! |
|
BECKY GARCIA
|
| Hi
Sue, It's Becky Garcia. I have relocated to
Hollywood, California, from Phoenix, Arizona. I
have been in and out of boxing since my last fight which
took place over a year ago. I have been focusing on my
import/export company and completing my MBA. However,
aside from wanting to relocate my company in a new
market to attain more clients, one of the main reasons I
moved to Hollywood is to train at Wild Card Boxing Gym.
Training is good but I only have time to train if I have
a fight which I've had bad luck with. Since my
relocation, I've had the opportunity to work with many
different trainers including Freddy Roach, Jesse Reid,
Vince Phillips... It's been exciting! I recently
acquired some small sponsors so I'm looking forward to
getting back on track with my boxing career as I'm not
getting any younger! Feel free to contact me at any
time. Thanks! Photo: Mary Ann Owen |
|
VAIA ZAGANAS
|
I
currently split my time between Vancouver B.C and Los
Angeles....I have a boxing club in Vancouver, I teach
classes and do personal training. I am also pursuing
stunt work and acting and the most recent film I worked
on was the A-Team (stunts).
|
|
CARLEY PESENTE
 |
Carley
Pesente became the owner of the New York Nemesis a
women's tackle football team based in Albany, New York.
The team started play in the National Women's Football
League, but after that League folded the team moved to
the Independent Women's Football League. The team sports
a three year record of 16-8 and won the 2008 Northeast
Division of the NWFA with an undefeated 8-0 season.
Carley in addition to owning the team is also an
integral part of the Nemesis defense playing Nose Guard.
Carley also is in the process of forming a USA Hockey
"B" level women's hockey team in CT with the hopes that
the team will qualify for USA Nationals. Carley would
love to get back into the ring if given the opportunity.
|
|
AVA
KNIGHT
 |
Well, after a long lay off,
I have gone through a lot from losing the boxing gym, to
losing my coaches and being abandoned. I have made a
recent change to further my career. I moved out of
Chico, California to Oakland California to work with
local well known Coach Ben Bautista, coach of many good
fighters. He has taken me under his wing and I feel good
progress coming from this change. I have been training
hard, sparring hard and working hard. We have been
searching for fights but the few that we have gotten
calls for have ALL fallen through or been "postponed". I
am going through the same thing that I started out with
and what most female fighters go through. I am looking
for fights and am ready. I am walking around around 114
right now and hope to be fighting at 110-115 but will
take a fight at 118 for the right time, place, and
oportunity. But I am back, and I'm ready. I am hoping to
get a fight soon and my manager is doing his best right
now.
I would like to thank my
former coach, manager, and mentor Joe Rodriguez for
everything that he has done for me. I have all the
respect in the world for him. If it weren't for him and
his son Lou, I would not be were I am in this boxing
world today. I give him credit for establishing my
career and sponsoring me through my whole amateur and
professional career. He spent all his time and money to
make sure me, along with other kids from the gym had a
future and stayed out of trouble. I know it is very hard
for boxers like myself to make decisions like leaving a
town to take a risk with another coach and lifestyle and
it wasn't easy for me but I felt it would take my career
to another level because of the situation that I was
left in. This year has been very hard for me and I made
a lot of bad decisions that I have had to deal with the
consequences, but we all make mistakes in life that we
may or may not learn from...and I have. Being a
professional female athlete boxer has not been easy and
it is a hard and lonely road to walk, but the victories
are all worth it. I would like to thank you again Joe
for everything you have done for me and know that my
first world title is dedicated to you...
Team Knight |
Biographies of these boxers
are located on the Boxers Profiles segment
More to come--we have a lot of
updates to post! For women boxers who would like to be
featured in this series, email
WBAN!
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
