Ava Knight-Salicka was born on the 15th
of August 1988, in little town of Chico, California. Half Polish and
half African-American, she takes no shame in what she does. As a
child, Ava never played sports but did ballet through her years of
4-6. In school she was always quiet and never out spoken. One of
those girls that you could walk by, and never notice. She has a very
loving family that supports her in what she does. Currently, she
attends Butte College and is working on a Masters in Business and
spends the rest of her time in the gym.
She started boxing at Chico Boxing for Fitness, in June of 2001, at
the age of 13. Not knowing yet that she had the talent, she attended
the gym and boxed her first amateur fight in 2002. She had a hard
time getting fights through the years and had to fluctuate between
weight classes and fight the same people two or three times to stay
busy. Though many fights were at least three or more months apart,
she finished with a record of 28-4. She fought and beat the 2006;
110lb Golden Gloves Champion twice and the 2006 National P.A.L,
114lb Champion twice. When she attended the U.S Nationals in 2006,
but lost in a controversial decision.
Ava was given her ring name “Lady of Boxing” by her coach Joe
Rodriguez. She didn’t like the name at first but it came to grow on
her. She is trained by Joe Rodriguez, his son Luis Rodriguez, and
her father Elliot Knight. Ava didn’t know that her father was a
former amateur boxer when he was a kid until she was 4 years into
boxing. She also trains along side professional boxer Mario
Hernandez and amateur boxer Morris Rodriguez, both who will be
Champions in the future. She loves boxing and wants to conquer it.
She is very humble but takes pride in making everyone around her
happy.
Ava decided to make her pro debut on August 30, 2007, at age 19. She
fought a to a unanimous decision win over the bigger Leonie Hall, in
Colusa, California.
On September 20, 2007, Ava then fought a taller opponent, Katarina
De La Cruz hours after she got the call for the fight. She went down
to Calabasas, California, and fought to a first round KO against De La
Cruz.
Her third fight was against Jodie Esquibel in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, on January 11, 2008. She tried to come down to 108 lbs., but could
only go down to 108.5, but Jodie’s team accepted the fight. Ava drew
with Jodie, but many saw that it as a robbery. The first round was
Knight’s with clean blows and dodging most of Esquibel’s punches.
While the second, was Esquibel’s round. The last two rounds were
Knight’s with strong punches that opened up Esquibel’s nose and
putting a welt on her forehead. Knight was ahead on one scorecard
and had a draw on the others. Knight felt that she was robbed in a
home town decision.
Her fourth fight was against the more experienced, Sharon Gaines on
February 9, 2008. Knight beat Gaines with a unanimous decision. Gaines
fought a tough fight but Knight fought a better fight.
On June 12, 2008, Knight fought 112lb WIBA champion Elena Reid to a
draw. Knight took the fight a week in advance. The fight was close
but Knight felt she won landing harder cleaner shots stunning Reid
at times, while Elena was hitting Knight, but mostly with slaps and
punches with nothing behind them. Knight felt she won again but was
not disappointed that she drew with a world class fighter.
On July 31, 2008, Knight went down to New Jersey to fight a home
town star, Noriko Kariya. Knight took the fight a week in advance
but also had to come up two weight classes to 119lbs. Knight came
that night to make a point. She knocked out Kariya in the fifth
round. Kariya tried to get up, but couldn’t and was given much
respect for trying. [More
on Knight]
