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EPISODE: Episode 1
Join us for a riveting episode of “No Punches Pulled With No Mercy” on the Talkin Fight channel as host Brooke “No Mercy” Dierdorff-Millbrook sits down for a live interview with the remarkable Elena “Baby Doll” Reid. In this captivating conversation, Elena shares her incredible journey from an early fascination with sports to becoming a renowned professional boxer.
Elena’s story is one of determination and perseverance. Discover how she transitioned from kickboxing and karate to dominating the boxing ring. We’ll delve into memorable fights and moments in Elena’s career, including her historic battles with Layla McCarter and Regina Halmich.
As we explore Elena’s remarkable career, you’ll gain insight into the world of women’s boxing and MMA. Find out how Elena made her mark in both sports, including her transition to MMA and her achievements as a fighter capturing the IFBA & WIBA Flyweight Titles!
Don’t miss this exclusive interview with a true boxing legend. Tune in to “No Punches Pulled With No Mercy” and get to know Elena Reid, a fighter whose legacy continues to inspire. Subscribe now for this must-watch episode and more exciting content on No Punches Pulled With No Mercy!
Transcribed
[, Music, ] foreign [, Music, ], what’s up what’s up, everybody welcome welcome.
I hope you have all been well.
I know I’ve missed you guys.
The last few weeks, Life For Me has been very, very hectic and busy um.
Not only am I a mom of three but I’ve been busy with our barbecue business events out the Wazoo, which is good, but also very busy kids sports softball.
I just literally walked in the door for my daughter’s softball game.
She had to have her games on Tuesday nights guys.
It’S been very rough, but I made it just in the nick of time um, but I’m I’m happy to be back with you guys tonight, thanks for understanding, my busy lifestyle and my busy schedule, but we’ve got a special one for you guys tonight, another boxing icon In the building Hall of Famer, Elena baby doll read um Elena fought professionally from 2000 to 2010 same era.
As me, compiling an impressive record of 19, 6 and 6.
.
She has also danced with the best in the business during her career.
To name a few.
You got Layla McCarter Terry Crews, Mariana Juarez, Regina homich, Alicia Ashley, which I also was in the ring with Ava Knight, of course, at the young age of 19.
Susie and Mary Ortega.
That’S just a few of them, guys um.
She held the ifba and the wiba flyweight titles was named W band’s fighter of the month September of 2006 for her win over Ortega and was also inducted into the international women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019.
.
She’S also competed in MMA, kickboxing and boxing.
So she’s.
All around fighter guys, please help me welcome in Elena Reed to the show yeah.
This is Michael, my very spirited three-year-old hi buddy yeah.
I I mean I guess I could go grab my two-year-old.
They could just talk to each other uh, but I appreciate you taking the time and joining me on the show.
I know you’re busy too being a mom of three: it’s crazy um but um.
If you could just maybe start us back from the beginning, a little bit tell us about your childhood.
What actually LED you to boxing so um, I’m sure you could ask that question a lot too, but I played Sports forever um and I’m gon na.
We apologize for it, he is gon na he’s gon na be with us, so I’ll just talk over him, but um.
So I played Sports forever.
I have a family who everyone was an athlete, my even my great great grandma, my great grandma, my grandma.
They all played softball when women weren’t playing that many sports uh, so it was pretty natural to get into sports.
I had a friend who kickboxed and it was bring your friend to keep lasting week, so I went with him and I just fell in love with it.
I I love being blessed um.
It always called me like being aggressive.
It was never anything.
I was scared of it was actually something I really enjoyed and um just very natural for me, so I know it’s so funny getting into boxing it just it fit like a glove.
I had always played three Sports at a time.
My whole life yeah, and so boxing was one thing that really kind of took me were it was it was it um, and so I that’s how I got into it.
I just I had a family who supported me.
I was a Catholic school girl.
I think my first fight, I was a senior at St Mary’s and so um.
You know I had the priest come and all my friends and um.
It was definitely not the world that I was in.
I didn’t have any friends who boxed I had no family who boxed so um.
It was not anything I even ever thought about as a young child um, but there it was, and so what I I just worked as hard as I could.
I really sucked I’m gon na, be honest when I first started, I do not have the best of trainers, but I worked out really hard and I knew I just had to be in shape and that’s what I did.
I I hit pretty hard, which helped for sure not being a great boxer, and I wasn’t scared to get hit being hit.
Didn’T bother me, which was a good and a bad thing.
Yeah, and after that, I I got to move to Vegas and uh.
Chris Ben is really the person who helped turn me into a world champs yeah.
I definitely yes, but nobody boxed or anything but yeah.
I get asked that all the time I just I was very athletic all around um.
I actually got a new boxing.
All the time – and I got intrigued by the fight night, so I started doing the fight night clubs and then, when I got out, I’m like oh I’ll just do boxes and then it just went from there so yeah, it’s just a dick um.
Thank you for talking over Michael as well.
I totally understand 100 um.
What you did you did before doing.
You didn’t have any amateur career, but you did the Kickboxing Karate [ Music ], or what made you decide to leave kickboxing um.
It was just another opportunity.
I think one of my best things as a young person is, I just took opportunity as it came and someone asked if I wanted to get in boxing and like everything else, I said sure why not and I got into it – and I just stopped me – I’m Sorry I was kind of sick of being picked um and I felt I had a lot stronger upper body which really helped in boxing.
I might go.
Try to put him in his room.
Give me one minute: um, all right, [, Music ]! No, I don’t want to Mom yeah I I know how that is 100, because my two-year-old will be doing the exact same thing right now.
If I had him sitting on my lap, only he’d be trying to play with the keyboard and everything else because he’s a Hands-On person, so we try and grab everything off my desk right now.
If I had him sitting in here, I don’t know, maybe they would carry on a good conversation.
Okay, I might have a couple minutes um, but no so I was saying boxing.
I had a strong upper body and I felt that it would give me more of an advantage of boxing than in kickboxing and I hate being kicked yeah.
I’M kicking kicking people hurts too, so I was just kind of happy to be out of that.
Yeah yeah and it hurts it hurts to kick people.
Yes exactly so I was like yeah.
Why not? I, like my it, don’t hurt my hands that much we might as well go that route um, so you went for, although April 2000 um winning your first fight right after that, though, in only your second fight, you went up against another Legend.
Layla McCarter tell us a little bit about that fight.
How did how did you go to that level in just your second fight? Was it just? They gave you a call or how did that fight happen? Um here it comes again um again, I did not have the best of trainers, so I had no idea about the business of boxing.
That’S not even something I ever thought about um, so I was kind of at a gym where they let anyone fight anyone and didn’t really think about people’s career, so much um, which was fine.
You know it definitely started in my career but um.
They asked.
If I wanted to fight Layla, she was going to be a little heavier than what I was used to.
But again I was like sure why not yeah? Why not right and at the time you don’t know anything about them and she did she only had it.
Not that I think six fights or something when you fought her, so it wasn’t yeah.
I didn’t know you know about.
I really didn’t know anything about anything I mean I watched some tapes of like a bunch of Rubino and Bridget baby doll Riley, but um.
That was it, those were really the ones I knew, but she kicked my butt like um from.
I think it was four rounds.
She kicked my butt all four rounds again.
It was a problem because I don’t mind getting hit.
Well, she hit me a lot.
I definitely had like two black eyes.
My nose was all swollen and I just remember just being so embarrassed to even look at myself after the fight, um and just a lot.
It was like shame, but at the same time it was really that moment of like is this what I’m gon na do like? Do? I even want to do this right, um Boza Edwards.
Actually he was the one who set up the fight and um later on.
We became really close he’s, definitely one of my mentors.
He felt so bad.
He actually put me on a really awesome bite after that fight, but um I sucked it up.
I realized she was bigger and she had a lot more fights than me.
She was actually really nice after the fight yeah, but I really decided then and there I didn’t, want that to happen again and that’s where, like I worked, my ass off, I didn’t have trainers to make me a great boxer, but you know they were enough to Like work with my aggressiveness and things like that, yeah, and it just gave you that motivation and lit your fire to be like you know what that’s not gon na happen again, yeah exactly exactly because um as Fighters and I’m sure, as any athlete like you just Have to completely believe in yourself, so you don’t even think you can get hurt that badly like you, doesn’t even enter your mind until it actually happens, but again in fighting, you really find the most humble people, because we’ve all had our asses kicked right.
Like yeah, you don’t find that many places and that’s one of the things I really love about being around other Fighters is just that camaraderie and um, and we all we have a humbleness to us absolutely yeah, because definitely we’ve all been there at one time or Another or multiple times um, I can remember the fights when I moved home and I felt like I was hit by a bus and then yep can I help you get out of this and I’m like no exactly I Google for myself yeah yeah.
It definitely makes you second-guess it, but it also makes you work a lot harder next time, because you don’t want to feel that way again.
Yeah.
Well, you know.
If you want it or you don’t want it, you know it really is either it’s it’s a fork in a road, so you go one way or the other and um.
It was really neat to learn that as a young person that I could overcome something – and I could figure it out and it was something I want to do so – I’m really thankful for that.
I’M so thankful for Layla and definitely yeah she’s, awesome um.
But right after that, though not long 2002, you did defeat another great fighter, Terry Crews, so you came back strong unanimous decision crowd was definitely on their feet.
Cheering both of you on the whole time.
Um tell us a little about the fireworks in that fight with the crowd’s reaction.
I know it had to have been crazy with the crowd cheering two women on.
Is it wasn’t um, always a thing that happened back then yeah um, it was.
You know again it’s something else.
I’M really thankful for.
I did the support that I got getting to be on like ESPN, pretty early on and um under some pretty big Main Event cards um as a young female um.
It was awesome, um, Terry, another, really cool person and because of my style, especially in the beginning, because I didn’t know how to box, I just brawled and um and not being afraid of punches like I just went forward and that’s how I won uh people love That style, especially in Phoenix yeah, and it really helped to launch my career for sure and there’s nothing like that feeling it’s just um, I I think probably a little.
We all have it at least a little bit.
There’S some control in us.
You know, and I feel like boxing is a place where you have the most control, which might sound funny because people like are you scared? No, like I put my hands up, I know punches are coming at me like, I know what I’m doing and it’s it’s.
You in control the whole time with rules and regulations around it so um it was a lot of fun.
I I love that fight style.
I love it yeah I mean because I had no defense.
My offense was my defense.
You were I love watching.
You, though, I felt like your boxing was so much better than mine, so I’m glad you saved it.
That’S hilarious um! Only because, like it’s so funny and here’s a prime example, so I was a brawler like I was a.
I was a power puncher and I threw power almost in every punch that I threw almost like.
I I very rarely threw Jabs.
I was just a power puncher, but I didn’t have defense, so I got hit a lot.
The same thing I mean I got hit a lot.
I was almost always bruised because I took punches, but there was one fight where I don’t remember somebody one of the coaches we were working with like another coach was like you got ta, learn defense.
You got ta, learn defense and my husband, who took over my training about halfway through my pro career.
He fights like Roy Jones, like that’s his style like he doesn’t get hit at all, and he was like my main sparring partner and he’s like well.
We, if you just listen like we, could teach you defense, so the Alicia Ashley fight, okay, that fight when I fought Alicia and then you know yeah, I mean you know, because you fought her too, but she runs and moves and she’s all over the place.
Okay, but I went down to 122 for that fight, and that was when I was fighting at 126.
So I’m like it’s four pounds.
It was a title fight, I’m like hell, yeah I’ll, take it.
That was the hardest four pounds ever in my.
I didn’t have four pounds to lose.
I would I didn’t, have any weight to take off, so that was extremely difficult for me to cut the four pounds and I did not think I was gon na make weight.
I did make weight.
I think I weighed in at 120 and a half or something, but I was so dehydrated and actually I don’t even know it might have been that fight or it might have been.
When I fought Ella Nunez.
It was one of them, but so all we worked on the whole training camp was defense, so I’m like okay, I got this so we go in there and I think, like the first thing around his fight now that I’m really thinking about it, but the first Two rounds I didn’t get hit once like, I was bobbing and weaving flipping.
I wasn’t punching back so like I wasn’t getting hit, but I wasn’t hitting her either because I was so focused.
So, finally, after like the third round, I’m like this ain’t working because nobody’s hitting anybody I went back to like, but I could do it so much on defense that I wasn’t throwing.
I wasn’t throwing any punches.
I was like just only focused on slip.
Move bob weave, that’s funny yeah.
My fight against her was totally opposite because um – and you know my my title – fights were at 112, I’m sure I’m 5’3, and so at 112 the girls were my height, but going up anymore weight.
The girls were a bit taller.
I couldn’t even I couldn’t touch Ashley um.
She must have been like kind of a last minute replacement, um and they’re like oh.
She hasn’t fought in a while you’ll, be just fine um, but that fight was probably my toughest fight and it’s really style.
Why? She’S? A style that was really tough for me um.
It’S really easy when people are coming towards you when you’re a puncher right and I became a boxer puncher towards the end of my career and that’s because of Chris so um, but I couldn’t touch her.
I couldn’t reach her.
She was just too tall for me, um and I mean looking back.
Maybe there’s one way but yeah it was.
I couldn’t I couldn’t touch her and she got me every time that was probably the most disappointing fight for sure that I had because it’s just like well, this sucks, it’s just for movements, her movements, I mean she was a ballerina before she boxed and she literally Fights like a ballerina, I mean she’s exactly all over the ring um it works for her.
It does, but I thought for sure, with my aggressive style, there’s no way she could get away from me, but I was so dehydrated like I didn’t.
Have the energy like? I was telling my body to do stuff and it wasn’t doing it so I mean I lost the decision in New York, of course um and that yeah even like um the WBC, I think we were fighting.
I don’t.
I think we were fighting for the navf for that one it might have been a WBC or nabf.
It was one of them, the same sanctioning body but yeah.
They came up after like what happened and I’m like.
I was so dehydrated.
I’M like.
I don’t even know I can’t even give you an answer right now: yeah, it affects your brain too.
I mean obviously physically.
It affects you, but your brain controls, everything and um.
I’M on this big brain cake and brain health, in both my career and for boxing um, and we just don’t realize how much dehydrating ourselves also affects the brain.
We’Ve never talked about it, so it’s really like you, don’t even know, what’s happening, no and that’s why, after that, I never did it again.
Yeah, like I can’t go that low, so don’t ask the answer, is no, I don’t care how much it is or who it’s against.
I can’t.
I can’t do it um, but 2003.
You had a majority draw against Mariana Juarez who’s, another phenomenal phenomenal Fighter um.
The decision, though, was booed from the crowd.
Do you feel like you were robbing that fight and you actually won um at the time I did yeah, but um I’d have to go back and look at tapes.
I remember it was a real barn burner, so it was another really fun fight I’ll come here bud um, but I don’t know without looking back.
I think it definitely could have been a draw or it could have gone either way um.
I would have loved to have been able to have fought her again in my career too.
I think that would have been really awesome and it’s too bad.
We didn’t have so much respect and it’s so awesome all the things she went off to do like yeah.
It’S so cool um, but yeah at the time.
Of course, I was like man I was robbed like this is my hometown too.
So I was like you know, there’s all but yeah I mean I don’t hold nothing for it.
Now.
It’S like there’s no feeling there yeah nothing left now, but I mean when you’re thinking about you’re like yeah, that was robbery like I should have got that Victory, or at least a rematch yeah and again like it’s not even close to the other robberies I had In my career, so that one is like well, it wasn’t as bad as another one like okay, all right, um.
Well, speaking of another one 2004, you traveled to Germany, you faced the huge German media star at the time huge star at the time, and she was.
I mean I shoot I would have fought her if I was that weight, but Regina Hallman 10 round draw.
I know for a fact that that one, I believe, was the robbery in Germany.
The first fight um tell us a little about the first fight and what? What do you think happens? Just the Germany decision yeah it was um.
It was definitely another big one in my career um and it was, I think, really my first time fighting for a title, and so I I worked my ass off.
We watched so much tape and I really feel like we had such a great plan um, so I had so much help from my team.
I mean I think I was like five percent body fat as a female, so it was like all the things right um, but I don’t even know if she won around that’s.
Why? Because if you look back like I just completely out boxed her like yeah um and it felt so good, but then the calls call – and it was dry – I’m just so shocked.
But what was even more shocking is that the actual crowd it was like a Rocky movie where they were all cheering for me.
They were booing for the decision, which is unheard of because she is their Superstar awesome, lady um, but it felt like a Rocky movie and I left and I that felt good.
But at the same time I left just.
It was really the first like real robbery where you’re like.
I don’t even understand how this happened, um and it really as a young person.
Well, I guess any age would is just question myself and question boxing of like did I win? Did I not win and just like it’s a it really messes with your psyche for sure um, and so I did a lot of self-reflection and work on myself after that fight.
But that was just shame on judges is what I have to say.
Really, it’s not the other fighter, she’s, not judging it, so I’m not going to be mad at her um, but really shame on judges for doing that to people, because we work our ass off.
We, I was definitely, I assure you two.
I was not getting paid when I should have got, I wasn’t even getting paid enough to live.
You know, I did it because I loved it and I sacrificed so much to get there for them.
They took it from me, and so that was hard um, but it was also cool.
It was a cool moment like it was like a movie moment.
It was surreal to have the support of the German people behind me, yeah absolutely so that was awesome.
Yeah I’ve talked about that before and I mean I talk about it now, because I don’t care like what people think or say um I mean I never did before, because I never made excuses or I never did any of that and I just fought because I Love boxing um, but my biggest and I’ve talked about this multiple times, but my biggest payday was when I fought me a St John in the rematch in Mexico for the WBC Title, her title um and of course I was coming in as the opponent and she Was the main attraction, but four thousand dollars? That’S the most money I ever made in my whole boxing career for WBC Title in Mexico.
Is that [ __ ], that is such [ __ ]? I mean we see, I mean um, four grand, I’m sure she made way more than that, because you know absolutely or whatever um but same scenario, though it was a huge, huge, huge Arena over there.
And you know how big boxing is in Mexico, and I tell people all the time.
I know what it feels like to be a star.
Well, like New Mexico, because it’s very similar like I was – and you could probably count a handful of times how many times people stop me in the United States and we’re like.
Oh, my God, are you broke Dierdorf like? Can I get your autograph, or can I take a picture? It was very rare and it most of the time was people in my hometown.
That knew me because I grew up with them and I live in a small town um or like.
If you were at a big show people might they only know boxing because they’re all into boxing, but over there like from the minute I got off the plane.
Everybody knew who I was, and I was the opponent I mean I couldn’t leave my room without people attacking me for photos.
Autographs I couldn’t go eat like I couldn’t you couldn’t even sit down and eat a meal because you have 50 people and I’m like you know what.
Let’S take this to the room like I don’t even want to eat now a week and a half.
I think, because all the press conferences and the public workouts and all that that they do over there.
But it was a phenomenal experience to feel that to know like what the guys feel like and what stars feel like.
But I was ready to come home like I was ready to be like okay, I get why like movie stars are like okay.
I just need to like not right now, I’m with my family or not right.
Now I’m eating like I get it now um, but same scenario like I was being booed the entire time.
Until probably like the last two rounds, people started cheering my name uh yeah, but I think that was just because it was such a good fight, but, and it was in Mexico but yeah to be able to turn the crowd was like.
That was probably one of the biggest moments of my career, yeah yeah, it’s surreal yeah.
It is like you can’t like describe like being booed like the feeling of walking out being booed and being booted with, like you could hear them chanting their name and then all of a sudden you’d be like wait.
Are they saying my name like it’s a big feeling like a big feeling yeah, but you did get the rematch with her in 2005, but they they took the decision from you there um do you feel like that was just because did you go into it feeling, Like I’m gon na lose either way because it’s in Germany again, no, I don’t think I would.
I don’t think you know um for me.
I didn’t it wasn’t enough money to be like well, I’m gon na lose I’m gon na.
Do this for the money there was no money, so I’m gon na do this.
I’M Gon na Leave.
We actually went in with a completely different game plan because well I didn’t win the first time boxing, and so we really planned to be a lot more aggressive which did happen um.
It was for sure, probably closer because I think in those aggressive fights, if they’re not as clean um, but we still really felt like we definitely took the fight.
I had a huge cut over my eye.
It was really fun because I roared after the cut and I was like ready to go and um, but you know they.
They took it um a lot of the um one of the judges from America came up to me and said he had it like.
You know, I think, eight eight to two or something rounds.
Yeah.
I don’t know it was disappointing, but I guess it wasn’t as hard as the first time because you’re just kind of used to it yeah, because at that point you’re just like well, here’s another one.
Yeah um, so it was disappointing but, like you said it was still all the experience I got to do and so Germany, I’m German, so I would have loved to have went to Germany.
It was it’s beautiful.
I love Germany.
I love the German people.
Oh my gosh, I had so much fun, meeting and meeting so many new friends out there and same thing right like people waiting outside the hotel for you and having drivers and bodyguards um and yeah, I’m with you too getting out of boxing.
I never missed um people cheering for me or like feeling like they love me when they didn’t even know me.
I didn’t miss any of those things um.
I was fine with it, but it’s not something that calls me.
So I’m with you or you’re like I just want to go back home where everyone makes fun of me and quite in Mexico, every time or overseas anywhere like yeah, because they treat them like Superstars over there.
I just don’t yeah, it should be bigger here.
I just don’t get it and it’s still well, you think America right we’re so um like we’re just I am so proud to be an American and I love America, but when it comes to female sports, it’s really disappointing because we’re supposed to be so far ahead Of everyone else, and yet we’re so far behind so far behind and there’s no equality at all yeah um Tony says they used to say you have to knock them out to get a draw in Germany.
I would agree with that because I think everybody I know that fought in Germany didn’t get the victory, even though they probably should have got the victory.
Yeah Michael says: what do you believe was your biggest drink that helped you achieve all your accomplishments to date, foreign? I think the thing that, while why I love watching fighting, is you get to really? I think you really get to see who someone is without them.
Even talking is the way that people fight and um people under pressure what they do um, and so I think I just I have a lot of passion in life and um I mean I I’m afraid, like most people are afraid, but I’ve never let that stop Me, and so that’s really helped me, and I just I don’t know why I worked so hard um.
I don’t know where that comes from, but it’s all those things it’s you know it’s my soul.
It’S inside of me.
I had I’m a fighter like through and through, and that’s that’s really what helped me yeah um.
He says: do you remember the feeling you had that everybody remembers that feeling Michael? Do you remember the feeling you had the first time you knocked someone out and can you describe the feeling um? I think if my my middle son, because he’s so much like me and he’s just so happy, you know like he wrestles and he’s so just giddy.
After um, which is really cute because it’s very different than some other people, but it was just awesome – I don’t have I’m aggressive, but I don’t actually have like anger behind my aggression.
Actually, that’s not it at all.
So I just remember be like.
Oh my God.
That’S so awesome and my my knockout is a body punch, so I love that body punch, that’s that is my knockout um right to the liver, and so I mean I I can Gideon have Goosebumps right now, just thinking about it, but it felt good.
It was awesome, I mean yeah, we’re okay, you know, I would never actually want to write someone too.
They weren’t, okay, but they’re, okay, but still it’s a it’s a great feeling, yeah, it’s just yeah.
I think it’s just the adrenaline the rush you get like where you’re shocked, that, like you were able to do that almost like, I mean get that and then just like the brush that you get like.
Oh my gosh, like you’re super excited yeah um.
Let’S see pathos says so against your fight against Stephanie Palmer.
Would you say that was the hardest you had ever trained for a fight um? I don’t know if it was good hardest.
I’Ve ever trained.
I do remember um, think I was dehydrated that fight.
So I had some pretty bad cramps after um, but I would say the fight against Mary Ortega and Regina Hamilton really were because they were the big title fights um.
And so that was like.
I was up in the mountains like sprinting and my diets were just crazy, strict and um.
You know those were.
I definitely over trained way too many times in my life, and so I’m still trying to find that balance but um.
No, I I trained hard.
Every fight so absolutely against Stephanie I dream hard, but I would say Regina and um.
The Marriott Ortega fight were probably my favorite, where I was really in it.
Yeah Michael says when you became a pugilist, what was some of your biggest weaknesses and what did you do or how did you train to improve on those weaknesses? Well, she kind of already said that yeah but I’ll say it again, but a funny fact.
I didn’t say it just came up.
Is I actually when I first started, I closed my eyes when people would punch me.
This is a natural thing.
I don’t even know what I did it, but I remember um, my coach taking me to um.
What is it a hypnotist to help me not to close my eyes, and I think it actually did the trick, but that, and also just not just going into punches, not mining, and that did not help yeah, not caring.
If you get hit um, but speaking of Mary Ortega 2016, who won your first title, the wiba Flyway title defeating her um who’s, another great boxer.
But how exciting was that to finally get your first title? It felt so good.
It was really too because you could actually bet on the fight like back in Vegas at the MGM and different things, and so I just thought that was awesome.
Um it was in beautiful, Tahoe, um and Mary is a badass.
So, oh my gosh, we like totally got along before the fight which I had never really done much of, but she was just so nice.
I was like okay.
Well, I’ll, you know be friendly back, but then the fight it was hands down my favorite fight because she hits really hard too and she comes forward.
So it was um.
It was a really fun fight because I got to box, but also be a puncher, and so I it was just such a great style for me um and I think people were really on their toes.
I didn’t, I remember the commentators and I I love um Rosenthal.
He was the he was the guy, I’m sending him all the positive thoughts, but something happened, management wise before that fight.
So I remember him like actually calling the fight and watching it and him not having me winning, I’m pretty sure, which is really funny, because it was my favorite bike, probably my best performance and um.
It was just that was, I can’t even describe it.
That was just if I could watch one fight for the rest of my life.
I don’t even watch my fights, but if I did, that would be the one fight that I’m excited to show my voice someday um yeah yeah, because it was it was phenomenal yeah.
It was it was, but the win over Ortega, though you were also named W band’s fighter of the month for September 2006.
.
I mean I don’t know about you, but for me every time I got an honor from W band like I lit up, because I think W band is the only outlet for females.
It has always been the only outfit for females, including covering all of the girls um.
So anytime, I got anything fighter of the month or anything mentioned from her like I was like.
Oh yes like they noticed um.
So how did that feel for you to have the honor from W van uh same thing? And you know all honors are just so great but um same thing.
I remember being just starting and knowing like you know, always looking at wbn, because that’s where you would find stuff, and so there was never a time like we didn’t, have their support.
You know and you never questioned um what their motives were.
They were really just there to support.
It wasn’t like some weirdos, like yeah just liking, the way you looked or anything like that, and so it was a lot of respect and um.
I mean I’m just so grateful that they were around to support us in such a beautiful way and um.
You know to just to show before it was even cool that women support each other yeah, absolutely yeah, totally um, so 2007 Temecula California.
That is the place that we actually got to meet in person fighting on this one card, all women’s card um, you won the ifba flyweight title in the main event over shinhi Choi.
I remember watching it for sure, but tell us about your experience on the off email card.
Um we’re here on the bus.
Damn Sports show.
So that’s another big win for women at the time and I thought it was just awesome fighting on all female card and there were so many great great fighters on that card.
Oh with that card, yeah um.
To be 100 honest, it wasn’t my favorite fight.
I don’t feel like I performed that great um, I mean I got the win and that felt good um, but I think in that time it really was styles for me, where I would let Styles kind of dictate how I thought right, but another beautiful um awesome Athlete out of you know career.
I think she was sorry he’s playing with the kitty.
Cat and um he’s got fighters for parents, so he is also very elevated, yeah um, but it it just felt good to be um, Michael babe, to be in America and to be made about on Fox Sports.
I mean that’s awesome now I mean I get.
You know when I talk about things.
That is something that I get to talk about, um and also they brought in a girl from Korea.
You know so it felt legit where um, I think, sometimes in women’s sports, it didn’t always feel legit um.
I’M sure you too right.
We had careers where we can say like we didn’t, have famous daddies or a ton of money behind us, but we got the big fights we got to be on TV.
We got to be in Ring magazine and do things really on with our own backs, with our own hard work and that’s something I’m really proud of um and that that’s how that fight felt.
You know like yeah, we got ourselves there, and so that was really neat yeah, especially not having well one, no, nobody that helped us get there along the way, and two, like I I know I didn’t have like promoters: managers like all that stuff I didn’t have None of that stuff, like I did it all like my husband and I we did all that ourselves.
We had nobody um so yeah to be able to get stuff like that.
I mean, which is another reason why I didn’t get paid at all because, like they didn’t, I didn’t I mean we did the negotiating and we tried but they’re like well, it’s either this or you don’t fight yeah, I mean so.
You took a bite because I wanted to fight um, but yeah I mean that was the one downfall of it.
You know but yeah, but so to be able to get that far not having anything at all behind you, I think, speaks more than having somebody behind you like doing it for you.
So I don’t know it’s a good boost, um.
Another big draw, though, that you had Ava Knight at the age of only 19.
yeah he’s another phenomenal fighter.
I had around the show not long ago um but tell us a little bit about what it was like fighting and but she’s not done did you know she’s she’s, not retired, oh yeah.
I know um I’m around people who are supportive of her and obviously when I go to Vegas and um, you know just always had a lot of love for her and um.
Just remember her even before we had that fight just meeting her, and I think we start a couple times: yeah um but yeah she was really up and coming she wasn’t getting any really chances.
No one was fighting her even back then back then, but she was a lot of fun.
It was fun to fight her because she’s a boxer.
I actually did um a sparring session.
Well, it wasn’t.
It was sparring, but it was like a fight.
So I was like a smoker with Kalisha, and so I kind of always put those two girls together: Kalisha um and Ava, because they’re just so talented, oh rap, the book s [, Music, ], mama, [, Music, ].
Thank you: [ Music, ], [, Music, ], foreign [, Music, ].
Okay, sorry guys! I don’t know if it was me or her, so I just did a refresh too.
Hopefully I’ll tell her um again, yeah, that’s okay, um, but I didn’t I saw a message earlier.
I think someone asked if it was tough for me to lose to Katya, which was an MMA fights I’ll answer that um before and I don’t put this public because no one wanted to hear it um.
But I actually ruptured my ACL and tore my MCL um.
Not just right before that fight, but I had a big boxing match a couple weeks after that, and so I actually had to take the MMA fight, because I had been training for so long and I needed to get paid, which sounds so horrible.
I put some lidocaine on my knee because it was so painful.
I couldn’t even Spar before the fight um, but talk about the stupid things.
We do right like um, and so I did fight the fight.
I think I got down.
I couldn’t get up.
I, like my knee like physically I couldn’t get up, so it was tough because again it was another last minute like um, you know where they switched up the fight.
It was supposed to be a really easy fight.
It was not an easy fight, and so it was tough for me.
It was really towards the end where, like just business-wise, is tough to stay in boxing, because it wasn’t paying the bills, and I was getting ready to like.
You, know, really ready to get married and have kids and as much as I loved boxing.
And it was such a journey for me and I had so many experiences.
It didn’t feel responsible to continue yeah yeah, but that’s just the truth.
Yeah I mean it is like I said I mean we talked about a little bit before, but I retired after I had my second, my second daughter just because I had two kids at home now and I wasn’t making any money and you know, and you train, Like all the time, my first one grew up in the gym, like literally I worked all day, nine to five and then go straight to the gym and she’d be in the gym until nine ten o’clock at night I mean it’s just what you do and yeah After having two I’m like, I can’t do this to them anymore, like they have no life like it’s literally I’m at work and then we’re at the gym like I never spend like.
There was no time to do anything and then you’re gone for the fights um.
So that’s why and if it had I’ve been making money, it would have been a different story, but I wasn’t well because then you’re away from your family, but it’s to support the family and that’s even with work right.
If I’m gon na be away from my family, it’s got to be worth it right and um, and I don’t know how you did it.
God bless you because I I got married after my I retired, and it was really the reason.
Why is I mean you have to? I gave them my own, it’s all I did.
You know it’s all I care for and I loved it, but there was no room for me and I missed it and I wanted to come back, but I’m like you know what I you know: it’s a dangerous sport one I mean anything can happen um and I had two kids to think about and my husband was my trainer, so, like I mean we were both always training or gone or whatever so yeah.
It just got to be where I’m like.
You know what I’m never gon na make money and I love it, but I can still do it without competing yeah.
I mean I have a bag up in my garage yeah like do it for training.
I love going to like big fights and uh.
Actually, I’ve been going to Vegas a couple times because I’m working with um Dr bernick, he does the fight study and so that’s where they do the MRIs on your brain and all about brain health and um.
So that’s been really great to hey bud, to get to advocate in that way in a different way and try to help the sport as best I can but um I don’t know, I I’m sure you feel the same way I kind of maybe sometimes I miss It, but I worked so hard and really gave it my all and now on life with my three children and I run um a nonprofit where we work with homeless, aged out, Foster youth that my passion, I really took my passion from boxing and to passion and Other things in life and that’s really what helped me yeah.
Definitely I mean I yeah, I miss it every day and I’m out there and say that I don’t miss it where I’m like man like I want to come out of retirement.
I think we all feel that way.
I don’t know I just look at the fighters today, I don’t think are as tough as our Arrow.
That’S how I honestly feel like I feel like I feel like we’re like dogs, [, Music ], every time, because there was no business, there was no money, we were fighting because we loved it and we like there was no like well if you lose you’re gon Na lose your career, there was no career to begin with, so we weren’t afraid of losing we yeah.
We did fight each other, and I mean very rarely.
There was someone women who wouldn’t fight other women, which was weird but um.
Mostly it was like we were.
We were warriors and we could be Warriors because the business hadn’t tainted it yet exactly yeah, so I mean yeah.
I look at some of these people who are Undisputed and I’m like man.
I can have all them belts like up here.
Yeah and we were really before, fails, really came out the very end of our career.
We started.
Let me fight for those big belts, but we weren’t even able to I wasn’t able to fight in UFC.
When I was doing it, I mean I see the girls I knocked out are now in the UFC um and I think it’s so cool that they women can now fight for those big belts, yeah um.
But when I was fighting but like I said, Boza Edwards, who I love and is a great mentor, he didn’t even think it was worth fighting for a title.
Because what was the point you weren’t gon na get more money um, and so I really waited a long time before fighting for a title because yeah you didn’t get paid anymore, I mean I mean I got paid more for that fight, obviously because it was in Mexico and it was a title, but that was my like.
I said that was it so I mean it.
No, it wasn’t.
I mean the same belt, the guys make millions.
So I just it’s frustrating, but we’ve all talked about that a million times um, but also um.
You were inducted into the international women’s bathroom Hall of Fame 2019.
.
Congratulations a couple years before me, um tell us about the phone call yeah you know, and what that means to you being the Hall of Fame.
It was it just.
It felt like to be recognized.
You know because I think, as um women, especially in a sport where we’re not so noticed it felt great to be recognized.
I think more than anything else, um come here bud.
Sorry he’s got a little cut.
Come here.
Yes, we’d be sorry, he’s got a little horn in his foot.
This is lots of fun.
Oh got it sorry got it right out.
Yeah come on honey, come here, okay, um, but I was just grateful and thankful and I will continue to feel that way again.
Um, you know all those women behind the Hall of Fame, it’s all the same woman and behind the W band, um they’re, just they’re Angels, really um and they’ve really paved away, and I’m just so grateful, but no, it felt good.
It feels good to say that you know like yeah, I’m in the Hall of Fame, yeah um yeah yeah I mean it.
Does it really does because like before there was never even such a thing as women being in the whole thing and even the regular.
You know the the regular Hall of Fame that the guys I mean they just started allowing women in.
So it’s not like more women won’t get in eventually, but I mean what like two years ago, maybe that they first finally, first people got in, but um yeah to be able to actually say like I’m in the that’s like the one thing that people always were Like, oh, you were a boxer and then but then, but then, if you’re like well, I’m in the Hall of Fame they’re, like oh, really like what was your name yeah um, like I don’t know just to be able to have that extra icing on the cake.
I think really draws people in to like take you seriously because well, if you’re in the Hall of Fame, you must have been something because I don’t know I just I don’t know.
I think it’s it’s awesome.
I think it’s awesome anyway, but yeah um.
It’S a big deal like to me.
That was like the cool like where to me.
It was kind of like a surreal like sad happy moment because I’m like man, that means that it’s like closing the book on on my boxing career, like it’s officially over, I made the whole thing like.
I can’t really do anything else, but yeah.
So it’s I don’t know, I’m not like.
I definitely have emotions, but it takes me really it’s time to process so um.
I don’t always at first.
I guess, show emotion, I definitely feel it, but I don’t show it but um again.
I think good or bad.
We just I I can’t speak for all females, but I just felt like we really.
We just got the chance which again a blessing occurs.
However, you want to look at it.
We got the chance to do something we really loved because we loved it not because of anything else um, and so knowing that you don’t have to get acknowledged.
Knowing that you don’t have to get the money or do anything um, I kind of was just like you’re you’re good in the moment that you’re at and you don’t need all those things, but when they do happen, wow like it is great to tell my kids Right, like I hope they are proud of me and um, it’s just a respect that exactly yeah Tony says the whole thing.
The cherry on the cake, uh Hannah says: Hey women’s Boxing Channel.
How are you uh? What was the big difference between your first and your last Pro fight? I just sucked my first time.
I had no um boxing skill um in my first fight, but at the same time, the first fight there was no business.
It was just fun.
I was in high school um, it was just Joy like there was my mom.
I remember her.
It wasn’t that much money.
It was like 500 bucks.
I think where she was just like just go, spend it on yourself, so I just went on a shopping spree.
Um – and so I love that about a first bite, because the last fight was definitely not that um there’s actually some business stuff.
That kind of sucked that I don’t necessarily need to talk about, because I don’t like talking about negative things but um that probably tainted it more for me than anything else.
Was the people in boxing um not all of them, but a few who act like they support you and they loved you and took pictures with you, but then, when it came down to anything, they were like.
You know knocking on your door like and just I don’t know it was fun because it was in France.
I mean what a cool experience my last fight um, and so that was different yeah, but I don’t know I just towards the end of it.
I just learned how to love the thing I love about boxing is, I think it’s so natural, you watch kids and they box and wrestle and do the things and the joy that they have.
You know it was never like an aggressive or mean thing for me.
I didn’t come off of the streets and needed it to help me which it does help people um, but I I felt like I, it was lost a little bit towards the end.
You know like I saw more of the business side of it and I didn’t like that part of it yeah.
It just becomes where it’s like.
You know what this isn’t fun anymore, so I might as well just stop yeah well, it was just so hard.
It was so it was it’s expensive yeah, you know it’s an expensive hobby is what my parents called it.
It is a very expensive hobby yeah, but you’ve been in the ring with, like we’ve, said so many great Fighters, which I love and, like I said, I I think that what defies the difference between women’s boxing today and women’s boxing of the past, it’s just there Were so many great Fighters and great Fighters fighting each other, which is what I loved uh yeah? We were 20 and oh, we weren’t 30 people.
There was no undefeated records back then, because you were fighting the freaking best people, people even Rhonda Rousey – and it’s sad because it’s all people know is what they see on TV and so they’re just like well, there’s just no competition for them.
[, __ ]! It’S just promoters, don’t put the competition on, but there is a lot of great athletes out there that no one knows about, and that’s really the sad part of it um again right the business of It kind of ruined it.
Yeah yeah 100 did um, but who would you consider who was your toughest opponent and why um Alicia Ashley was the toughest fight just because I couldn’t get her, so that was definitely the most frustrating fight, um just her style.
For me, I couldn’t pick a Topper style for me to fight um, Mary Ortega, um and Mariana Juarez probably were the I love that that Mexican style of fighting yeah – I don’t know.
I know I’ve heard people get in trouble for saying things like that, but whatever like I thought it was awesome, I mean I always have been like.
Oh my God, it’s a Mexican fighter.
You better have your [ __ ] together, because regardless yes – and so I don’t know – I just love that so Mary really brought the Heat, and I was ready for it which made it great.
But if I wasn’t ready for it I mean it should proper.
You yeah there’s been a whole different story, yeah, but I know we talked about this.
I don’t know if you’ve watched my shows, but I ask everybody this and hopefully you’ll you’ll come come clean with us and some will do and some don’t, but what we just kind of talked about a little bit.
All of us females have been through so much BS in this male dominant sport of boxing.
I’Ve talked about a lot of the things that I’ve dealt with and been through that I shouldn’t have had to go through.
If I were a man um, can you tell us some of your stories or things that you’ve had to do or go through that you just shouldn’t have had to deal with um sure yeah, it’s funny, because I’ve actually um been asked to do stuff of, like Local news like telling my story and stuff, but they never actually want me to tell the story right.
Like they don’t know, this is the No Holds bar yeah.
We told the stories no um absolutely so.
I learned at a very young age even before the age of 18.
um.
I was definitely taking advantage of by a male trainer um and it really taught me a lot so um like I said I wasn’t even 18 when it happened.
But when I had, I had a contract with the trainer, and I wanted to get out of training with them right, and so he was saying that he would not him and his wife.
They were together.
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