HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

On November 20, 1998, Ahlin stepped into the pro ring for the first time in the strawweight division against the vastly more experienced Natasha Wilburn. Wilburn, who had previously squared off against the likes of Leona Brown, Anissa Zamarron, and Patricia Martinez, was no match for the calm boxing stylings of Ms. Ahlin. Four rounds later, Nina had her first win, though it did not come without a little adversity. 

"My trainers were kind of nervous" recalls Ahlin. "I had an upper respiratory infection, and plus, I wasn't supposed to fight her. I was supposed to fight Sonia Ruiz, who was also making her debut. 

©Photo by Sue TL Fox. All Rights Reserved.

The night of the weigh-in, I see Natasha's name, and I'm like 'Who is this?'. But I wanted to fight her and go all out or nothing. I'm in this to win it, and if other fighters want to be matched up with easy opponents, I just don't agree with that. She had a lot of experience, but when I come out on top I look that much better."

And look good she did. And does. One of female boxing's most attractive practitioners, the male chauvinists can not resist asking if she is worried about her looks when she steps between the ropes. "Not at all. That's the least worry on my mind. I definitely don't worry about that. That can all be fixed later, if it's that bad." She laughs. And even though her looks set her apart from the majority of her peers, she doesn't want this to be the case, and in fact, one of her goals is to erase the stereotype of what a female fighter is supposed to look like. "One of my goals is to get more women involved with it (boxing). There is a stereotype in which people talk about the typical boxer. I want to get them into the mindset that it has nothing to do with your looks, that it's the skill that's involved in the sport."

Born in Painesville, Ohio, and now living in Atlanta, the 25 year-old Ahlin has been a cheerleader with the Falcons since 1997, but had never even stepped into a boxing gym until last November. "I was at a party, and there were all these boxers there, and one of them invited me to come down to the gym. I said I had been wanting to do this for years, so I might as well go down and take a look. And I've been going ever since." With trainer Xavier Biggs in her corner, Ahlin made her amateur debut in April of this year against reigning Atlanta women's champ, Eve Toledo. Nina won a convincing decision, and was off to the pros under the managerial auspices of Steve Strelzik and Peter Morrison.

A month after her pro debut against Wilburn, Ahlin was back in the ring on December 30, 1998 against world ranked Sherry Furstenburg. Furstenburg didn't make it out of the first round. A devastating barrage of punches brought an early halt to the proceedings, and "Tha Bomb" was now 2-0.

A controversial draw with Lisa Butler on April 30 kicked off 1999, but despite this seemingly unbelievable decision, which most observers and one judge believed she won, Nina has been undeterred in her quest to be the best pound for pound fighter in women's boxing.

Nina bounced back from the draw with Butler by scoring impressive victories over Sara Rama (KO1) and Christina Van Ravensway (W4). These wins have led to her first national television match, as she will battle fellow unbeaten Andrea Blevins in Las Vegas on ESPN2 on the 17th of September, the eve of the long awaited Oscar De La Hoya - Felix Trinidad clash.

Nina has had several fight that included fighting Christina Van Ravensway;  a national televised fight against Andrea Blevins on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights; Tracey Stevens of Canada; Deanna Nance Gore; Sarah Goodson; Terri Moss; Nikki Verbeck; Vaia Zaganas; Stephanie Dobbs where she defeated Dobbs in October of 2002, but recently lost to her in March 2003.