I had the opportunity to go out to Washington D.C. for the Regional Golden Gloves on April 20th. It was a boxing show that was packed with entertaining, hard fought matches.. The first fight was a contested fight that occurred before the show started. It was the first time I had ever seen this, but it was good to see. I was able to referee an exciting bout between two talented 125 boxers. They fought cleanly and I didn't have to step in too much, but I did give an 8-count at the end of the match. I was nervous to get in there, but I think things went really well after a bit of confusion at the beginning of the bout. I really enjoy refereeing and getting better at it. I feel like I'm at 50% of where I want to be, but luckily I have so many great officials around that I can learn from. I judged quite a few bouts and was spot on with my decisions, so that felt good. Judging comes easily to me and I have a good sense of how to narrate the fight in my head so I can keep track of who is winning. There were approximately 18 fights on the card and almost all were evenly matched and it felt like a championship atmosphere, There was unfortunately only one female bout, but 4 other women won by walkover including Deborah Grant from Fayetteville, NC. The red corner were Virginia and North Carolina fighters versus the blue corner who were Maryland and D.C. fighters. One of the best fights of the night was contested by a couple of 17 year olds at 147 lbs. named Justin Almonte of Virginia Beach and Markell Steele of Temple Hills, Maryland. They both showed so much heart. Steele was the harder puncher and hit Almonte with some wicked body shots, but Almonte kept fighting back and had his moments as well. We only had one boxer from North Carolina compete and he was actually from Raleigh. Michael Nwaschukwu fought an incredibly entertaining fight in the 203+ division. It was the last fight of the night and the crowd was glued to their seats. He channeled George Foreman and the fight was nonstop! All the open level winners advance to the National Golden Gloves in Detroit. I am eternally grateful to LaTasha Washington, president of the PVA boxing association and Chief of Officials residing over the event. She made me feel so welcome and supported and gave me great feedback on my officiating. It was also nice to work with Lisa Cuellar, another top notch female official who comes from Virginia and has a fight background. I learned a lot from the many talented officials. The atmosphere at the event was fun. There was even a live band and ring card girls. The motto of the tournament is Heart-Pride-Desire to Win and the boxers on this night showed it. Grateful to witness and be a part of it.
Photo credits: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/
At 12 years old, Andre Ward was special. I remember seeing him move around the ring at King's Gym and wanted to imitate his style which was so smooth. He knew from that time, he wanted to be a world champion. It's amazing when you think of his long reign in boxing. He didn't lose a fight from the time he was 12. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist and a two-division multi-belt World Champion. He retired undefeated at the top of his game, was a boxing hall of fame inductee, and has been a successful commentator and voice in the sport.
I recently read his book, Killing the Image: A Champion's Journey of Faith, Fighting and Forgiveness and not only did it take me back to 1990s Bay Area, but it was a vivid telling of the struggles and triumphs of Ward and his trainer Virgil Hunter. Ward had two parents that loved him deeply but fought drug addiction. Lucky for Ward his father also deeply loved boxing and found him the right coach at an early age.
Hunter gave Ward confidence and belief in his greatness and potential. He taught Ward to use ALL his skills and talents effectively. He was also impeccable at selecting fights and challenges for his fighter. They were an unstoppable team that often didn't get the credit they deserved. Ward started with Hunter as a little kid. He also retired at the top of his game as a pro with Hunter at the age of 33. That says a lot about both of them. Just when Ward was starting to get the recognition he deserved with his rematch against Sergei Kovalev that ended in a knockout, it hit Ward one day that he didn't want to fight anymore. Hunter was surprised, but supported him with one piece of valuable advice: "Don't ever come back."
Photo credit: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing
Ward's tremendous success also extends outside the ring. He let his work in the ring speak for him instead of talking trash, but is also an incredibly articulate spokesperson for boxing with his work as a commentator even while he was boxing. Now with this book and his work as a motivational speaker, he is helping athletes learn how to do it right. He did boxing on his terms and anyone who is considering being a professional boxer should read this book.
One of my regrets in boxing is that I didn't ask Hunter to be my trainer when I was training at King's Gym at the same time as Ward. I fantasize that I could have been the female Andre Ward. I definitely got taught the skill with my first trainer and all my amazing sparring partners early on, but finding someone who was thoughtful about shaping my career would have made a huge difference. I never got up the courage to ask him and I don't know if he would have agreed to be my trainer, even though now he has trained some top female boxers like Nicola Adams. It was a different time for female boxers back then and that wasn't my boxing journey to have. Regardless, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be in the same gym with Andre for a brief time and the opportunity to read his book that reveals so much about what it takes to be successful in the sport of boxing.
When i decided to host a Women's Sparring Event at my boxing gym, I was hopeful that a handful of women would show up. I have a dream of building up women's boxing in North Carolina. My desire for the event was to share my experience and support women to get some sparring in the ring with other women, or at least come watch and see what it is all about. I was surprised (and a little overwhelmed) at the number of women who came. It was so heartwarming to see and talk to all of the amazing women warriors who were brave enough to show up and share the experience of being in the sport. There were boxers as young as 13 and as old as 65+. There were all experience levels from one brave boxer who had only had two months experience to nationally ranked amateurs and professional fighters. My goal was to give everyone a safe, positive experience and as much time in the ring as they desired. I think it was overall a really positive, but I also learned a lot about making it better for the next time. It is a lot to juggle all of the different personalities and experience levels in boxing. First of all, I learned about different fighters and coaches and what to expect from them and what they need. Of course, the makeup of the fighters who come will always be different, but we had a good turn out from a variety of gyms in the area and I know many will return. I felt a little overwhelmed at which boxers to match up and who should go in with who, but I was glad I was more cautious than not even if some were in the ring more than others. I was grateful to hear from most of the women that said they had a wonderful time connecting with other women and can't wait to do it again. Ashley, one of our boxers said, "It was fun to see all the women encouraging each other...shows how powerful we are as a group even if it's an individual sport." I hope the women and coaches know that I am grateful for each of them for showing up and supporting each other at my event. I will definitely host another event soon as well as work to give the mighty group of women from our gym who show up every week more opportunities to spar and work on their technique. A special shout out to Remy, our gym owner and our coaches Ty, Jon and Allam for supporting the event and helping out to make it such a success.
When Sue Fox, president of the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame sent the Hall of Fame induction letter to me, I couldn't stop crying. Achieving this is the ultimate honor in the sport of women's boxing. It feels so incredible to be honored for all the blood, sweat and tears I've put into boxing. I feel like I achieved much of what I set out to do in the sport...but this is something so special and I was left speechless.
Despite many questionable decisions and sheer lack of opportunity to fight as much as I would have liked to, I worked so, so hard to be the best boxer I could be for over 15 years. I trained relentlessly and studied fights of the best. I sought out sparring partners to practice my craft. I fought anyone, anywhere my entire career just so I could fight and took on a long list of the best at my weight class. I remember the first time I went to a boxing gym and thought to myself, "If I can do this, I can do anything." Little did I know how much boxing would do for me from building my confidence to healing childhood trauma and unleashing in me a bravery and resilience that I didn't think I had.
I couldn't have done it without the long list of people who helped me throughout my boxing career. I think of Marsha King who I met when I went to King's boxing gym in Oakland who welcomed me with open arms and Charles King who was my first trainer. I think of Mr. Thomas, my coach, who was old school and spent hours daily teaching me the finer points of defense and counter punching and helped me go from being basic to a skilled boxer who could more than handle herself in the ring. I think of Jim and Tom the coaches for the UC Berkeley boxing gym who let me train at the gym whenever I wanted in between studies and encouraged me to start the first women's boxing team there. I think of my first sparring partners Ray Joshua, Patty Martinez, and Porfirio Garcia who taught me so very much in the ring and who made it fun. I got to spar regularly with Nonito and Glenn Donaire and Gina Guidi who never hurt me and let me experience their skills and learn from them. I think of the times I would go to Gilroy and spar with Kel-C Jeffries and up to Sonoma County to spar with Jolene Blackshear and the friendship and bond we had from it. I remember going regulary to Al Amanecer Boxing Gym in Napa where I was welcomed by Jesus Solis to spar with the tough crew of young latino boxers he trained that gave me all that I could handle. I am grateful to my coach Charlie Smith who would invoke James Brown at my first amateur fights shouting, "It's Showtime....and then, "Get down with your bad self," whenever I landed a good shot on my opponent. Coach Charlie who raised my defensive skills to a whole other level was a pure joy to work with. I cherish my times at East Oakland Boxing Gym with Stan, Paul, James and Danielle and being able to bring my first students there to give them a taste of what boxing has to offer. I am grateful for Coach Greene, Coach Gloria Peek, and Coach Michaels who stepped up to work my corner at the Nationals when I had to travel there alone.
I think of my start as a professional boxer as I picked up everything and moved to Vegas and the opportunities my one and only manager Greg Hannley provided me as he tried to put together a team of women fighters from around the globe. I loved my time at Prince Ranch, the former brothel turned boxing training camp and exotic animal shelter. Becoming friends with Marischa Sjauw and Laura Serrano, two of my idols in the sport and getting to train with them was priceless. I recall fondly my time at Laila Ali's gym and getting to train alongside Floyd Mayweather and Steve Forbes. Roger Mayweather worked the corner of two of my fights and when I worked mitts with him, he gave me my greatest boxing compliment, "She hits like a dude."
Then there was Johnny Tocco's gym and meeting Leroy Caldwell, my special friend and coach who would see me to the end of my career and who traveled the world with me to take on the best. What an adventure we went on as we traveled to places all over the globe! He taught me so much about grace and staying calm in the ring. My only sadness in getting this honor in 2025 is that Leroy passed away in 2024 after a bout with colon cancer. This honor is his as well as mine. I know he will be with me in spirit.
It's going to be a party in Vegas in April 2025 and I can't wait to celebrate with my family, friends, boxing community and the other inductees of the Class of 2025.
I am always excited when the Carolina Gloves 3-day tournament comes around. It brings together some of the best fighters from North Carolina and surrounding areas in really good matchups. I get to see coaches I know and don't see very often with their fighters. Since it is a big tournament, there are two rings and additional officials from outside LBCs are brought in to help. This year we were fortunate to have officials from Washington D.C. and Georgia come to support us and what a world of wisdom and experience they brought us during this tournament. I felt really blessed. I got so much good feedback on my officiating and appreciated how helpful and knowledgeable all the officials were. Marshall, our ring captain, has been officiating for 40 years! He is so passionate and committed that we as officials get it right. The boxers deserve to have focused and fair officials and that is something I am also deeply committed to...improving my practice and doing my best by the boxers.
LaTasha Washington was another experienced official who blew me away with her skills and knowledge. I got to watch her referee all weekend and her calm, assertive style is one that I hope to emulate. She reminded me to slow down and stay calm. She's been officiating for 13 years and also officiates on the international level and I can see why. There are so many subtle things she does that take it to another level. We also got to pick her brain over dinner and I felt my knowledge of what I need to do grew significantly. It was a little intimidating refereeing in front of this dynamic crew of officials, but the lessons learned were many..
The finals on Sunday afternoon were packed with top notch close fights. It's those types of fights where good officiating is key. They can be so close and if you lose your focus, you might not get it right. One of the favorite fights that I refereed during the Carolina Gloves was between two 119 lb. intermediate fighters. They were both really talented and each had their moments. It was a clean fight and ended in a split decision, but both fighters should be really proud. They demonstrated excellent skill and poise and I only had to make a few minor calls.
At the end of the tournament, my brain was fried from the intensity of the matches and my focus on them, but I can't express how grateful I am for the camaraderie and mentorship I receive every time I participate in an amateur event. Elouise Joseph, our Chief of Officials, who is a top 10 official in the U.S. and who I consider to be my greatest mentor, came up to me at the end of the competition and told me how proud she was of my growth as an official over the past year. What can I say? It meant the world to me.
image credit: https://www.independent.ie
May of this year was supposed to be Katie Taylor's homecoming. Despite being a decorated world champion and former Olympic Gold Medal winner, she had never before had the opportunity to fight as a professional in her home country of Ireland. When she was growing up, boxing was prohibited for girls and she had to dress up like a boy to train. But in May, she fought in front of a sold out home crowd for the first time determined to continue her reign as one of the pound for pound greats in women's boxing in a fight against Chantelle Cameron. Unfortunately, Cameron had other plans and came to win. She handily defeated Taylor over 10 rounds using a strong jab and aggressive style that seemed to frustrate Taylor. Maybe it was nerves or maybe Cameron was much better than she expected, regardless, Taylor was heartbroken by this first professional loss and wanted nothing more than to avenge her defeat. She went back to the drawing board and trained hard for 6 months before the rematch on November 25th.
For the first time in her career, Taylor came in as the underdog. She entered second at the 3Arena in Dublin and despite having an enormous sellout crowd of 9,000 people behind her, it was clear that Cameron had earned the respect as the current champion. The atmosphere was absolutely electric and Taylor entered the ring with a determined and focused look on her face. It was an incredible fight as was the first one. Many have called it the fight of the year. There was a lot of back and forth, but Taylor used her blazing handspeed and combinations to frustrate Cameron and won a close, extremely hard fought bout. In the post fight interview, Taylor said, "“It was the longest six months in my life waiting for this rematch. This is my real homecoming tonight. You saw the worst of me in May. You saw the best of me tonight. Let’s get the trilogy in Croke Park." Croke Park is the soccer stadium in Ireland that can host 82,000 people. Despite being written off as being at the end of her career, Taylor punctuated the fact that she is nowhere close to being done with a career-defining performance. She was all class at the end of the fight giving props to Cameron for being a phenomenal fighter. The heart and bravery of these two warriors can't be denied. I have no doubt they will cement their legacies with a trilogy in the near future. And if it does end up happening at Croke Park, I am certain they will sell it out. A huge win for Katie Taylor, for women's boxing and for BOXING period. I had the opportunity last weekend to attend a professional boxing judge training run by Steve Weisfeld. Weisfeld is a NJ Hall of Fame judge who has judged over 2500 professional fights. Most recently he judged the last Amanda Serrano fight, the Stevenson vs. De Los Santos fight and the Benavidez vs. Andrade fight. It was an intense and powerful training and I came away with a new understanding of what it means to be a high quality judge. The biggest takeaway for me was that you MUST be fair to both fighters. That means judging each round individually, not favoring a boxer because they are a champion or have the crowd behind them or have a style you like, but truly looking for who throws the most clean, effective punches. Weisfeld taught us that we must have a mental computer running where you know who is winning and by how much at every second of the round. He notes that different people have different methods, but that is the name of the game. As he states in the above video, "our allegiance is to the round." In order to improve focus Weisfeld gave two gems of advice that I had never heard of before. First, he told us to "Be Less Selfish." The fight is about the two fighters in the ring. You owe it to them to give the fight your full attention. Secondly, he told us that the best state of mind when judging is to be a little excited. He says if we are too calm, we might miss something and if we are too excited, it's really hard to focus. I had always assumed it was important to be calm, but Weisfeld argues that we must be immersed in the action and create our own excitement to maintain serious focus on the fight. Being a boxing judge is a second profession, not a hobby he states. You may not make a living from being a judge, but we have the boxers' livelihoods in our hands and our decisions can impact the path their careers take tremendously. In the training we were challenged to score what Weisfeld called atypical rounds. These were rounds that are especially hard to judge due to being extremely close or having other attributes that make them challenging to judge. Weisfeld notes that most rounds have a clear winner. He noted that in 2022 only 5% of fights ended in a split decision. That was surprising to hear, but also good to hear. Weisfeld carefully selected rounds that were instructive and as a group we discussed the rounds and then found out what the actual scores were and what Weisfeld felt were reasonable scores. My understanding of judging is pretty solid, but this really helped me understand the importance of being focused and decisive in your decisions. At the beginning of the training Weisfeld asked us each to reflect on what brought us to being a boxing judge. For me, I know that now is my time to give back to the sport that gave me so much, but I can't help but acknowledge the pain and loss of confidence that came from some of the decisions had on my career. I was a fight anyone, anywhere type of fighter and I definitely lost some of my fights especially those at the end of my career. But of the 5 World Title fights I had, I truly felt I won all of them. They were each in 5 different countries and I received a majority decision, a draw, a split decision, a loss and a win. The loss was in North Korea, so that explains that. Only one of those fights was in the U.S. and that was my win. It is what it is, but it is a big motivation for me to get better at judging. I know I still need to work on honing my focus when it comes to judging, but I do take each bout I judge seriously and I will continue to strive to do right by both fighters. I am grateful I had this opportunity at taking a masterclass from a truly masterful judge and teacher. Thanks Steve Weisfeld! image credit: @serranosisters Amanda Serrano fought on October 27th and I had no doubt that she would win the defense of her unified titles. She is truly in her prime and her opponent Danila Ramos did not have the experience or skill to beat her. But, nonetheless, Serrano and Ramos put on a fantastic show that was billed as the first woman's unified title fight over 12 three minute rounds. If you don't know, that is the same as men's championships fights. Women have typically fought 2 minute rounds and championship fights are usually 10 rounds. There have been other 3 minute 12 round women's fights, but none as high profile as this fight. Serrano is fighting not only to cement her own legacy, she is fighting to leave more opportunities for those following in her footsteps. She is fighting for equality for women in terms of pay and opportunity and has the skill and respect in the sport to do so. You wouldn't have known that she had never gone 12 rounds or fought 3 minute rounds. Her output over the twelve rounds was what it normally is--nonstop. It was a festive night in Orlando, Florida and I was happy to see that 3 of women's boxing royalty were in the house. Laila Ali was there ringside enjoying the show. Holly Holmes was commentating for the fight, and Christy Martin was there as a manager of a fighter on the undercard. Sparkle Lee, one of the best referees in professional boxing was the third woman in the ring. Serrano did not defend her WBC belt because they still will not sanction 3 minute rounds for women citing that it is too dangerous. Amanda Serrano walk to the ring and PR surrounding the fight was all about women getting there due and about those coming behind her. A group of 6-7 amateur fighters came out with Serrano's belts and escorted her to the ring. Ramos and Serrano did a number of commercials about the historic night that were inspiring. Serrano has begun to manage and promote fighters. Her fighter Krystal Rosario fought on the undercard of the show, another testament to how Serrano is making a path for those following her. Serrano was fierce throughout the bout in her pink outfit (for breast cancer awareness) and Jordans. She was really hoping for the knockout in the final round and came on even stronger, but was unsuccessful. Ramos was not a lay down opponent. She came to win and never stopped fighting. After the fight, Serrano gave a gracious speech and let everyone know there was more to come. She is truly on top of the boxing world right now and hard fought well deserved victory for her and women's boxing. I can't wait to see what she does next year. image credit: @serranosisters
This Fall, our LBC in North Carolina implemented electronic scoring in amateur boxing competitions. Electronic scoring has been implemented in many states and at all National tournaments, so it made total sense for our LBC to move towards it. There was a training on August 5th at the Warrior Saints Boxing Gym in Fayetteville. With electronic scoring, coaches and boxers can know their scores in real time after each round. It helps boxers and coaches definitively know whether they are winning or losing a bout and adds a layer of transparency to the process. According to Elouise Joseph, our supervisor of officials, the set up of the system is tricky and a bit cumbersome and a lot to figure out, but from an officials perspective, it is much easier than paper scoring. You give the winning boxer a 10 and the losing boxer a number between 7-9 and click submit. If there is a tie at the end of the bout each judge submits who they think won. As soon as all judges have entered their scores, coaches in each corner can see twhat each judge has given their boxers and adjust their instruction accordingly. I was able to try it out first hand in September at a show in Fayetteville and was very easy to oeprate. It seemed to increase the action of the bouts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds I think it is a huge positive and move forward for our organization and I hope to be able to learn more about setting up the system to help support our team better.
Last week I had an amazing opportunity to go to the Elite Athletic Training Center in Chula Vista, California to help coach the USA Boxing Elite Junior Women's Team. The team consisted of women ranked in the top 4 of their weight class. Juniors are athletes that are 15-16 years old with a few younger than that.
Chad Wigle is the national development coach for USA Boxing. He is very passionate about building a high-performance boxing program that is based on science and what works. He uses high energy, precise instruction and humor to support the athletes that come through this program and it is inspiring to see. In the last youth international competition in Germany, they brought home 9 medals including 6 gold medals which is an impressive feat. He is interested in bringing up athletes and coaches in his methodology and I was fortunate to get to be a part of learning the basics in this training camp and supporting an amazing group of teen girls who are coming up in the sport. The athletes had a morning and afternoon boxing session as well as a strength and conditioning session. I loved the progression of the program and the way the girls got constant review to really build muscle memory. The sessions were structured to really maximize their work on fundamentals while teaching them a few new tricks to help keep them at the top. The last day was a high-level sparring session and the girls showed so much poise, confidence and fierceness.
There were 12 coaches and 26 athletes, so the girls got a lot of support. We worked on a variety of skills and drills that supported the athletes in using fundamental skills at a high level. I had such a good time with the coaches who were part of the program. They were a group of wonderfully knowledgeable and skilled coaches that showed so much support and respect to one another. It was so heartwarming and fun to work with the girls. So many of them already have the drive, desire and skill to make it in the sport if they choose to and if not they will walk away with a bravery, confidence and resilience that is hard earned in this sport. I cannot wait to see what some of them do in the sport. They truly are the future of this sport. I loved working with this age group of girls and hope to have continued opportunity to work in the high-performance program that is being developed by USA Boxing. I am grateful for the memories and all that I learned and experienced during this camp.
|
AuthorYvonne Caples is a Learning Experience Designer who is passionate about making learning meaningful and engaging for all. Posts
All
|