Week 3: WBAN Weekly Review

we had a variety of action going on in the sport.  We did “latest updates” on two retired female boxers, Brenda Bell-Drexel and Deborah “Knockout” Nichols.  Pepe Rodriguez sent in a story this week, on Mariana “Barbie” Juarez, that included some of her thoughts as to what 2013 will bring in her boxing career;  Michael O’Neill covered two amateur events with one taking place in France and the other in Serbia; We also did a review on “Episode 1” on “Boxer Chicks” with Terri Moss; we did a couple of pre-fight reports on two boxing events that include female boxing on the card…..and much, much more! Full Details below:

Deborah Nichols:  Still going Strong 14 Years after Boxing!

Lead in to story:  Maybe some of the newer boxers in the sport may not know Deborah “Knockout” Nichols, a 5’7″, featherweight, from Dalton, Georgia—-but I will tell you that when she boxed from 1997 – 1999, keeping a pristine professional boxing record of 8-0-2 (4KO), and earning two world title championships with the IFBA and IBA, she was a hot boxing star in the time she was fighting!   Link to Story

Video Review of First Episode of Boxer Chicks with Terri Moss!

WBAN just viewed the first episode of Boxer Chicks on Vimeo, produced by Tomorrow Pictures TV [tomorrowpictures.tv], that has produced a series on female boxing.  We thoroughly enjoyed the first episode and have embedded the video on WBAN. In the first episode Terri Moss talks about the inherent social bias of being a female fighter. For many female and fighter are two words that don’t go together, for Terri that is the meaning of life. Full Video and details

Tammie Johnson to fight Ramirez on Little Creek Casino Resort February 23, 2013

Tammie “The Tasmanian Devil” Johnson will be back in action taking on tough Gloria Ramirez out of Southern California in a welterweight matchup. This fight could steal the show as both girls are evenly matched. Johnson is a dual athlete as she also plays for the Everett Reign female semi pro football team.  The event will take place on February 23, 2013 at the Little Casino, in Shelton, Washington. WBAN will be covering this fight ringside in Shelton.

Abigail Castaneda to fight Maria Suarez in Rematch January 25th

This Friday at the Chumash Resort Casino in Santa Ynez, California. Maria Suarez, 2-0-1 will fight Abigail Castaneda, 3-1-2, of Torrance, California. The two will be fighting either a four or six rounder in the super flyweight division. This will be a rematch for the two. In their first fight that took place on September 21, 2012, Castaneda, 114, fought to a four-round majority draw against Suarez, 113.

Alex “The Bronx” Bomber” Ramos of Retired Boxers Foundation back from New York, and will be a part of the Battle of the Badges this Saturday in California

I had an opportunity to get an update from Alex “The Bronx Bomber” Ramos, of the Retired Boxers Foundation, who has been in New York for awhile to be with his father who is very ill.  He is now back in Simi Valley, California and will be part of the “Battle of the Badges 4”, Cops vs. Firemen, which is held each year for charity and will take place this Saturday.  This week Alex, Mike Bradburn of Laced Up Apparel, and Alberto Ochoa were in at the training camp working with their firefighter Mike FULLER, who will be fighting on Saturday. The charity is for the Boys and Girls Club.

Amateur Boxing event in France: Sophie Revel is Boxer of the Tournament at 2013 French Amateur National Championships

Report from Mike O’Neil:  There was to be no fifth consecutive French Senior (69kg) title for Gihade Lagmiry when the 2013 French Amateur Senior Championships reached the finals stage at the Gymnase Lucan in Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) on Saturday night. The 25 years old, ninth year medical student representing U.S.Chambray was surprisingly defeated by Erika Guerrier in a low scoring bout, 9-7 with the fourth round proving all decisive.  New champion – and second seed – Guerrier admitted later that it was a difficult fight for her, adding: “ It is a victory with many emotions. Gihade is my friend. I made many sacrifices in 2012 in trying to qualify for the Olympic Games. Now I am looking forward to Rio 2016, and am more motivated than ever”…Full Story

Brenda Bell-Drexel…You have come a LONG Way Baby after suffering a devastating injury!

Tiger Lady” Brenda Bell-Drexel in the latest update gave us an encouraging bit of news as she has made continued progress after experiencing a brain Injury.  Link to Story

What is on the Horizon in 2013 for Mariana “Barbie” Juarez

Mariana Juarez is eager to get into action this 2013 after all she lived last year which ended with a victory, but also suffered a defeat against Ava Knight, who won in 10 rounds by unanimous decision.  The past year proved to be a year of great lessons for Mariana Juarez, who after pondering all that happened, she feels full of enthusiasm for the year ahead …Full Story

WBAN adds ‘Boxer on the Scene’ Heather “The Heat” Hardy!

This week WBAN added Heather Hardy, 3-0-0 (0KO) of Bronx, New York, to our Boxers Profile Segment.   Hardy first began taking kickboxing classes after having her daughter, to get back in shape. She was soon asked to join the fighting team where after just three weeks of ever having ..Full Biography

McCarter Announces her “Public Challenge” to Cecelia Braekhus!

In December of 2012, undefeated female multi-world boxing champion Cecelia Braekhus, put out a public video challenge to Holly Holm, when Braekhus comes to Las Vegas, Nevada in July, Holm said that she would take up that challenge. Multi-world champion Layla McCarter, who fights out of Vegas, gave her own public challenge to Braekhus!  Team McCarter said the following on Facebook: “Cecilia Braekhus is coming to Las Vegas in July. Well, Let’s do this. Layla McCarter is ready to knock you out. We are here. Let’s get it on..We are officially challenge you!”  That would be quite a fight- McCarter vs. Braekhus–so now there are two potential opponents for Braekhus when she ventures out of her country to Las Vegas, Nevada!

Amateur Boxing: Report from the 2nd ‘Nations Cup’ in Serbia

Report from Mike O’Neil:  The 2nd “Nations Cup” for Women, under the auspices of the EUBC, was held in Zrenjanin, Serbia between 8th and 13th January with a record entry of 167 boxers, 43 of whom were in the Senior elite division.  Zrenjanin is located in the eastern part of Vojvodina, Serbia and has some 76,511 citizens within its city boundaries. Some fifteen countries provided the 167 contestants with the largest squads coming from Kazakhstan (31), Serbia (29) , Russia (22) and India (20).  Several of the top ranked AIBA boxers were among those who came away with titles among them Bulgaria’s Stoyka Petrova….Full Story

Check in next week for “Week Four-WBAN Weekly Review”!