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Fighter of the
Year
Chevelle "Fists of Steel"
Hallback (United States)
This was one of the toughest
picks of 2005. Hallback edged others because she had gone into "unchartered"
waters to fight women in their home turf or country. Her
biggest win this year was against Emiko Raika, of Japan, in which
the fight took place in Japan. Hallback, is one of the most talented
and technical boxers on the scene today. HONORABLE MENTION: Holly Holm,
Jeannine Garside, Mary Jo Sanders, Eliza Olson, Alicia Ashley, Ina
Menzer |
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Top Amateurs of the Year
Simona
Galassi (Italy)
Flyweight/110 lbs/50 kg
3-time world champion
Mary Kom (India)
Mangte Chungneijang Merykom
(aka: Mary Kom)
Pinweight/101
lbs/46 kg
2-time world champion
Mary Spencer (Canada)
Welterweight/145 lbs/66 kg
1-time world champion and AIBA World
Championships Best Boxer 2005
Honorable Mention:
Tatiana Chalaya
(Chechnya)
Honorable Mention:
Anna
Laurell (Sweden) |
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Top European Fighters (tied)
Miriam Lamare (France)
Regina Halmich (Germany)
Honorable Mention: Nathalie
Toro, Ina Menzer |
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Highest
Achievements of the year
Jeannine Garside
(Canada)
Garside, 4-0-0, and who defeated
tough veteran Lisa "Bad News" Brown, winning the WIBA World
Junior Featherweight title, is a
"Fearless" boxer. Garside came into the sport with a 45 plus
amateur background, and is quickly gaining popularity in the sport
today. In the short time of her becoming pro she has already
reached #1 in WBAN's ratings. |
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Most
Inspirational Boxer of the Year
Mangte
Chungneijang Merykom (aka: Mary Kom)
of India, has worked for years
to become of one of the best amateur
boxers in the sport today. She is a two-time Amateur World
Champion. Kom earned her success in the hardest
conditions, without the best of equipment and trainers, but due
to her tenacity and perseverance to be the best—she overcame
those obstacles. In time she went on to win two gold and one
silver medals at the World Boxing Championships. Kom made
history of Manipur sports as being the first ethnic from Manipur
to win a gold medal at the international level.
Honorable Mention: Stephanie Dobbs, Jessica Rakoczy, Layla
McCarter |
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Hottest Rising Star in the Sport
Holly Holm
(United States)
Hot, HOT , HOT, the only way to
describe Holm who has taken the sport by storm. Holm defeated
Christy "The Coal Miner's Daughter" Martin and Mia "The Knockout" St.
John in back to back fights in 2005. Holm is in absolutely superb
physical condition, and was also a 2005 "honorable mentioned" for
Fighter of the year. Honorable Mention: Jeannine Garside
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The Most
(Avoided) Opponent
Sumya "Island Girl" Anani (United States)
Lets face it---NO ONE WANTS
TO FIGHT SUMYA ANANI. She is The "Most Feared"
Welterweight/Jr. Welterweight in the sport today.
This of course has been extremely frustrating for Anani, when by all
rights should be fighting women in her weight class and able to get
on cards. Anani has been graced with this "unfortunate" but "top honor" award
two years in a row! |
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Biggest Upsets of
the Year!
Holly Holm Defeats Christy
Martin
10 rounds - Non-Title bout
(United States)
Links:
Holly Holm
Christy Martin
Jeannine Garside Defeats Lisa Brown
10 rounds - WIBA World Title bout
(Edmonton, Canada)
Links:
Jeannine Garside
Lisa
Brown
Anne Sophie Mathis Stops Nathalie
Toro
10 round bout- Toro defending
her Jr. Welterweight
EBU title. (Dombasle, France)
Links:
Anne-Sophie Mathis
Nathalie Toro |
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Toughest
of the Year
Layla McCarter
(United States)
WBAN does not know many boxers
who would have hung in a fight, fighting one handed, as the other
hand was broken. McCarter even managed to win the last
round fighting one sided! After the fight she had to take time
off to recover from this injury, that included surgery to repair it.
(Not recommended by the way---but she did qualify as the toughest
for sticking it out!)
Link: Layla McCarter |
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The "Road Warriors" of 2005
Eliza Olson, Alicia Ashley, Laura Ramsey, Stephanie Dobbs, and Chevelle
Hallback all earned the top "Road Warriors" of the sport in 2005.
Many of these boxers' fights were in other opponents "backyard",
and in some of those fights it didn't stop them from winning! |
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THE BUSIEST
Boxer of the Year 2005
Stephanie "All Action" Dobbs
(United States)
If there is ANY boxer in this
sport that fits her ring name any more appropriately--it is Dobbs! She has
fought 11 times this year, and she has "no fear" of fighting in other
fighters hometowns and/or countries. Of course, typically of the
"warriors" of the sport, they have very misleading records,
due to the fact that if they do not literally KO their opponent--they will surely lose by the standard
"controversial" decision.
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Rookie of the Year
Susianna
Kentikian (Armenia) Lives in Germany
Susianna had her
pro debut on 15th January 2005 at the age of 17. She has accomplished an
impressive record of 9-0-0 (7 KO's) in her first year as a pro. Her
eighth fight was against Svetla Taskova, who has been in two title
fights with Regina Halmich. Taskova took the world champion all the way
in their first bout and was stopped in the sixth round in their second
encounter. Kentikian stopped Taskova in the second round in October of
this year. She learned her boxing skills in the amateur ring, where she
fought 25 bouts, winning 24 of them. Her amateur career was crowned with
a German International Championship Title in September, 2004.
Honorable Mention: Tricia Turton (United
States) |
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Boxer who took on "ALL" tough opponents in the year 2005
Elena "Baby Doll" Reid
(United States)
Elena Reid took on very tough
competition in 2005, that began with her stopping Lakeysha Williams, she
then took on the very “slick” boxer, Alicia Ashley. She then fought
Stephanie Dobbs, and fought Regina Halmich in Germany twice in one year!
Honorable Mention: Belinda Laracuente |
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Biggest Comeback
Anastasia Toktaulova (Moscow, Russia)
After a two-year layoff from the
sport, Anastasia had a very big comeback, when she fought a world title
fight from that comeback, defeating Hungarian Viktoria Milo, 107 ¼, in a 10-round title bout for the vacant
WIBF junior flyweight title. |
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Biggest Hype Personalities of the Year
Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood
Was there anymore "Hype" than
"Million Dollar Baby", and the attention Swank received when she got
into superior shape, taking her part seriously by training with the
female boxers? |
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Most Improved
of the Year
Ina Menzer (Germany)
Alesia-Tamara Graf(Germany)
Shadina Pennybaker (USA)
Shelley Burton (USA)
Honorable Mention: Missy Fiorentino |
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Best-Kept Secret in
Women's Boxing
Eliza
Olson (United States)
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Biggest Knockout
of the Year
Laetitia Robinson vs.
Monica Nunez
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On February 11, 2005, Leatitia "Baby
Girl" Robinson dropped Monica Nunez with the first left hook she
landed. It was right on the button and left the Dominican fighter
immobile.
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Top Fights for the Year
Eliza Olson vs. Jessica
Rakoczy
Missy Fiorentino vs. Esther Shouten
Jackie Chavez vs. Audrey
Vela
Regina Halmich vs. Maria Jose Rosa |
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Best Quotes/Comments of the Year
Bert Sugar - Hall of Fame
boxing writer
"Another black eye? Boxing ran
out of black eyes in 1910."
Alicia Ashley -
World Champion
"I'm a
boxer. I never go into a fight thinking I'm going to stop someone.
I know people don't like to see boxers, but that's what I am."
Bill Whaley
Choice for
Fighter of the year: Hillary Swank:
"I know this choice sounds pretty silly but I have not been
overly impressed with the match-ups this year or the overall
showing of "heart" among fighters or their camps willingness to
put fighters to the true challenge. The most deserving fighters
and top contenders continue to lose out to the promoters girls
and the sanctioning organizations are only about the money. In
my opinion all of the existing sanctioning bodies are total
B.S.. I hope 2006 really brings some changes is those areas.
Anyway, Swank, this year did more, through her preparation and
training than Mia, Christy, Laila or any other fighter out
there, IMO. Her performance brought more attention to female
boxing this year than any other." |
The "NOT SO HOT" In Women's
Boxing For the Year 2005!
Craziest Stoppage of
the Year
The date was
March 26, 2005, the venue, Kansas City, Missouri. Stephanie Dobbs,
108, was fighting Mary Ortega, 110. In the second round the
fight was prematurely stopped, after Stephanie was hit with about three
unanswered punches. Referee
Danny Campbell
jumped in to a chorus of boos. When Team Dobbs asked him after the fight why
he had stopped the fight, Campbell said to them, that because of the
Katie Dallam thing and all the bad press about it lately, we don't want
to take any chances with womens' fights.' He went on to say that if the
fight were 'anywhere but Kansas City, I wouldn't have stopped it.' But
when it came to a the main event that was a men's bout on the same card,
Campbell treated it totally different. One male boxer was knocked down
three times in the first round before he finally stopped it.
The "If Only"
Boxing Event
The date
was February 11, 2005. The venue, Atlanta, Georgia, and on ESPN2 "Friday
Night Fights". There were two women's bouts, and both were
"world title fights" on the card. The card would have been so
different
"IF ONLY",
they had not had Laila "She Bee Stingin" Ali fighting
Cassandra Geiggar (Ouch); and
they would not have had Leatitia "Baby Girl" Robinson
fighting Monica Nunez (Double Ouch).
"IF
ONLY"
Ali had fought Robinson---AND Geiggar had fought
Nunez, this card would have been SO different. BUT because
Geiggar was not in the same skill level as Ali, she was stopped in the
eighth round. Nunez not the skill level of Robinson---was
KO"d in the opening seconds of the first round-----
"IF ONLY".......
Biggest Rip Off of
the Year
Yvonne Caples
Vs. Ria Ramnarine
(Bout took place in Trinidad)
The date was May 27, 2005, the venue at
the Jean Pierre Sports Complex, in Trinidad. Ria Ramnarine,
104.5, of Trinidad, won the WIBA Mini-Flyweight World title when she
defeated Yvonne Caples, 104.5, of the United States, with a
10-round split decision. Ramnarine went down in the second round.
BUT even the local folks thought that Caples won this bout with no
problems. In the Trinidad Express, a local news source in
Trinidad, they wrote the following (excerpt), "Show the entire fight on
television, and let the whole of Trinidad and Tobago judge for
themselves." That was the response of Tansley Thompson, a local boxing
promoter, manager of Commonwealth Games silver medalist Kertson
Manswell and former close associate of ex-World Boxing Association (WBA)
light-heavyweight champion Leslie "Tiger" Stewart. Thompson was
commenting on what many considered a 'home-cooked' decision that landed
Trinidad and Tobago's Ria Ramnarine the Women's International Boxing
Association (WIBA) mini-flyweight (105 lbs). Like Thompson, many in the
local boxing fraternity felt Caples had won by a landslide. Going into
the final round, 26-year-old Ramnarine appeared to need a knockout to
win, after she was picked apart by a quicker, technically superior
southpaw, who landed the cleaner, heavier blows throughout the ten-round
affair. Ramnarine was on the deck in the second round from a flash
knockdown when Caples landed a clean left counter flush on her jaw after
the T&T fighter had lunged in and missed with the right. Following
the ten-round world title duel, the Express spoke to several persons,
including local fighters, promoters, two prominent local coaches and
boxing officials, and they were unanimous in their disgust at the
outcome. Joining the fray was controversial promoter Buxo Potts who also
felt Caples had clearly won.
The Most
Outrageous!
Prisoner Nog Nai Siriporn of Thailand FIRST fought for a (WBC) World
title bout, when she had never had a professional boxing bout. But
what makes this the MOST OUTRAGEOUS is that she was told that IF SHE WON,
she could get out of Prison sooner---WBAN has never heard of anything any
more outrageous than gauging a boxing match with a person's freedom!
Link to full story
Two-Round Women's boxing Bout---We actually had a commissioner,
Aaron Davis, who apparently thought that women only fight two rounds!
The fight took place in Topeka, Kansas, where two women boxers were
fighting a four-rounder. When the fighters were coming out for the third
round, the Commissioner and Ref stopped the fight---because they thought
it was over. What was MORE outrageous, was that the fighters left the
ring, took their wraps and equipment off, and when the nimrods figured
out the Blooper they created---they actually tried to get the boxers to
re-enter the ring! Luckily the fight was ultimately called a “no
contest.” This information was confirmed with the ABC Commission.
Full Story
For ALL of the Most Outrageous for 2005 -
Go Here
The "I can only
Beat 'Zero' Boxers"
Boxer of the year
Patricia
Quirico (Argentina)
Talk about a
cock-eyed boxing record! She is presently 9-3 with a whooping 8KO’s to
her record. This is where you KNOW boxing records mean absolutely ZERO
in this sport --- and I mean LITERALLY in Quirico's case! Check
this out….7/22/05 she KO”d Mayra Dos Santos, 0-0-0, 03/05/05, TKO3
Carina De Souza, 0-0-0, 12/11/04, she KO’d Teresa Rodriguez, 0-0-0,
08/06/04 she LOST to Liliane Balles, 0-0-0; 05/08/04 TKO7 over Joselyn
Da Silva, 0-0-0, 05/01/04 UD Adriana Carolina, 0-0-0; 04/10/04 TKO2 over
Deusa Rodriguez, 0-0-0 (Title bout); 12/06/03 TKO5 over Rosillette Dos
Santos (rematch), 0-1-0; 07/25/03 KO4 over Rosillette Dos Santos,
0-0-0. Any fights that she had where her opponent had ANY wins—Quirico
lost the fight! And with this amazingly disgraceful boxing record
history, Quirico has managed to fight in three title matches. (WBAN of
course invites anyone to provide additional fight records on these
boxers--and we took our stats off of boxrec.com.)
The "I want to
fight a Male" Award
Ann "Brown
Sugar" Wolfe
(She and her
team/promotions wanted it...Don't think too many others were too enthused
about this "NON-HISTORICAL" mixed match....)
"Bad Girl
Boxer" of the Year
Dávila Miura
Ferreira
Severino Riveros, former Paraguayan amateur champion, latterly active as
both a promoter and trainer in Sao Paulo where he has lived for the last 15
years, had been shot dead allegedly by one of his pupils, 23-year-old Dávila
Miura Ferreira, with whom he was romantically linked.
"The Dirty Fighter"
Award
Zarrika Fatuma (Kenya)
Zarrika Fatuma had done her little
deed against Frida Wallberg, when Wallberg fought Fatuma in a 10-round WIBF
Intercontinental bout last night, and took a “bite” from the Tyson-like
boxer, Fatuma. Apparently Fatuma, getting frustrated in the match, tried to
take a chunk out of Wallberg’s collarbone.
"The Please Stop
now" Award
Valerie Rangeard
Brenda Bell Drexel
Willicia Moorehead
Top Mismatches of
the Year
Too
many to list. And that is sad to say...
Biggest
Disappointments of
the Year
Seeing Women Boxers earn a WORLD TITLE
BELT by fighting unranked boxers, inferior opponents, bums, no win
boxers, and even pro debuters; Seeing Women Boxers who hold world
titles, fight a title bout, and then the next fight, fight a pro
debuter, inferior opponents with no wins, and tomato cans; Seeing Women
Boxers only fight in their "home advantage" area---to the point that
when they are offered other fights in other venues, they or their team
turn down the fight.
Also....Bad Decisions! Especially for boxers who
fight outside of their country. The decisions are sometimes
outright disgraceful the way some of these women are ripped off.
Lastly....the
biggest money fight for women's boxing "Million Dollar Lady" getting
cancelled due to Lucia Rijker sustaining an injury before the fight. Boxing fans thought
"finally" these two would meet in the ring after years and years of trash
talk--sometimes things are just not in the cards....
NOTE:
WBAN would like to thank the boxing fans and the WBAN writers and
contributors who all gave valuable input to the 2005 Yearly Awards!
We appreciate the time that everyone took to send in their picks and
their comments.
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