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5'10" southpaw Yvonne Reis was born on May 26, 1966 in Marlborough,
Massachusetts. She began studying martial arts when she was 8 years old, initially to learn self-defense.
She played basketball in high school, weighing as much as 215 lbs. She attended Emerson
College and later got involved with full-contact kickboxing.
Yvonne now lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. In
2001 she competed in the USA Extreme Challenge in Full Contact, and preparation for this event
linked her with former world
champion boxer and kickboxer Bonnie Canino, who became
her trainer.
In the 165-lb division at the 2001 US Women's Golden Gloves in Augusta, Georgia,
Yvonne defeated Robin Labuda of Alpharetta, Georgia 5-0 in the semifinal of
August 10 and Emilia Longoria of Phoenix, Arizona by 5-0 to win the final on
August 11.
On September 19-22, 2001 at the USA Boxing National Championships at the Marine
Corps Base at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, Yvonne lost in the final to Angel
Bovee of New York by a 17-8 score. She had defeated Jennifer Driggers of Camp
LeJeune in the semifinal.
In the 156-lb division of the 2002 US Nationals in Scranton, PA in August,
Yvonne defeated Roselin Morales of Bethlehem, PA by 8-4 in her semifinal
on August 1 and Jennifer Thyssen of Eau Claire, Wisconsin by 9-5 to win the
national championship on August 2.
In the 156-lb division at the 2002 US Women's Golden Gloves in Chicago, Illinois
on August 21-24 Yvonne won a decision over Renee Poulsky of Illinois in the
semifinal and defeated Jenna Johlin of Ohio in the final.
At the 2002 women's world championships in Antalya, Turkey on October 28, Yvonne
took the silver medal in the 156 lb division, losing to Larisa Berezenko of the
Ukraine after defeating Paola Casalinuovo of Argentina in the semifinal.
Yvonne completed her amateur boxing career with a 14-3 record.
She made her pro debut on December 21, 2002 at the War Memorial Auditorium in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, weighing in at 152 lbs and defeating Bonnie Mann (146
lbs) of Raleigh, North Carolina by a four-round unanimous decision. Reis knocked
Mann down at 0:30 in the opening round and went on to dominate the bout. Mann fell to
1-4-0 (0 KO) with the loss.
On April 4, 2003 at The Harriet Himmel Theater in
West Palm Beach, Florida, Yvonne (160 lbs) won a six-round unanimous
(58-55,58-55,58-55)
decision over Cynthia Jones (152 lbs) of Miami, Florida. According to a report
from Ryan Wissow, it was a great fight as Reis and Jones went right at it from
the opening bell. In the second round, Jones caught Reis with some big shots on
the ropes, and had Reis in big trouble so that the ref almost stopped the fight.
However, Reis clinched Jones, and the ref gave her a standing eight count. The
remaining four rounds were non-stop, with both fighters stunning the other and
snapping each other's heads back with numerous big shots, bringing the crowd to
its feet. Wissow said of Cynthia Jones "She is the best 0-4 fighter I've
ever seen. There are numerous world-class fighters that Jones would beat."
Jones fell to 1-4 with the loss.
On July 13, 2003 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, Yvonne (163 lbs)
lost by a four-round unanimous decision to Nikki Eplion
(167½ lbs) of South point, Ohio, who improved to 9-0-2 with the win. This
bout was fought with three-minute rounds.
 On August 23, 2003 at the Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, Florida, Yvonne
(163½ lbs) won a four-round majority (38-38,40-36,39-37) decision over Jennifer Mancil (166 lbs) of
Cleviston, Florida. In a very competitive fight Mancil showed some boxing
ability, choosing to move around the ring instead of slugging it out in the
middle. Reis also showed good skills, bobbing and weaving and picking her shots
well. Both landed their share of bombs in the latter half of the bout as they
chose to stand and exchange more freely, to the delight of the fans. Reis landed
the cleaner shots and managed to make Mancil miss, taking the decision on two
scorecards. Mancil fell to 1-2-0 (0 KO).
On September 27, 2003 at the Harborside Event Center
in Fort Myers, Florida, Yvonne (159½ lbs)
fought to an eight-round draw with Shirvelle Williams (161 lbs) of St.
Petersburg, Florida (77-75 Williams, 80-72 Reis, 76-76). WBAN's insider sent the following report: "The first three rounds
were the same, Yvonne kept her distance and picked her shots, as Shirvelle try
to stalk her way in. In the fourth and fifth Yvonne took the fight in closer
which was Shirvelle’s strong point. Nothing happened except after a punch a lot
of holding, rough-housing and hitting below the belt line by Shirvelle. The
sixth round Yvonne established her range back, picking her shots and throwing
some multi combinations through the round. The seventh was Yvonne’s strongest
round and in the eighth round both girls took the action from the beginning to
the end." Williams was now 5-4-1 (2 KO).
On January 30, 2004 at the National Guard Armory in Worcester, Massachusetts,
undefeated middleweight
Leatitia Robinson (163 lbs) successfully
defended her IWBF Middleweight title with a 10-round unanimous (98-92,100-90,100-90)
decision
over Yvonne
(159 lbs). Robinson improved to 10-0 (8 KOs) with the win. Reis was
still battling the flu when she met Robinson,
but refused to let illness keep her from a bout that was something of a
homecoming for her. ''She was able to get her combos off, and I wasn't, it's
that simple," Reis
said. ''Give her credit; she's the champion for a reason. This will make
me work harder to get back to that level."
On April 23, 2004 at Club Med in Port St. Lucie,
Florida In front of over 900 boxing fans, pro debuter Alexandra Maloy (5'10",
175 lbs) of Tampa, Florida won a four-round majority decision over Yvonne (173
lbs).
Shelley Burton vs. Yvonne Reis
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen
On June 3, 2004 at the Chinook Winds Casino Resort
in Lincoln City, Oregon, Shelley Burton (160 lbs) of
Kalispell, Montana TKO'd Yvonne (160 lbs) at 1:59 in the second round of
a scheduled six-rounder. Burton caught Reis with some good shots early in
the fight. Reis took two eight counts and was knocked down to the canvas with
the first. Former Toughwoman competitor Burton improved to 4-0 (1 KO) with the
win.
On October 22, 2004 at a black tie charity card at
the Municipal Auditorium in Sarasota, Florida, Erin
Toughill (167 lbs) won an ten-round unanimous decision over Yvonne (164½ lbs) for the WIBF
168-lb Intercontinental title. Toughill
was now 6-1-0 (0 KO's) as a pro boxer.
On December 11, 2004 at Lausitz-Arena in Cottbus, Germany,
German-based Natascha Ragosina (167 lbs) of
Khazakhstan defeated Yvonne (167 lbs) by
a TKO in the tenth round for the WIBF Intercontinental championship.
Reis kept trying to come forward throughout the bout but she
was knocked down in the ninth round. She then weathered the storm
... only to have the fight stopped with 42 seconds gone
in the tenth. According to WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte:
"Reis was outgunned from the second round onwards when the Kazakh upped the
pace, and after barely surviving a hail of punches in the third, the 38-year-old
American had somehow made it through to the ninth with a demonstration of grit
and determination of her own."
Ragosina improved to 4-0 (4 KO) with the win.
On March 24, 2005 at the
Coeur d'Alene Casino in Worley,
Idaho, Dakota Stone
(158 lbs) of Seattle, Washington won a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,59-55)
decision over Yvonne (158 lbs). There were no knock-downs in the fight. Stone
improved to 7-3-3 (1 KO) with the win. On
May
27, 2005 at the Westin Diplomat Hotel, in Hollywood Beach, Florida, Yvonne
(151 lbs) won a four-round majority decision over Kimberly Harris (154 lbs)
of Tampa, Florida. Team Reis told WBAN, “Yvonne Reis has dropped down two weight divisions. She boxed last year at the 168 pound division and is
now at the 154 pound division. Yvonne is hoping to drop down one
more weight division and box from 147 to 154 pounds. Yvonne said the girls
at 168 pounds were just too big for her.” Harris fell to 2-5 (0
KO) with the loss.
On August 26, 2005 at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in
Tampa, Florida, Yvonne (150 lbs) won a six-round majority
(58-56,58-56,57-57) decision over Kimberly Harris (154 lbs) in a rematch of
their May 2005 bout. Harris fell to 2-6 (0 KO).
On October 19, 2005 at Andiamo’s in Warren, Michigan,
WBC welterweight champion Mary Jo Sanders (148½ lbs)
of Detroit, Michigan won
a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,60-54) decision over Yvonne (148½
lbs) who fell to 5-8-1 (0 KOs).
On January 27, 2006 at the Palladium in Hollywood, California,
Angel Martinez of
Dallas, Texas won an eight-round unanimous (78-74,80-72,80-72) decision over
Yvonne for the WIBA Intercontinental Welterweight title. Martinez improved to
4-1-1 (1 KO).
On April 1, 2006 at Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, Yvonne
won a ten-round split decision over
local heroine
Conjestina Achieng for the vacant WBC Middleweight title.
Achieng came out aggressively and kept Reis on the
defensive in the opening rounds, but from the fifth round onwards Reis began to
assert her authority and Achieng tired.
The judges'
scorecards read Alfred Buqwana 96-94 for Reis, Nemes Kavishe 96-94 for Reis and
Atta Eddie Pappoe 100-94 for Achieng. Reis told local
press: "It is not unexpected. The win was deserved. The boxer (Conjestina)
did not play her cards well because in most of the rounds, I was beating her to
the punch. If she wants a replay, I’m ready. But there are anomalies in her
techniques, especially her jabbing and hooking, which I discovered from the
beginning." Yvonne improved to 6-9-1
(0 KO) with this win while Achieng fell to 8-2-3 (4 KOs) with her first loss in
Kenya.
On December 2, 2006 at the
Moi International Sport Center in Nairobi, Kenya, Leatitia Robinson of Chicago won a ten-round
majority decision over Yvonne for the WIBA Middleweight World Title.
Leaitia improved to 15-0-0 (9 KOs) with the win while dropping Yvonne to 6-10-1 (0
KOs).
On March 24, 2007 at Skinner Park, San Fernando, Trinidad and
Tobago, Giselle Salandy of Trinidad won a ten-round
unanimous (99-91,99-92,98-92) decision over Yvonne defending her WBA, WBC, NABC,
WBE and IWBF
junior middleweight titles. Salandy established her
jab early in the fight and caught Reis with a crashing left in the seventh and a
hard right hook to the head in the tenth. She also won the action at close
quarters, getting off good combinations. Afterwards, Salandy commended
Reis on her toughness, saying,"She's good...she can take a punch. I realize
every time I gave her a good punch, she smiled, despite the power of it."
Salandy improved her record to 14-0 (6 KO's) with the win while Reis fell to
6-11-1 (0 KO's).
"She's very athletic and fast," said Reis after the fight. "She has
natural ability, but she should not go up in weight. I know a lot of people are
saying she should go up in weight to meet Laila Ali, but she should not. She
will get hurt badly if she does. She had no power at all."
On June 23, 2007 at Berkeley Institute Gym in
Pembroke, Bermuda, Teresa Perozzi (166¼ lbs) of Bermuda won a six-round
unanimous decision over Yvonne (164 lbs). The judges' scores were 59-57,
58-56, and 58-57. Reis later told the Women's Boxing Forum: "No
disrespect to Perrozi. Look I know when I win and when it is really to
close, the home town girl gets the advantage. I was not going to knock her
out - I knew that going into the fight. So I went in planning to punish her,
which I did. She hit me four times - I know because those I felt. So, I
boxed her and to my amazement they still gave it to her. I went over to her
after the fight and she and her coach said we want a rematch. They knew, but
when the results were read she won."
On November 24, 2007 at the Paragon Casino & Resort
in Marksville, Louisiana, Yvonne (159½ lbs) won a four-round unanimous
(39-37,39-37,39-37) decision over Valerie Mahfood (163 lbs)
of Beaumont, Texas. Reis improved to 7-12-1 (0 KO's) with the win while
Mahfood fell to 19-14-3 (9 KO's). Asked about her advice for other women boxers, Yvonne told
WBAN's Sue Fox:
DON'T DO IT FOR MONEY. Do it for the competition. There is no money in it,
really, a credit card payment now and then.
IF YOU ARE NOT HAVING FUN - STOP. This is a tough sport. If you don't
enjoy the training or the competition. Just stop. When something isn't fun
for you anymore, you can't really be good at it, so stop. Participate like
Bonnie Canino as a trainer, or Sue Fox, here, with this forum. There are
other ways to be in the game without being in the game.
BE READY AT ALL TIMES. If you want to do this, take those last minute
fights. Be ready and in shape to go at a moment's notice. The phone doesn't
ring often so you have to go when it does or they will not call you again.
We do not have the privilege that male boxers have, advanced notice. It
happens, but not often and they usually fall through. Keep training and be
ready for any and all comers. The fights will come, just be ready.
Page last updated:
Tuesday, 17 January 2023 |
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