Michele Aboro 1995 – 2001

Born in London, England on 17 July 17 1969, Michele Aboro lived in Peckham until she was sixteen. Her first sport was motocross, but she took up kickboxing and Muay Thai when she was nineteen. She went on to win five British titles, one European, and three world titles. She went to Amsterdam in 1994 to train with Johan Vos and compiled a 32-2-1 record with 23 KO’s as a kickboxer.

Like many kickboxers with few worlds left to conquer in that sport, Michele took up professional boxing.

She left a trail of destruction in Europe rings, fighting as a (super) bantamweight or junior featherweight.Michele’s boxing career started with a string of first-round knockouts: of Marlene Lambert in Jabeke Belgium on March 4, 1995, Donatella Todde in Italy on May 11, 1995 and Silvia Porteleky of Hungary in Budapest on March 9, 1996.

On October 19, 1996 at the Zoo-Gesellschaftshaus in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, she TKO’d highly regarded kickboxer Severine Grandsire of France in the sixth round.

On April 26, 1997 in Leipzig, Germany she stopped Krisztina Krek of Austria in the second round.

On Novermber 29, 1997 at the Rheinstrandhalle in Karlsruhe, Daxlanden, Germany she took a six round decision from then-unbeaten Daisy Lang of Bulgaria. Laing dropped to 3-1 with the loss.

At the Sartory Säle in Cologne, Germany on March 7, 1998, she defeated Hungary’s Krisztina Horvai by decision over 6 rounds. Horvai fell to 0-2 with the loss.

On May 2, 1998 at Hansehalle, in Lübeck, Germany, she TKO’d France’s Nadia Debras in the fourth round, dropping Debras’s pro boxing record to 0-4.

On August 22, 1998 at the Sport und Erholungszentrum in Berlin, Germany, she defeated Brigitte Pastor of France by fifth-round KO for the vacant WEBF European junior featherweight title, scoring a solid knockout that left the French fighter unconscious on the canvas!  Pastor fell to 0-2.

On November 28, 1998 at the Hansehalle in Lübeck, Germany, she defended this WEBF title with an eighth-round TKO over Galina Giumliiska of Bulgaria, who fell to 2-1.

On March 13, 1999 in Lübeck, Germany, she weighed in at 118 lbs and moved her pro record to 11-0 with a first round TKO of Renate Fuskova (also 118 lbs) of Czechoslovakia.

On May 22, 1999 at the Sport Palace in Budapest, Hungary, she weighed in at 118½ lbs and moved to a perfect 12-0 record (9 KO´s) by taking a six-round decision over Anastasia Toktaulova (115 lbs)of Russia. Aboro won every round of this bout! Toktaulova fell to 3-4 (1 KO) .

On September 18, 1999 at the Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany, Michele (124 lbs) had no difficulty scoring a first-round TKO over Poland’s Dorota Kosatka (119¼ lbs) in a bout that had been scheduled for six. A vicious combination to the head ended the bout in a hurry.

On November 27, 1999 at Hansehalle in Lübeck, Germany, a crowd of 2,000 saw Aboro win a six-round decision over Nadia Debras of France in a rematch of their May 1998 bout.

On February 5, 2000 at the Rhein-Rhur-Halle in Duisberg, Germany, she weighed in at 122 lbs and won the vacant WIBF Junior Featherweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over WIBF/IFBA Bantamweight champion Eva Jones-Young (121 lbs) of South Bend, Indiana, USA, who fell to 13-3-1 with 5 KO’s. Aboro is now 15-0 with 10 KO’s.

On May 13, 2000 at Sartory Säle in Cologne, Germany, Michele (120 lbs) was more than a match for IFBA Junior Featherweight champion Leona Brown (121 lbs) from Pawling, New York in their 10-rounder for Aboro’s WIBF Junior Featherweight title. Aboro won by a comfortable unanimous decision (99-92,100-90,97-93).

Aboro, who has shown a rare combination of skill and power, had Brown hurt several times during the bout and kept Brown where she wanted her with her jab. But Aboro was also willing to go at it at close quarters with the scrappy Brown when it suited her. Aboro was now an impressive 16-0 and had staked her claim to pound-for-pound supremacy in women’s boxing. Brown fell to 8-3 with the loss.

On October 1, 2000 at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, a capacity crowd of 600 fans saw Aboro (121¼ lbs) move her pro record to 17-0 (11 KO’s) with a TKO at 1:40 of the third round over Marina Kozeroda (126¾ lbs) of the Ukraine.

On December 5, 2000, again at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Michele moved her pro boxing record to 18-0 (11 KO’s) with a unanimous decision over Krisztina Horvai of Hungary, who slipped to 4-6-1 (1 KO). This fight wasn’t close as Aboro steadily punished her overmatched opponent.

On February 10, 2001 at the Estrel Covention Center in Berlin, Germany, Michele won a 98-93,98-92,97-94 ten-round decision for the WIBF Junior Featherweight title over WIBF Americas Featherweight champion Kelsey Jeffries of Gilroy, California. This was a close fight early on with Jeffries working the body well, but Aboro came on strong in the late going to take the decision. Jeffries fell to 10-3 with 1 KO. [Fight reports from Marcel Niessen and Rick Mello]

On June 16, 2001 at Kisstadion in Budapest, Hungary, Michele moved her record to 20-0 (12 KO’s) with a third-round TKO over Krisztina Stefula of Hungary, who fell to 0-4.

On November 24, 2001 at Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, Michele cruised to a 10 round unanimous decision over Nadia Debras (117 lbs) of France in another WIBF Junior Featherweight title bout. Aboro won every round for a 100-90 score on all three cards, moving her record 21-0 (12 KOs). Correspondent Marcel Niessen noted that Aboro said that she was frustrated that she had to fight Debras (now 1-9-1) again, adding that Mexico’s Laura Serrano was at the top of Aboro’s “wishlist” for future opponents, even if that meant moving up to 126 lbs.

This would, however, prove to be Aboro’s last fight, as further opponents could not be found and the WIBF eventually vacated her title for non-defense.

Michele was trained by Torsten Schmidt and her fights promoted by Universum Box Promotions. Like her stable-mate Regina Halmich, Michele ran out of suitable competition in Europe.