THE
MOST ENTERTAINING BOXERS
OF THE YEAR (TIED)
FREDIA
"THE CHEETAH" GIBBS
VALERIE "THE WOLFE" MAHFOOD
Fredia Gibbs and Valerie
Mahfood were tied for the "most entertaining"
this year. Gibbs comes out in
her "Cheetah" attire---she wears a pair of
marquee-type glasses, and boxes with a flair that has the boxing
fans on the edge of their seat. The Wolfe" Valerie Mahfood comes
to the
ring with music blasting, "Who let the dogs
out". Mahfood dresses in a wolfe-like boxing outfit. Her
Mohawk hair-do matches precisely the color of her boxing gear.
Wolfe has the letters "W-O-L-F-E" shaved out on the side of her
head. On the other side of her head, there is a shaved
imprint of a wolfe's paw. Mahfood has the entertaining
antics that is well-suited with how she projects herself in the
game.
MOST
IMPROVED BOXER OF THE YEAR
GLORIA
RAMIREZ
Ramirez has stuck with this sport, taking the "ups and
downs" the sport has dealt to her. Because..... Ramirez has not been
afraid to learn her skills in the ring without worrying about that
"almighty boxing record", she has improved to the point of
becoming a serious contender to be reckoned with in the ring with
any of the best in the sport today.
MOST
INSPIRATIONAL BOXER OF THE YEAR
BRENDA
BELL-DREXEL
Drexel gives new meaning to "fearless." She has fought
fighters in their home turf, with little notice and ducks no one.
She keeps a positive attitude and inspires anyone who has the
pleasure of meeting her. She had four major opponents this year with
no inferior opponents on her record. Drexel finished up the year by
clearly defeating Snodene Blakeney, just prior to Blakeney fighting
for a WIBA World title fight against Chevelle Hallback.
MOST
ACCOMPLISHED BOXER OF THE YEAR
ANN
WOLFE
Wolfe had five fights
this year, winning them all. Four out of the five fights were by
way of knockout/Technical knockout---topped with winning the WIBA 154-lb World
title, IFBA Super-middleweight world title, and successfully
defending it. Wolfe has come a long, LONG way from her
beginnings in this sport. Wolfe once lived on the streets
with her kids, lost her mother at a young age to cancer, and
also lost her father and brother after they were murdered...
TOP
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
JESSICA
FLAHARTY (3-4-1)
Flaharty first
participated in the amateurs and accumulated a 12-6 record
before turning pro in February 2001 of this year. She fought
some very good competition in those eight fights that included
three matches with Yolanda Gonzalez (WBAN's January 2002
Fighter of the month), Lisa Foster, Lakeysa Williams,
and Gracie Roca.
FUTURE
STARS OF THE YEAR (TIED)
MELINDA
COOPER
Age 16, (Las Vegas) - Amateur Boxer
112 lb. Weight Class
CHRIS MARTINON
Age 14, (California) - Amateur Boxer
106 lb. Weight
Class
Both boxers are undefeated in 2001; both won USA Boxing National
Championship; NationalGolden gloves; National PAL; and Ringside
Nationals; and both are very talented boxers.
GOOD
SPORTSMANSHIP FOR THE YEAR
GINA
NICHOLAS
VALERIE MAHFOOD
These two exceptional and
top women boxers of the world tied for the "Good
Sportsmanship" for the year. Gina Nicholas was
chosen by WBAN. Valerie Mahfood was nominated by boxing
fans who wrote into WBAN saying that they felt Mahfood deserved
this award for the way she gave her opponent, Kendra
Lenhart credit for her knockout of Mahfood. Mahfood made no
excuses and gave credit to her opponent for a job well-done.
BAD
SPORTSMANSHIP OF THE YEAR
MIA "THE
KNOCKOUT" ST.
JOHN
WBAN got many responses
for nominations this year for the "worst sport" in
2001---And that honor (or dishonor) goes to Mia
"The Knockout" St. John. Fans pointed out that St. John's response to
her fight and only loss from Rolanda Andrews was less than
admirable. St. John was quoted as saying to
the affect that Andrews beat her (Mia) with a "lucky
punch" and that Rolanda would fade back into oblivion. Mia
went on to say about her opponent, "She does not replace
me, I am still Mia St. John. Christy and I will make the biggest
purse in the history of women's boxing."
BIGGEST
"KNOCKOUT" UPSET OF THE YEAR
ROLANDA
ANDREWS KO'D MIA ST. JOHN
Rolanda sported a 4-4-0 (1KO) record when climbing into that
squared circle to fight THE undefeated Mia "The Knockout" St.
John who had a flawless record of
22-0-1 (12 KO). Little could have many
predicted that Rolanda would hand over Mia’s first loss, with an
impressive second round KO---AND in the process gave new meaning to
St. John’s ring name, Mia "the Knocked-Out" St. John.
TOP
THREE TELEVISED FIGHTS OF THE YEAR
CHRISTY
MARTIN VS. KATHY COLLINS (PAY-PER-VIEW)
SUMYA ANANI VS. FREDIA GIBBS (DIRECT TV)
LAURA SERRANO VS. CHEVELLE HALLBACK (FOX SPORTS NET)
WBAN asked boxing fans to
vote for their most favorite boxing match that had happened in
the year 2001. These were the three top fights that were
chosen by WBAN and boxing fans.
BEST
SPORTS NETWORK OF THE YEAR THAT FEATURED WOMEN'S BOXING
#1
ESPN2
ESPN2 has continued to be the leading boxing sports
network to consistently have more women boxers on their televised
cards.
Honorable mention: FOX SPORTS NET
At the beginning of 2001,
it looked like Fox Sports Net would be more like the
"weakest link" for women's boxing on television, but
they began to put on some very good and higher calibre matches
throughout the year.
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