AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 1
Join Brooke “No Mercy” Dierdorff-Millbrook on this captivating episode of “No Punches Pulled with No Mercy” as she sits down for a live interview with the renowned retired professional female boxer, Sharon “Wild Thing” Anyos. Delve into the remarkable journey of this boxing sensation, who fearlessly pursued bouts with top-ranked opponents, regardless of the location or the odds stacked against her. Discover the tales of her unforgettable battles in the ring, including her historic encounters in England, the USA, and Japan. From her groundbreaking achievements as the first Australian female world boxing champion to her remarkable induction into the International Woman’s Boxing Hall of Fame, Sharon Anyos has left an indelible mark on the sport. Don’t miss this exclusive interview as Brooke “No Mercy” uncovers the untamed spirit of a true boxing legend. Tune in now for an episode that packs a knockout punch of inspiration and resilience!
Transcribed
[, Music, ], foreign, [, Music, ], hey, hey, what’s up y’all, it’s your girl, no mercy here, it’s Tuesday night! So you already know what time it is.
It’S time for no punches pulled with me no mercy.
Some of you know who I am.
If I have any newbies out there, my name is Brooke Millbrook, Formerly Known in the fight business as Brooke no mercy deardorff.
I am a retired professional boxer held the WBC lightweight title until I retired and I was inducted into the international women’s Boxing Hall of Fame.
In 2022.
, personally have been through some good, some bad and, of course, a lot of BS in the sport of women’s boxing, but this is my platform.
This is where we talk the talk and we walk the walk.
We’Re gon na bring in bring out the truth.
In women’s boxing you’re going to hear from pioneers of the sport past boxers current boxers we’ll even have some future boxers on we’re gon na get down and dirty, though speaking, the truth of what takes place behind the scenes in women’s boxing.
So you don’t want to miss a single show, so please make sure you like subscribe and you’re sharing this, so we can get some more people in here and get them educated on the history of women’s boxing.
Tonight, though, I am sitting down with renowned retired professional boxer Sharon, Wild Thing anyos during her career she fearlessly pursued fights with top-ranked opponents, regardless of location or the odds stacked against her.
She fought all over the world, including England, the US and Japan.
She held multiple titles, including the first ever WBC World female featherweight title in 2005, and it was awarded the WBC Emeritus title in 2007.
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She shared the ring with the best of the best, such as Jane couch, Joe Wyman amiko rakia, Lisa Brown, Marcella Acuna and Esther Shelton, just to name a few, she retired.
With a very impressive record of 14-3.
She was the first woman to receive an award from the Australian National boxing Federation.
She received an out says as outstanding Achievement Award and was named first lady of Australian boxing.
She was awarded the Australian fighter of the Year also in 2001.
.
She was recently inducted into the international women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2020.
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Please help me welcome Sharon anjos to the show what’s going on champ, how are you an incredible introduction? That was thank you so much.
It’S all true.
It’S all facts.
100 facts from there to where I am now: it’s been a big life.
Oh, don’t we all? Don’T we all it had life happens? It happens.
I appreciate you taking the time to join me, though um, especially with the time difference.
We finally got that settled from Australia to the U.
S, and we got that going.
It was quite humorous trying to figure that out.
I was finally like asking Eric my my guy in the background, hey.
How do I tell her what time it is and he’s like? Just follow the countdown I’m like all right.
That’S a good idea: yeah, okay, but yeah, it’s great to sit down with you talk about your legendary career um, but it it’s it’s um, it’s just exciting, but why don’t you first take us back.
Tell us a little bit about your childhood and what led you to the sport of boxing? No, that’s a great question before I do.
I just want to say to anyone out there um when Brooke first started talking about putting this together.
I was like yeah yeah I’ll jump on she’s like and she said to me.
You want to get in quick.
I think I left it.
Maybe two or three days before I got back to her and it was looked at until July, so anyone that’s listening into this she’s doing an incredible job and she’s been a lot of real raw and I guess all the truth.
There’S great things about boxing.
There’S crap things about boxing, there’s just incredible experiences, there’s so much about it.
Um so well done, and thank you so much for placing me yeah.
I agree that it’s so funny because talking to the team in the back – and I I don’t wasn’t very long in like right after I booked you, I was out to yeah like July or something but I’m all the way till night, like the middle of next Year now, so we’ve got a lot of great great interviews.
Coming I’ve been working hard trying to book people but yeah.
It’S just great the feedback I get and you’d be surprised how many people I reach out to that.
Obviously, we’ve never met or had spoken prior to but they’re like I don’t normally do that kind of stuff like the podcast and stuff, but I will for you and I’m like really like.
That means a lot to me so yeah, it’s great to have you here.
We finally got the date and it’s here so okay.
So if I go back, I grew up in a small country, town uh.
Well, we traveled a lot when I was a baby, but, like I don’t know, I’ve got three older brothers um Richard Daniel and Rich Brian and Daniel uh.
I think they were my first lessons on how to punch on real, quick yeah and the only sister um yeah.
I started learning how to become cunning when it come to getting back either by Teddy Bears or it doesn’t belong to me.
They wanted to toss around between them and there was lots of teasing and lots of siblings.
I guess sibling rivalry, yeah um, but I remember I remember sitting down doing my homework at the table.
One night and I would have been 13.
and my dad was just saying to me like you’ve – got to get this you’ve got to get this and you’ve got to get this done, and I might I really don’t need to I’m he’s like, and why not – and I said: well, I don’t need this, this information, I don’t need Pythagoras Theorem to count money like.
I don’t need that and he’s like.
Oh we’re, counting money.
He goes.
What do you want to be when you grow up? I said I just want to be the champion of the world.
I had no idea what platform I had been a karate like I started karate when I was about six um, and so I wasn’t about.
Was it gon na be a karate champion of the world? It’S like I just wanted to be a champion of the world.
I just want to be an example I wanted to just.
I knew back then that I was here for a purpose, and I wanted to make a difference to many many many women yeah right back.
Then, when I was 13, it was making a difference to girls, we’re kind of stuck in a box like you know, school work like we’re stuck in a box so for a girl.
Even now, like I hear people like, I could never watch a girl fight.
I just I just don’t understand why we have to be stuck in such a box of this is what you meant to meant to do, and I I keep saying my parents, I honestly take it back to when I was really young and I had ballerina wallpaper.
All over my room, I was never going to be the ballerina yeah.
I had three brothers.
There was.
If I had three sisters.
Maybe three brothers.
I was like BMX bikes.
I was like black jeans.
I was like.
Let’S go he’s playing Cricket so so yeah.
I grew up very, very different yeah.
I had two older brothers too, so I know exactly what you’re talking about.
I had no sister, absolutely I I will say I will say everything that’s going on in the world right now, um, even though, as much as I love being a tomboy when I was younger uh.
If somebody had suggested something crazy like gender reassignment, I’m I probably would have thought about it, then.
But oh my gosh, when I got to be in a woman, I’m like I’m so glad I didn’t know any of that so yeah totally off topic, but yeah.
It’S uh, it’s crazy, what’s happening in the world now compared to what we had um, and I guess I’m really grateful that I got to experience life as a tomboy, but then I could dress up and be a girl when I wanted to and then I could Turn into a like a lady, it was amazing yeah I mean it’s, it’s just that’s just when you grow up with only brothers and especially older brothers.
It’S that’s! What’S your that’s all you see, that’s all you’re around is like the sports and the roughness, and, and you want to just play with your siblings um.
So that’s just what it is, but that, like you said it doesn’t mean just because you were a tomboy and you did boy things, because you had brothers, that you can’t just still be a girl or a lady or polite or dress up and look nice and Um and then box, two like if they’re it’s just like it’s just two different worlds: two different personalities, uh, but all in one yeah.
I love how you just said that book, because that’s how it always felt like I would turn up to Wayne’s and I’d be in lingerie, and I would have my hair and makeup done opening up in a skirt with my heels.
I would look amazing and I would strip down, and then I just remember so many women just looking at me thinking.
Oh I’m gon na they’re, just thinking and they’re, actually saying I’m Gon na Knock You Out like you’re, just through you’re, just too easy, and then you get the ring and you just got the like.
You like this tiger like this lion and it’s yeah, you come completely different, yeah totally different and yeah people just don’t understand that yeah and and that’s the Persona back then even like back when it first started was a lot of times.
They would say that they looked too feminine and now it’s like we don’t look feminine enough yeah.
So it’s like make up your mind, which way do you want it to be? Do you want us to look feminine or you don’t want us to look feminine, but then there is those that do come out and look extremely feminine and they’re just doing it for sure and they actually can’t fight.
But those of us that can can look nice.
All the way up till it’s time to get in the ring, but then you know we get our hair, braided or whatever the case may be, and then we look totally different but yeah that’s how it is, and it’s like it’s like you’re.
I used to think so right.
Early on, I started.
I did Karate um from the age of six and I went into full contact.
Karate, like I, was winning tournaments right throughout my childhood and like as a black belt, and then I went into full contact karate and back then it was like it was like um pad like feet, pads and hand pads.
That was kind of more of your full contact.
I think um kashiki karate uh, oh no, so the pads is when kickboxing come into Australia.
So I I dabbled into the keeper that started.
Light contact, kickboxing and they’d become full contact, then become mutai.
I literally ran out of even from Karate.
If I would sign into the division 30 women would pull out and say they’re not going to fight, because I was obviously going to spin.
So I then, or maybe should I go again step in and then end up being me and my three brothers fighting off the first second and third right yeah and then it was like what’s next, where do I go? Where do I progress to um because one of the things I want to talk about as well, so it’s really important is sometimes when it’s finishing one thing, we kind of feel like that’s our identity and then we feel like we’re, losing our identity and how to Kind of deal with that, so that’s something I want to bring up after um, but then I just kind of progressed touch contact kickboxing, then full contact their mutai.
So I literally fought every code.
There was right in the boxing um I was in the boxing gym.
I had Joe bugner famous heavyweight world champion: who’d gone the distance with Muhammad Ali.
It’S twice um Hungarian background is Hungarian as well.
My dad’s Experian um we’re in the book.
You know I meant to get on a plane.
We’Ve got media in there we’re training, I’m gon na be on a plane like within two days, heading to demand to fight for a mutai world title um and then Dad gets a phone call a promoter thing.
You know we’re not going to take the fight.
The girls were tired and that’d, like we’ll just find someone else simple, be on the plane, we’ll be there and just find someone else.
No, no, you don’t, and the girl has retired only until Sharon steps away from from out again our girls and I’m like dad’s like got all the media, all the media, you guys are enjoying together.
Well the people, the fight.
What, if I want to do, the whole gym has fallen.
He said we’ll put it on Mike, keep her feet on the ground, because no people listen to people.
We can try.
That was literally my production in the boxing I had another.
I think four or six face to care and then I went and fought the brain title in boxing.
Like really that was my introduction.
I just kept running out yeah you just kidding.
Couldn’T nobody want to fight you so we’ll just go to the next one? Yep, absolutely hey whatever works, so as long as you can get somebody to sign the paper, it doesn’t really matter at that point which which sport you were fighting.
You knew them all.
That’S all right.
So I’ve gone from one [, __ ], like one fighting code to the next I’ve kind of progressed, all my reader boxing and you know like I’ve even um after I started having children.
I even people saying to me about UFC and the money in USC and oh look.
I respect all athletes.
I respect all people that climb through there, especially when you’re climbing through the ropes it doesn’t matter whether it’s page fighting or through the ropes yeah.
But I can’t get this thing of.
I remember coming out of a nightclub when I was like 18, and I remember these guys like beating up this guy was beating up another guy and I just remember hearing like knuckle on bone and I remember hearing his head hit the concrete and I’m like, and The guy was like helpless.
I was on top music, we’ve got people end up pulling him off in, but I’m like when I kind of look at UFC.
That takes me back subconsciously to that moment of someone being on the ground and not being able to protect themselves, and I know UFC is completely different, but I’m like.
Oh, I’m not sure if I could step through that subconscious memory of how horrible that sounded and what I felt so, not that I thought I don’t love it, but I kind of stopped boxing was kind of my last one yeah yeah, like the final straw, where You couldn’t go past, go past that that level I got you yeah.
You never forgot the sound of that Michael yeah.
Yeah that’d be hard to do um, but when you started, but once you started boxing very similar to my career and you went started, fighting right to the top ranked Fighters right off the bat um you faced veteran Jane couch, who was ten and two at the Time in just her fourth fight in London, very similar to my fourth fight, when I fought me a Saint John for the first time who was like 40 – something – and I don’t even know – but she had over 50 fights – and I had four so very similar pass.
I love love, love that about you.
Just went straight to the top um, but though you did lose the decision, it was a close fight and you did receive receive the outstanding Achievement Award for the fight with her um.
Can you tell us about the fight? How you felt it went and receiving the awards so early on in your career yeah, it was um.
I literally I had three fights and they were like lit four round fights like four rounds.
Four rounds four rounds like some of them, like I stopped in like the first flight, I had I stopped in the second round.
I remember Dad saying to me television here.
This is on their Big Joe book now James Bond Crusher Smith, not hearing on the Gold Coast, and he said you’re on TV here, so whatever you do do not knock her out in round one now I didn’t even know inside.
Could I knock around now, like I just looked at the Wayne and thought Oh you’re, like I just like I just you like, get that once it what’s the weigh-in every time it’s like the Wayne them in front of you and you’re like oh I’m like eating.
You alive literally literally yeah, all right right, you know feeling, don’t you.
Yes, I do and then there’s the weigh-ins like.
Oh, this is going to be a tough fight, like you just know the feeling in the energy of the person.
So when I got off the Jane couch we were just, I just take anything to take anything, but I was very adamant, though I wanted to fight only the top five in the world like I just wanted to make a Mark, and I didn’t want to waste My time so um it was for like hitting, it was nine back then yeah um, we said yes, we flew over and there was so much so much like I don’t know there was her sign ups and Underpants over touring an envelope screen.
I was in love with her and I’m like a lot.
That is definitely not who I am, but anyway it was.
You know I mean we were standing in the middle of a stock of oval.
Now in London.
Probably it was different game yesterday, even getting it Washington, you um, do a Refresh on your screen, you’re cutting in and out a little bit now.
Maybe if you just do a quick refresh that usually fixes it bear with us guys, usually doing a refresh, will fix the connection so she’s not lagging there.
We go how’s.
That is that better, it is better yeah also.
So I remember I remember walking out into the ring and they’re telling me I need to have a breast protector.
I need to have a growing dog, so they give me two foam pads one for each Boot and they give me a a man’s cup and I’m like wow and they’re like you have to put in.
Otherwise the fight won’t go ahead.
It was already like it was sanctioned, so I’d already spoken to the the sinking body.
They said no, no you’re fine.
So then I said well: I’ve got to put it in I’m literally going to walk back out of the ring.
I’Ll walk all the way back to the change rooms.
It was like it was crazy.
It was a tough fight, it was a great fight.
Uh did, I think I lost.
I definitely didn’t think I lost over in London.
They’Ve got this thing called the Red Army and it’s like this just conglomerate of men and I got a literally like an archway.
You know they do for people’s weddings with you know.
I’Ve got the Red Army walking out the door they were like.
That was an absolute rip-off.
You won that um, but I learned so much like I learned so much.
It was a tough fight going from four rounds to ten round yeah.
Finding someone with a crowds and then on their side – and I just kept thinking – is everything in this to mess with me.
If only I drop my body away, it would have been a whole different story yeah when you’re so new.
You don’t even understand where your body’s meant to go.
You just punch ferociously, don’t you yes, yeah! You do so that that was me.
Yeah well, but you’ve still got the you still got the award for it, because I mean you still got the recognition and clearly, like you said I mean ever and it’s known that it was a very close fight um, but had it been somewhere else, maybe the Outcome would have been different, yeah absolutely and I kind of look at all the facts I had when they were overseas and thought to myself.
If I did win what would happen to that person in their country like where would they be yeah? So it’s much better for the person in their country to look like a work to be the world champion than the person that’s going to take it away.
So I kind of I learned a lot from so much of it.
It was like how to reassess.
What’S going on, what do I do better next time? Yeah, you know if I handle different things, so it was literally the most incredible experience.
I had yeah well and not long after that.
In 2000, you beat Jojo Wyman by 10 round decision for the for the newly created wiba featherweight title um tell us a little bit about that fight and what it was like, winning the first ever wiba title.
Well, that was that become even more amazing than the London font um.
I just I remember all through my career, like I just kept saying, I’m fitter faster stronger than any other woman out there, and I would only train against men.
I would Spar against men like I ran with men, everything I did.
Obviously I grew up with three brothers, and I would you know you do 10 rounds of sparring and every two rounds I get a new.
A new guy would be thrown in right and they’re.
Always told back, then it was like: don’t take it easy on them, don’t take it easy on there and it’s like mentally.
I prepared myself to be clear, faster stronger when I look back at some of the training that JoJo Wyman done like I’m, like.
Oh, my God, like I didn’t do I didn’t do the strength and conditioning stuff that she did, but the fitness and the road work and the sparring I trained my ass yeah yeah um and it was a blood bar.
It honestly could have gone either way.
It really could have we both had blood gushing from our face.
We were both Warriors.
It was like, even if I lost that fight, I would have lost it humbly thinking.
That was just incredible.
Like I remember when I was first wanting to look at going into boxing and I’d watch Christy Martin TV, like on the you know under my time, and you just watched blood flow, yeah she’s so like just so strong like.
I want to be like that.
That’S what I want to pray like, because when you do something and you’re passionate about it, you want to do it.
The best that you can.
So you watched this.
No, no! You want Wars.
You won’t be remembered for Wars for battles yeah, absolutely so with JoJo Wyman, that’s exactly what it was.
It was literally a war.
It could have been a draw, it could have gone either way um.
I was just so blessed that in another country like between the judges, they just saw it my way, but it was the most fulfilling experience.
I had blood everywhere black eyes like I had kickboxing fights everything before and they were tough, but this was like you got.
You got two weapons, that’s it like.
You got your left and you’re right, and it was just it was Toe to Toe pretty much the whole.
The whole way.
Yeah well and that’s one of those where afterwards – and I can remember – I don’t even remember which fight it was now, and I love it, I think was from headbots but like the day or two after the fight.
When you wake up – and you literally look like you literally got hit by a freaking car like that’s, how bruised up your face is and it’s all swollen and how sore you are and you’re like why in the hell, why did I do this? But then you go sign the next one, yeah absolutely all over again, but yeah.
That’S like one of those where yeah you know it was a war when literally someone’s like, were you in a car accident or what happened to your face.
I was fighting yeah.
It’S that funny.
Look you get.
I remember when we were in London and I had Ian Jacobs Lucky in Powerhouse Jacobs.
His world he’s got the fastest um knockout in kickboxing, still to this day, like in one point something seconds um but he’s a triple World kickboxing champion, but he my dad would literally because my dad, obviously my dad was my trainer um.
He would him – and I would argue like it would be like we obviously the pressure and how much we’re going through so two weeks out of every fight.
He would literally just go and drop me at his place at his mum’s and say you take her because I’d be like.
Oh, I don’t know.
If I can do this and we’d fight, maybe stressed – and he would just like you take out – and I was running mountains – and I was doing like so much crazy stuff when we’re in London and they’ve got the tube, so I’ve got in there the day after The fight and I’ve got black eyes and everything and it is jam-packed, and it was so funny because I remember seeing on TV that whoever could do the biggest like kui call right anywhere in public and record it.
You can put in on this TV show and you could win money and I was like oh I’m not going to do that.
But Ian looked at me and said something and I just dropped to the ground just started screaming like don’t even do he said hit me the whole like like so many people were like.
Oh my God like and they’re like going to grab me and my they’re.
Like no, no I’m saying I’m joking, I’m joking, I’m actually a professional fighter, Don’t Panic, I’m being silly, but it’s um funny.
What looks you get when you’re like carrying all your War wounds? Yeah? It’S it’s insane! It’S and sometimes it’s comical because I mean you can play it whatever way you want, I mean they have they.
If they don’t know you, they have no idea they’re, just assuming the worst like.
Oh my god, I’ve had people.
Ask me if I was in a like: did I need help like I was I in an abusive relationship? No, I’m good! I’M good! I know I’m good, I’m I do this to myself, like I self-inflicted this to my face because I got in the ring.
So no but yeah the the looks all the fun stuff that goes along with it afterwards, but yeah I’ve played it and you can play definitely play mind games with people with it, though it’s kind of fun, oh absolutely um, and but right, let’s see right after That, though, you did receive the Australian female fighter of the Year award that must have been such a great feeling.
I know, especially at that time, boxing worldwide was extremely hard for women to get recognition um, but then to be like the first Australian female fighter to get that award.
Tell us about that experience for you, yeah.
That was, I would say it was just.
It was mind-blowing, it was like my gosh someone’s really.
I know when you’re a man the minute you fight for a world title like it’s all over the newspapers, it’s everywhere and then, as a woman, you kind of get.
I was probably a little bit luckier um.
Being on the Gold Coast, like I, I definitely got some great coverage, but through the Australian papers, like your main papers, it was like a little bit of something somewhere.
You know, but a guy would win a world title.
It wouldn’t matter what what label it was.
No matter what organization and it would be plastered, so it was like for me.
It was like my gosh you’re being recognized by male peers in the same sport yeah.
I remember receiving also um an award like in a certification certificate of acknowledgment from our mail as well, and I was like and he was a runner and I’m like.
Oh my gosh, like the meow, like how amazing, like so those those moments.
I think for me.
It’S like I’m, it’s not really always to me about the awards, but just to have that recognition.
I I’m moving right step and people are starting to notice and we’re starting to make a bit of a whirlwind here, and you know you know, you know what it’s like back in those days like we’ve been here Bobby, you know what it’s like really Paving the Way, uh and like yeah swimming up Upstream, like all the time, absolutely yeah.
Definitely tough, and I mean it’s it’s way better.
Today, it’s still there, but nothing like what we went through or the generations before us.
Nothing like it um, two totally different worlds.
Um from today to the Past um, but yeah I mean just the the right, like you said, the recognition is really what it’s all about.
Um the the belts, the awards, like all that stuff is nice and it looks nice and all that but yeah, just getting the recognition from people.
Um, like you said, even just being put in the paper in the in like the main news or any of that stuff.
That’S when you really know that you’re making a mark and you’re making steps forward for the sport yeah.
I know one of the other things I really understood as well um that if it wasn’t one of the top three or four like it wasn’t WBC WBA ibf, it was like IBO.
It was like you weren’t, really a world champion yeah it was like.
Then you’ve got to strive for something else right now.
What do I do you know, especially back then none of those organizations were really ranking women.
They weren’t even really allowing women to fight for the belts yeah.
It was pretty crazy.
It was like how do you become recognized by everyone when you can’t even get there, because it was not something they took on a look on board yeah exactly you know, baby steps and I mean now now look I mean we never even had the chance to Fight for Undisputed, there wasn’t even such a thing in women’s boxing until like last year, was it last year, the year before, when they first started.
Doing that now, everybody’s on the student, we couldn’t even dream of having barely two two World titles, let alone all of them.
I know when I fought JoJo one and when I was stepping in the ring it was meant to be for three World titles, so it was meant to be for three World titles.
When we stepped in it was maybe a triple World title fight and it was like one of the first that you’ve heard like you would hear of yeah um, it’s crazy, but maybe you get the money, the money, my God, the money, the money.
So a guy who’s Like Straw weight, would make 250 300 400 000 for a fight, and we would be lucky to get two thousand dollars.
Three thousand dollars ridiculous yeah I mean I’ve said it before and and probably like.
Every freaking show.
When we talk about the money, four thousand dollars is the most I ever made, and that was for my WBC title fight in Mexico.
Against me, as St John, that was my biggest payday holy cow four days that were televised like and I was told, are you gon na get twenty thousand dollars, you’ll get ten thousand dollars and then, after the fights happened, oh I didn’t have as many people as We thought we would he’s five like obviously now you couldn’t do that, because they’re being signed by a contract, but, oh, my goodness, the amount of times you know or we didn’t have the amount of people so instead of 20 um.
We can’t really give you anything.
So you’re fighting for nothing and I’m like yeah, it’s crazy, so yeah when people say did you fight for the money? You must be so rich from boxing.
Why would you even ask that question? Nobody back then fought for the money, because we didn’t get any money and, like I tell people it makes me so mad when people say that and I’m like look the for my title fight, the WBC, that’s the mo I mean now it even then was the Is the most recognized title that you could have that? That’S like the one everybody wants is the green belts, that’s it! So when I fought for that and granted I was the opponent coming in.
She wanted Avenge the loss she wanted to fight in Mexico.
She was very tight with the WBC.
I mean it wasn’t a secret um, so I have no idea what she made.
I’M way way way.
The hell more than I made, but yeah still 4K, even as a challenger is, is ridiculous.
I mean that’s ridiculous.
That same title, a guy will get 40 million dollars.
Oh absolutely so I tell people I said, and then you also got ta think four thousand dollars.
Okay, that’s what I got but I had to go to Mexico.
You got ta, you got ta travel.
You know.
I have to travel there for that fight.
I had to be there for a whole week because I had to do it’s.
Boxing is so big in Mexico, like it’s life over there, so you had to do like the pre-fight workouts.
You had to do the public workouts you had to do 50 different, live um interviews.
You had to do all these different things.
We had to do a public pre-weigh-in like there was [ __ ].
I had never even heard of that.
We had to do over there, but I was there for a whole week and I’m like so then you have to take off work for a week, so you lose a week of pay.
So now deduct that from your 4 000 that you got um and then the expenses that they don’t cover, while you’re there for a whole week, you know take that out.
You really don’t make anything like literally you don’t make anything by the time.
You cover your time off and all the stuff that you got so I’m like literally don’t it’s not even remotely the same, but that was life back then absolutely it was absolutely yeah, but shortly after that, though – and we talked about this – the fights you know in Other people’s hometowns, 2003, 2 and 03, you traveled to Japan to face another great fighter, Amico rakia, I don’t know, but for the wiba featherweight title um, they did give her.
Both decisions, a split decision and a majority decision.
They both were extremely close fights.
I feel like had it been outside of just Japan.
Like we talked about earlier, the fights probably would have went in your favor um, but tell us what do you think about those two fights and her as an opponent? Oh my gosh, sorry, the fair spot! Oh, my goodness, so I well I get to Japan uh and again it’s the same.
Like there’s lots of Media stuff.
My dad is obviously coming from another country my dad’s picked up.
You know he’s took um karate for most of his life, so lots of Japanese, like everything in karate, is usually Japanese yep.
So when we’re over in Japan, he can pick up a lot of what people are saying like a lot of what people are saying, you can kind of you know and then buy body, language and everything else.
His security he’s been like.
He just reads: people really well um and it was like it was.
It was great because you kind of you know the same thing you’re on show everywhere.
Everyone wants to see who you are um.
So many like different interviews, jumping on TV, everyone you get put into a gym to train and everyone’s coming up from photograph like it was amazing, it was lovely.
Let’S say it was lovely.
I beat the [ __ ] out of that girl.
Like I beat her, I don’t even know how she stood, but Dad had heard them say get back in there.
All you have to do is stay standing and it’s yours like if she collapsed in the corner.
Well, that would happen twice so so she literally stood there.
Her eyes were pretty much shut.
Her cheekbone – I didn’t know this until the next day, because we’re with the promoter and the promoter took a call and she’d been put into hospital, so her cheekbone had been um broken.
Her skull had been fractured.
Like I punched her with everything I had and everything.
I didn’t even know I had I’m like and how is is it I started to query? Is it a woman yeah like how can you take such a beating because at that time, in my career, I would have that would have been for that period.
The fittest and the strongest I’d ever stepped in the ring I was so prepared, and I was like I’m taking this out so again when she was still standing.
I shut the whole lot and he’s like, I think I had a bit of a black eye and that was it and I’m still standing there and I’m looking and they’re reading out the decision and they put her hand up.
I’M like oh my gosh, like how do you do that yeah um and I think the biggest thing for me was if I’d taken, that that was the big wake-up call for me.
If I took the title away, she would be nothing in Japan yeah so by her keeping the title.
She becomes someone yeah 12 months later we couldn’t fight for 12 months because obviously her face had to heal and her bones had to heal and everything else.
12 months later, like I just was not in the right frame of mind at all, I wasn’t in the frame, but I’m like I’m gon na go over there, I’m going to take the fight and I’m gon na lose anyway.
It doesn’t matter – and I remember you know like way – into the hardest right yeah.
The hot Thorn is the whole lot, because you’re always stripping down to your bare minimum um.
Oh my gosh.
I sometimes look at what we used to do for weigh-ins and think how the hell did I survive yeah.
Did you go through any of that, or did you just weigh in a normal way? I know, and I did it one time for one fight and it was the hardest thing I ever did and it was only.
I only had to lose, go down six pounds.
So I’m like that’s [ __ ].
I can defense nothing uh, but it was very hard very hard to do, but that’s just because I didn’t have anything to lose, but no, I fought it when I walked around at because I did not want have to go through the because I well you know.
We had to work full time.
I already had one kid at the time.
I didn’t have time to really focus on dieting and I didn’t have the time for the extra training to lose the weight properly.
So I just fought it what I walked around at or I went up and wait yeah so yeah, because it was hard to get thoughts.
I would fought at 57.
.
Someone say: I’ve got a 70 kilo fighter.
I’M like that’s right.
Give me three months.
I’Ll put the weight on and I’ll go for it do you know what I mean so I go and add, and then you’d have to drop like you’d you’d be fighting someone at 70 K’s and then next thing someone will say: oh we’ll fight you at 54.
And it’s like fire out, okay, but then it was like you did everything you could to get a fight yeah.
So I remember – and I love like.
Obviously I love chocolate.
I love sugar so that didn’t help right uh and back then I loved to party like I was like a party queen put music and a drink in front of me and it was like: let’s go right yeah I bet then I’d have my my switch.
So I couldn’t have kids back then, but then I had the switch that if it’s training it’s training, there’s nothing else.
You know and then it was like you could train and go out on weekends wearing the fights and I had so many times.
I think, probably because I was in Australia so many times, you’d be training for a fight and then the fight would fall over keep going for another three months, but would fall over train more fight would follow and you’ll be like the emotional rollercoaster you go through With your body when that is happening is crazy, but I remember going over there – and I remember so at every Wayne I would have like some fruit and everything chopped up and because I just kind of try and dry out, I would always want to make sure I was lighter than the opponent like that was just a mental thing for me right yeah and I was five foot three, so fighting in a a heavier weight class man.
I was gon na be fighting girls at a 5 10 yeah, five, eleven six foot, so it was like you know, be smart.
It was a five dollar weight class they’re gon na be about the same size.
I was probably still the shortest one in the whole weight class anyway, yeah um and I felt great at like to fight at 126, like I felt amazing so um, I remember I had to go and make weight and I go on the scales, and I was Oh, my God, I was so overweight.
I literally had just lived life normally still trained, but I was like I just was not there mentally.
I was going through a relationship like relationship issues with my the twins dad and before I had kids.
I was just going through so much [, __ ], that I just wasn’t there.
I just knew it was gon na work and I remember getting on the scales and they’re like You Got ta Lose another kilo and I’m, like Crown seriously a kilo um.
I’Ve opened the water, that’s Lolly, oh my God.
Oh my God! For me all I ever get back on me.
I actually I didn’t make the way, because the flight has never been because I never make people world title, but I went in climbing up the skin felt so weak yeah.
If I hadn’t prepared myself.
Thank you foreign.
So the thing particularly when you have a mentally and emotionally and physically prepared yourself, yeah they’re tough, but I don’t know even though you probably ill was it yeah.
I think we’ve all had that happen.
Um.
Let’S do one more refresh okay, because I don’t want her to start cutting out again Michael.
Are you getting or is she cutting out on your eyes’s end too? Or is it just me foreign a little bit? Okay? Well, I started getting worse last time, so I didn’t want it to get too bad there.
We go all right, throw me back in Michael Where’d, I go, it says, I’m in the show I can only say, may on the screen at the moment.
Okay, hello.
I I could see you when you came back in, but I couldn’t see myself so then I did a refresh yeah.
I couldn’t see you either okay.
Well, here we go all right, um.
Yes, no, I totally understand, and yes there’s.
I think we’ve all had that where we go and we prepare and then but we we didn’t, really prepare it’s good now.
Thank you, Michael yeah.
I think it’s good.
Now too um we’ve all been there yeah, I’m not ready, no um.
Shortly after that, though, you came back strong 2004, you defeated Lisa Brown.
You gave her her very first loss, um Defending Your wbf featherweight title um.
I had one of those um when I fought Mary McGee was 17-0 and gave her her first loss.
I don’t know, there’s just something about, I guess, giving somebody their first defeat.
Um so tell us about that fight and how it felt to give her her first loss when she had a if she had a pretty good impeccable career so far, yeah.
She did and um, I think also.
I guess the same can be said, no matter where you go.
If to her, maybe she won um, I again similar to Jojo Wyman.
It was a tough fight, and so I picked a lot of my fights so I’ll go into that when we start talking about the WBC but um.
I remember so the people that were around me by then I think I’d moved over to Jeff fenick.
I had kind of separated my coaching with my dad that all had to do with the relationship that I was in and it was just horrible and like was great at the time, and I thought it was amazing um.
You know us, girls do do dumb things.
Sometimes we make crazy decisions and you know even I look back now and I I was probably 47 by the time I actually looked in the mirror and told myself that I love, who I am that I loved me and that I was proud of me and What I’ve done, like the Judgment we push on ourselves, that put us into places that are, like my God, like it’s tough right, but so I was over with Jeff Bennett by then, and it’s like it was great Jeff and he got me back on TV.
I could say a lot of things about him that I probably won’t publicly.
You know the whole crew, it’s like everything’s, a men’s club.
The tough part of that boxing is it’s back.
Then it was just a men’s club.
You know and the things that was expected of us, the who’s had to jump through and the things that people wanted to be have done were yeah.
You know I just shake my head.
I literally shake my head um, but I remember like they were overseas with another fight.
I had no one to help me pick a photo like a fighter for this show coming up and he said just go and find someone to fight, and I was like she was like one of the top three in the rankings I’m like I’ll take her.
I had no idea she was Southport.
I didn’t research, anything nothing.
I said I’ll, take her she’s good.
I love the color she’s wearing and she looks like she’s tough as Nails right, well, wake up we’re near the ring and you’re fighting the South Pole and you don’t know what like I did start to prepare for her, but I’d never fought one before so.
Oh, my god did I get hit like, and then it was like in my head when I’m fighting it’s like.
If they hit me once, I need to hit him back three or four times yeah.
I’Ve got a land double triple quadruple to what they’ve just landed right as a professional fight, and that again was just a war, but this war was harder than the like.
There was the war where there was so much blood.
This is a war of my mind where the foot have to go.
Where did this have to go? This is completely different away with them.
You so every time I step the way I usually step right boom, I’m getting hit um.
So that was probably a really big thing and I think one of the things I’m really proud of what I did do was my fitness levels were always apart from the second Japan.
Fight like Fitness levels always just got better and better and better.
So when it come to that point of round six rounds, seven around eight um all the way up to around 10, I was getting faster and stronger rather than getting tired, um yeah that that fight there was a war and when they raised my hand after all, The emotional baggage that had gone like, I think I hit it with everything that I’ve gone through from a relationship from not having my dad there from everything inside my heart that felt wrong, but I tried to push for it to be right.
Do you know what I mean um? I think I hit it with pretty much all of that that was kind of where we’re at, and you know where I don’t know how she felt about the fight, but I just walked away thinking.
If that’s, what I can do when I’m emotionally jammed, when, when the whole team come back and said who the hell did you pick? Is that the South Pole have you seen a record and I’m like yep yep yep like I just didn’t care, I’m like I’m yep, I’m good, I’m good, we’ll! Take it right.
So right! Another thing you know: men, men in this sport, have someone constantly watching who they’re gon na fight and it’s everything’s picked yeah.
They don’t even have a say in who they’re fighting? Well, I mean they.
I guess they do technically, but usually they have nothing to do with that’s why, whenever they ask them after the fight? Well who’s next Who’s Next! Well, I don’t know we’re gon na have to sit down and talk to the team, see what they think.
Absolutely.
Not us, no, not us! It was like yeah I’ll.
Take that one yeah I’ll fight her.
Who else can I take um so again, even in that fight, like I remember when you’re in the ring and you’re finding someone like I’d like to mess with them a little bit so sometimes well, if they’d hit me a beauty, I would just laugh yeah like It could have been a knockout punch, but I would like I’d be able to hold myself together enough to just start laughing at them and I would know emotion, mentally they’d, be thinking well, if you stand up to that.
What like, what have I got left and I would push people back on the ropes.
I would use the ropes a lot when I thought and I’d be winking at people in the audience.
That would cheering me on like, if I cheering here on a blonde kisses in the mouth Garden, or I would just do crazy stuff just to have fun and then the biggest thing I learned as well when you’re in a ring, if you’re not having fun you’re, Not going to be in for a good day, the more fun you can have, the more playful you can be and the more cheeky you can be, the more the the greater the win anyway yeah.
Absolutely you have to have fun while you’re in there.
There’S.
No point doing it at all: if you, if, if you’re not having fun, then you shouldn’t even be in there absolutely and it goes from being physically fit and knowing all the moves to now, how do I mess with your head right? What what am I doing here do now mess with your head to just put your off center, because the more I can do that.
I know you felt that I know you felt my face on your hand, and that was a good punch and you know you landed a good punch, but I’m not going to show you that you landed a good punch.
Yeah, absolutely use your mind.
You’Re gon na be like what the hell am I going to hit her with now, because that’s everything I have absolutely that’s good, that’s good uh, but speaking of the WBC, though 2005 you had another iconic fight with when you defeated Marcela kuna for the wvc featherweight Title you did become the very first female to hold the WBC Championship as well.
Tell us about the fight, how it felt to become the very first WBC female team.
You know what I said before, like until you hit the Pinnacle of the the titles yeah.
Like you become, you literally become like the queen yeah, it’s like, oh my god.
I’Ve made it yeah, but I didn’t make it just by hoping someone was going to sign some paper or hoping that someone was going to ring me up and say: hey, do you want to have a fight literally? I remember like my partner at the time, which was the same one that gave me all the headaches I’ve had.
I had twins to him ran before they were born um, very grateful because I learned so many lessons from him.
So I’m so grateful for everything.
I learned in the moment I think I just wanted to stick it out and just be headstrong and say we can make everything work.
You know, but I maybe even saying oh my God, you’re not going to believe this guess who has started, ranking female Fighters right because he lived on the computer.
I didn’t I was always busy training or and I’m like who – and he goes WBC.
The WBC has started ranking women Fighters.
I’M like you can’t be serious, like it goes, guess who’s.
Second, on the rankings, I’m like, I don’t know who – and he goes.
Oh you idiot it’s you so I’m like, oh my God, my God, okay.
So what am I gon na do? What are we gon na do? What are we gon na? Do like no one’s ever fought yet? So what do I have to do so then? I rang Kelsey was the first one on the list.
She was number one.
So I I reached out to her.
She was like no no taking the fight, I’m not interested right at the time and I’m like okay, too easy, okay, sugar, okay, she’s gon na fight.
Then I can’t fight for a fight and I’m like, oh no.
I can no no, I can so then I rang number three direct Reach Out number four number five.
Everyone said no by the time I hit number five.
I say that I’m done, I’m not going along with the number five for a world title right.
None of these I’m Gon na Fly someone who’s like 38 in the world right top five or it’s not even a proper World title.
So then I reached out to the WBC.
I went hi, I’m Sharon blah blah blah blah blah blah blah help me get a fight I wan na fight.
I will even make it happen over here in Australia, I’ll find it promoter to put it on blah blah blah uh and literally they hand-picked Marcella Aquino right.
So they said: she’s awake, she’s, a weight, division down, um she’s, very tough she’s from Argentina you’re.
In for a fight of your life um, you know, but this is who we’ve chosen.
You asked us to pick your opponent.
That’S going to be worthy of you fight for this little title.
This is who we’ve Chosen and I’m like yeah, whatever.
Let’S go preparation for that fight was so different to any other fight.
I had ever fought one.
She was a weight division down, I’m like damn in my head.
I can’t be heavier than her at weigh-in.
I’Ve got to be lining the machine that weigh in so I’m normally weighing in at you know, um for me, it was like I had to be under 57.
25, so I’d usually be around 57 kilos right 120.
I think it was 126 pounds, so I’m like she’s I’ve now got to get under 54 kilos right and I did it in the most incredible way, like I trained beyond anything I’d ever trained for I was like this is it this? Is it right, and even when I had said yes, my partner at the time said to me: are you mad, like? Are you mad and I’m like what are you talking about? He goes she has knocked out like go into her history.
She is knocked out pretty much the first or second round knocked out every opponent.
She fought everyone and he said I’m not talking about because he would read up on it all, and I just I just didn’t do that.
I’M just like it’s it’s somebody’s.
In my way, right, that’s all I thought you’re in my way.
This is what I want you’re in the way I’ve got to get through here to get to it, and he said I’m not talking about they just fell over.
It was a TKO, I’m talking about their toes are twitching on the mat, they’re out cold and I’m like.
Ah, she hasn’t fought me yet right right.
Oh my I trained my heart out.
I slept I ate so diligently like I dropped my weight.
Obviously, WBC got a 30-day weigh-in 14 day weigh in seven days.
You can’t you can’t not make weight for that.
One! No and you had to weigh in whatever, like whenever your green was done.
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