Week Two: WBAN Weekly Review – by Sue TL Fox

  In our new segment on WBAN, we are into “week two” of the “WBAN Weekly Review”.  During this week, WBAN ran many stories and have been in contact with many of the female boxers.  We anticipate more updates on these boxers, and hopefully add new biographies of some of the boxers who are new on the scene.  Our featured updates of boxers for the week was Kathy Rivers and Ann Marie Saccurato . 

Updated News Item on Kathy Rivers

Kathy Rivers, who boxed professionally from 1998 to 2007, and accumulated a 14-5-3 (5KO) record.  She held many world title championships fighting anywhere from super middleweight to heavyweight. Kathy told WBAN, “Since I retired from boxing, Bert Rodriguez and I got married and moved to Bartow, Florida. We stayed there for about a year.  I also started a personal training business out of my house in Bartow. I did that for about a year and then we decided to move to Destin, Florida.  Destin, we opened a Crossfit gym.

Update on amateur boxer Susan Reno!

WBAN ran a story on amateur boxer Susan Reno, where we covered her background in the sport and her desire to turn pro.  A few days after running this story, we were contacted by Reno’s husband, who reported that Susan is now scheduled to fight on January 31st, at the Staten Island Hilton. She will be fighting Vanessa Greco. The two will be fighting a four-rounder.  Good Luck to both Reno and her opponent Vanessa Greco, we hope it is a great fight!

Amateur Boxing Action in Reno, Nevada
Female featherweight JaJaira Gonzalez (Glendora, Calif.) won the first gold medal of the inaugural Junior World Team Open in Reno, Nev., on Tuesday evening. The female featherweight championship bout was the final contest of the night with 10 bouts of action being contested on opening day. Gonzalez finished the night with a bang, taking the title with a stoppage win over Anna Crutchfield .

Rola El Halabi Makes a comeback in the sport
After being shot by her Step-Father – She lost her bout to Morelli on January 12th

The Story that we ran this week:  In April 2011 Rola El-Halabi was an undefeated Lightweight boxer (11-0, 6 KOs), waiting in a dressing room to enter the ring for a world championship fight, when her nightmare began. Estranged from a dominating stepfather who previously ran her career and life, she was on the threshold of making a statement by fighting and winning on her own.  But she never made it to the ring that night. Her world crashed down around here when Roy Hicham El Halabi entered..

First Updated News on Ann-Marie Saccurato

WBAN got an opportunity to meet up with former multi-world champion Ann-Marie Saccurato this week, to catch up on what she has been up to as of late. I had the pleasure of doing some media coverage at a training camp a couple of years ago in California, and being able to see Saccurato in action as a coach working with amateur and pro boxers. I spoke to Saccurato about what she is doing “in” and “out” of the ring.

WBAN Tidbits for the week

We just received an update on Brenda Bell-Drexel, and that will be published in the next day or so.

We received news that Heather Hardy will be fighting on January 23rd, at B.B. Kings in New York City, New York.  Her opponent will be Peggy Maerz, 2-2-1, from Canada.  The bout is scheduled for four rounds.  Hardy told WBAN, “I’m Ready”!

Another female bout that will be taking place will be on January
19th at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut.  Nydia Feliciano, of Bronx, New York, will be fighting Michele Vincent, Providence, Rhode Island, in a six-rounder at 122 lbs.

We had some boxing results that came in on January 8,  that took place at the Club Juan Antonio Alix,  in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. Marisol Reyes, 126,  won by a [2:48] second round TKO over Magolia Ramirez in a four rounder, 127.  Question on this fight—was this a three-round minutes per round fight or an error as the time the fight was stopped?

This week we had a very unusual Boxing Card in Slovakia! On January 6, at the Sportova hala MSO, Šturovo, Slovakia, there was a boxing card that had a “mini-tournament final” that had the women fighting twice on the card. lightweight Dalia Vasarhelyi won a four-round unanimous decision over Rita Kenessey. then she fought again this night against Dalia Vasarhelyi winning a four-rounder by decision over Alexandra Gorog. Then Alexandar Gorog fought another fight on the same card against Gabriella Vicze, where Gorog won a four-round decision over Vicze.

Other upcoming fights on the horizon that came in via boxing manager Brian Cohen:  January 26: Harrahs Philadelphia: Althea Saunders vs. Laura Incarnato, four rounds, at 135 lbs.; January 31 in Long Island, New York, featuring Keisher McLeod-Wells vs. Amanda Beaudin, six rounds at 112 lbs; and on February 8th, at the Chase Center, Melissa St Vil will face Natasha Spence, in an eight rounder at 130 lbs.