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Dutch featherweight/super bantamweight Esther Schouten (55-kg, born
October 28, 1977) is from Hoorn, The Netherlands and is trained and managed by Ton Vriend.
Esther made her pro boxing debut on March 22, 1997 with a three-round
decision over Darina Tsokolaeva, then lost a six-round decision to
Austria's Ulrike Stangl in Vienna on June 7, 1997.
Esther took a two-year layoff from competition but continued to
train as a boxer, including traveling to Germany to spar with
WIBF world junior flyweight champion Regina Halmich.
Esther returned to boxing competition in 1999. She faced a tough opponent
... Polish champion Iwona Guzowska in
Guzowska's own home town of Gdansk on July 17. Raising the bar still
higher for Esther, this was
a full ten-round bout for the vacant WIBF European featherweight title!
Schouten took the bout the distance but Iwona won a unanimous (97-94,98-92,97-93)
decision for the title belt.
A Women's Boxing Page correspondent told me that this bout "stole the show and
even kept some hardnose anti-female boxing observers on their seats the entire battle
... or was it perhaps the beauty of Ms. Schouten that captured them?"
According
to the information I received from Esther's trainer Ton Vriend, Esther was
just 1-2 as a pro boxer after this tough loss.
On September 30, 2000 at Sportcomplex De Wilgenring in Rotterdam, Holland,
a crowd estimated at 400 saw Esther (121¼ lbs) dominate another
Polish opponent, Anna Kasprzak (126¼ lbs), for a clear six-round unanimous
decision (pictures below). A ringside correspondent told me "the Polish girl
was down in the second and was generally on her heels ... Schouten really
wanted this one and fought hard for it, never allowing Kasprzak the space to box".
Krysztof Zbarksi of Polish Boxing Promotion also explained that "Esther was mentally stronger, more
aggressive and accurate with punches, especially (the) right jab.
Anna came without the confidence, she was just looking for a lucky punch
from a right hand (she is a very strong righty)." Kasprzak fell to 2-1 aa
a pro boxer, but she was no pushover ... she had amateur experience and had defeated
American Liz Mueller 15-9 in the Feenix Box Cup 60-kg final
in May 1999.
With her record now evened at 2-2,
Esther began fighting regularly on cards sponsored by Austrian group
Box-Team Vienna, which also promotes Gisella Papp, Diana Szilagyi
and Krisztina Krek.
On September 16, 2000 at Haus der Begegnung Liesing in Vienna, Austria,
Esther won a six-round decision over Mariana Pampuk of Hungary.
On October 28, 2000 at Lugner City in Vienna,
a standing-room-only crowd of 1700 saw
Esther win a third-round TKO over
Viktoria Milo of Hungary in a scheduled six-rounder on the undercard
of a bout in which Krisztina Krek won the vacant WIBF European Bantamweight
title with a ten-round unanimous decision over Sonia Pereira.
On December 2, 2000 in Vienna,
Esther won a six-round decision over Mariana Hudak of Hungary.
Esther was
7-0 as a kickboxer, according to trainer Vriend in January 2001.
On January 27, 2001 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
Esther TKO'd Germany's Bettina Völker at 0:20 of the opening round.
The referee stopped the bout then Völker was stunned by Schouten's
first hard punch.
On March 24, 2001 in Graz, Austria, on the first professional boxing card in
Graz for 30 years, Esther again outpointed Mariana Pampuk of Hungary.
On May 19, 2001 at Top Ten-Sportcenter in Vienna, Austria,
Esther won the vacant WIBF European Super Bantamweight title with a hard-fought
unanimous (97-94,97-95,97-95) ten-round decision over Sanna Rauta
of Sweden. This was only the second pro bout for the Finnish-born
Rauta, but she was a formidable opponent for Schouten as she
had gone 36-2 as an amateur, including winning the 57-kg division
in the Feenix Box Cup competition in 1999. Rauta made a strong showing against
the Dutch star while falling to 1-1. According to WIBF official Daniel
Van de Wiele, the first five rounds were very evenly fought with Schouten
the aggressor but Rauta countering well. Schouten took charge in the
sixth, seventh and eighth but Rauta rallied in the ninth. The final round
was a barn burner with first Schouten and then Rauta getting the upper hand
in what Van de Wiele describes as "probably the best female fight ever
to be seen (in) a European ring".
On March 24, 2002 in Vienna, Austria,
Esther Schouten won by a first-round KO over Anca Perijoc
of Hungary.
On May 18, 2002 in Lugner City, Vienna, Austria,
Esther retained the WIBF European Junior
Featherweight title with a second-round TKO of Daniela Vatu of Romania.
Vatu, who was a late substitute for Marina Kozerod of the Ukraine, was no match for Schouten and retired
after the second round.
On November 9, 2002 at Trend Eventhotel Pyramid in Vösendorf, Vienna, Austria,
Esther (121¾ lbs) won the WIBF Junior Featherweight title vacated by Michele Aboro with a closely-fought ten-round
unanimous decision over former IFBA Junior featherweight champion Leona Brown (121 lbs) of Pawling, New York. Brown fell to 10-10-0 (4 KO).
On April 12, 2003 at Aktív Sporthalle, Güssing, Burgenland, Austria,
Esther (123¾ lbs) won a six-round unanimous decision over unranked Simone Suciu (124 lbs) of Romania. Suciu fell to 0-4.
On October 18, 2003 in Lugner City, Vienna, Austria,
Esther won by a TKO at the end of the third round over Simone Suciu of Romania in a rematch of their April 2003
fight. Suciu fell to 0-5.
Ashley and Schouten mix it up in Vienna
© Copyrighted photo by JollyDee
On November 15, 2003 at Trend Eventhotel Pyramid in Vösendorf, Vienna, Austria,
Esther won a ten-round split decision over IWBF Super Bantamweight champion
Alicia Ashley
of Westbury, New York to retain the WIBF world Junior Featherweight title.
Ashley fell to
9-5-1 (0 KO).
On May 8, 2004 at Topsportcentrum in Rotterdam, The Netherlands,
Esther won a third-round TKO over Monika Petrova of Sofia, Bulgaria in a
non-title bout that had been scheduled for six rounds. Petrova fell to
1-7. On November 6, 2004 at the Velodrome in Amsterdam,
Holland Esther and Galina Koleva Ivanova of
Bulgaria fought to a 98-94 (Schouten), 97-95 (Ivanova), 95-95 draw over 10
rounds for Schouten's WIBF Super Bantamweight Title. According to
correspondent Marcel Niessen: "Apparently it was not without controversy.
The observers I talked to basically all said the same ... the first half was
very even with most of the second half for Ivanova. They thought Ivanova
pulled it off. This girl did extremely well for fighting out of her weight
class. Schouten fought back with a ton of heart, but Ivanova landed the
cleaner shots. They only showed a few rounds on TV here, but it looked like
an entertaining and clean fight. There should be a rematch."
Ivanova fell to 5-4-2 (0 KO's). On May 21, 2005 in Purmerend,
Netherlands, Esther Schouten knocked out Petra Jachmanova of Slovakia with a
punch to the liver in the second round of a scheduled six-rounder. Schouten
told WBAN "This was the first bout with my new trainer Michel van
Halderen, and with my new sponsor Man-dog security. I'm a full time pro
because of them! I felt really strong." Schouten improved to 17-1-1 (8
KO's) while dropping Jachmanova to 2-11-1 (0 KO's), On
September 10, 2005 at the Topsportcentrum in
Rotterdam, Netherlands, Galina Koleva Ivanova
of Bulgaria defeated Esther by a six-round split
decision in a non-title rematch of their controversial November 2004 bout.
Ivanova improved to 6-4-2 (2 KO) with the win while Schouten fell to
17-2-1 (8 KO's).
On November 23, 2005 at the
Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island, local favorite
Missy Fiorentino (5'1", 124 lbs) won an
animated 10-round unanimous (97-94,99-91,96-93) decision over Esther for the
vacant IWBF Featherweight title.
Fiorentino
improved to 13-1-0 (6 KOs) with the win.
Schouten knew from the outset that her opponent would be a tough
draw. “I didn’t have a game plan. I knew that she was aggressive and
would work hard. She worked harder than I did. That’s the reason I lost,”
said Schouten. “When I could move more, it seemed to be my fight.”
On September 23, 2006 at Southport Sharks Club
on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia, Sharon
Anyos of Australia successfully defended her WBC world
featherweight title when she stopped Esther at 1:37 in the sixth round.
Anyos told the news media that it was her hardest fight so far, and that she
was pleased that she won the bout this way. After Schouten had set the pace
in the first round with some strong right hands that had the local crowd
nervous, Anyos took control in the second and outworked her taller
opponent, eventually wearing her down. In the fourth round, Schouten was cut
over her left eye by an Anyos right, and the referee Brad Vocale intervened
to have the ring physician check the cut. Schouten tried to
time Anyos with uppercuts as she charged forward but could not recover the
initiative. The fight was stopped In the sixth
round when Anyos threw a barrage of combinations which stunned Schouten,
leaving her wobbling at the knees against the ropes and in no condition to
return fire. Anyos improved to 13-3-0 (4 KO)
with the win.
On March 15, 2008 at the Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, Germany, Esther
returned to the ring to win a six-round unanimous decision over Zsofia Bedo
of Hungary, who fell to 0-3-1.
On May 16, 2008 at
Ballhaus Arena in Ashersleben,
Germany, Esther (120½ lbs)
won an eight-round unanimous decision over Galina Giumliiska (123½
lbs) of Sofia, Bulgaria, who fell to 8-14 (1 KO).
On July 11, 2008 at Rundturnhalle in Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany, Esther
(126½ lbs) TKO's Damaris Muthoni (124¼ lbs) of Nairobi, Kenya at 1:14 in
the fourth round of a scheduled six-rounder. Muthoni, who fights out of Aachen,
Germany, fell to 8-4-2 (4 KO's) with the loss.
On October 10, 2008 at
Mittellandhalle in Barleben,
Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, Esther (125¼
lbs) won by a TKO over Maribel Santana (123 lbs) of La Romana, Dominican
Republic, when Santana retired
in the third round of a scheduled eight rounder with an injured hand. Santana fell to 9-6-1 (3 KO's)
with the loss.
On January 17, 2009 at
Burg-Waechter Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany,
Ina Menzer (125¾ lbs) of Moenchengladbach,
Germany retained her WIBF/WBC
Featherweight titles by defeating Esther (125¾ lbs) by a 10-round
unanimous (96-94,97-93,97-93) decision. Menzer improved to 23-0 (9 KO's) while Schouten fell to 22-5-1 (11 KO's).
On July 3, 2009 at the Soccio Center in Langenhagen,
Niedersachsen, Germany Esther (121¼ lbs) won the vacant WIBF Junior
Featherweight title with a TKO of Bettina Volker (120½ lbs) of Germany at 1:39
of the tenth round. Schouten improved to 23-5-1 (12 KO's) while Volker
fell to 6-4-3 (2 KO's).
On October 10, 2009 at Stadthalle in Rostock,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany,
Ina Menzer (125¾ lbs) won a 10-round majority
(96-94,95-95,96-94) decision in a rematch with Esther Schouten (123½ lbs). Menzer improved to 24-0 (9 KO's). On October 18, 2010 at Theater
Carré in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Esther won a ten-rround unanimous
(98-92,100-91,100-91) decision over Judy Waguthii of Nairobi, Kenya for
the WIBF Junior Featherweight title. Waguthii fell to 8-5-2 with
the loss while Schouten improved to 25-6-1 (13 KO's) . Schouten announced her intention to retire from competition soon after this fight with Waguthii.
Page last updated:
Friday June 02, 2023 |
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