I didn't know quite what to expect from the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame that took place on April 4th and 5th at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas. but it was an incredible event that I will always cherish.  As an inductee I was excited, but also a bit nervous and anxious.  Luckily my family showed up in a big way.  My husband, Adam, organized everything and I had 30 family and friends show up for the event.  My cousins, Rupa and Amit came all the way from London.  I had two friends come with their partners from Raleigh and I even had friends and former sparring partners from the Bay Area where I got my boxing start who I hadn't seen in forever.  I am grateful to all of them for making me feel so supported.

The event was preceded by a two day Women's Summit put on by the WBC.  I registered for it, but only was able to attend a small portion of it on the first and second day.  There were a lot of wonderful presenters (who I unfortunately missed) like Laila Ali, Christy Martin and Tiara Brown, but luckily the WBC recorded some of the talks and I will be able to go back and watch them.  It's wonderful to see a boxing federation, put on an event exclusively devoted to women in the sport.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Nonito Donaire there with his kids to support his wife Rachel, who gave a talk on boxing management.  I hadn't seen him since he was a kid, and while I have watched many of his fights, it was nice to see him with his family.

I have to say I was blown away by the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame Event.  Held over two days, it truly showcased the inspiring stories of professionals in the sport, not just boxers but also journalists, photographers and promoters. The event was so well organized and ran like clockwork thanks to the hard work of the fabulous Sue TL Fox and the amazing team of organizers: Wanda Countiss, Godfrey Hewitt, Amy Green, Terri Moss, Oscar McCarver, Mailssa Smith, Dalia Duran, and Krysti Rosario.  In the beautiful program they put together, Sue writes in her letter of appreciation, "This event is not only a celebration of past accomplishments, but also a rallying call to continue pushing boundaries and advocating for female athletes.  Let us cherish the stories and experiences that bring us together."  I felt a connection to all who were honored and have personal connections to many of them.  They say that the boxing world is a small world and the world of women's boxing is even smaller.  

First, I have to say part of what made this event so special is that it is now held in Las Vegas every year.  Not only was Las Vegas my home for my professional boxing career, it is also where my parents live, so it was incredible to come home for this experience.  The Orleans hosted many great boxing shows in the very ballroom where the induction took place including those of Las Vegas legends, Melinda Cooper and Layla McCarter who I trained with at various stages in my career.  I moved to Las Vegas, imagining I would have many opportunities to fight there, but only fought once at the Stardust Casino which has since been demolished, but ironically the Orleans Casino has a Stardust Suite that plays homage to the casino and I was able to get a cool Stardust Mug from the gift shop.  I was fortunate to train at many of the famous gyms in Vegas.  Richard Steele's gym was where I met a 12 year old Melinda and I traveled with her and her coach to the 1999 Golden Gloves Tournament where I won the national title.  I trained at Laila Ali's gym and alongside Layla McCarter at Johnny Tocco's gym. Vegas is also where I had a 12-year career as a high school teacher and actually worked at the same school where fellow Hall of Famer Tracy Byrd was a resource police officer. 

The first night of the IWBHF event saw "Women Cops Who Box" honored in what may have been the most inspiring part of the event.  The women cops honored at this event are incredible role models who not only chose one of the toughest sports out there, but also one of the toughest careers.  On top of that many of them contribute to boxing in significant ways from running gyms and programs to promoting boxing shows. AND many of them are still active as professional boxers.  I was so proud to see Melinda who was on duty and came in her police uniform.  I have always admired the work Terri "The Boss" Moss has done out of her gym in Georgia.  Her fight promotions are legendary and we both just came from a national collegiate tournament where she coached the Georgia Tech boxing team.  It was wonderful to see Alex Love who I spent a week with this past December at the Olympic Training Center to become coaching clinicians and even got to visit her amazing gym, Boxing with Love.  She embodies strength and heart.  Then to hear the stories of Irma Garcia, Elia Carranza, Nora Daigle and Stephanie Han as they shared their passion for the sport and community made my heart swell with pride.  Tracy Byrd punctuated the event by giving a stirring speech about her work and boxing that left me wanting to stand up and cheer.  That evening my parents hosted a wonderful dinner at the Bulgarian Restaurant, Beso, with my family. Having this time together made the weekend all the more special.  I ran into Layla McCarter in the casino as we headed out and she is still as lovely as I remembered her.  I hope she gets more opportunities to fight the big names before she retires.

The night of the induction was fabulous.  There were all these fantastic spaces to take pictures to commemorate the night.  The event was sold out and I saw lots of boxing luminary in the crowd including Christy Martin, Boza Edwards, Alex Ramos, Melvina Latham, Miguel Diaz, Sumya Anani, Yvonne Trevino, Jelena Mrdjenovich, and Jeff Mayweather.  I would have liked to have taken more pictures during the night, but I was dealing with a lot of nerves.  Luckily, once the ceremony began with a stirring keynote from promoter, Roy Englebrecht I was able to really focus on listening to all the honorees stories and be inspired by the diverse journeys of courage, grit, and passion.  My father won one of the autographed giant Cleto Reyes gloves and gratefully, he gave it to me. It has the autographs of so many great fighters.  I wish I could have gotten all of the inductees to sign it.  This night was truly one of the greatest nights of my life and an honor of a lifetime.

To make the event all the more special I came home to find out that Thomas Gerbasi had posted a story about my career for Ring Magazine.  When he interviewed me the week prior to event, I imagined that it was for an article about the event and I might have a small paragraph in it.  I have never felt more like a star and appreciated in this sport as I did this past weekend.  I am inspired to continue in my role as a coach and official to support the next generation of boxers especially the women.

Congratulations to all my fellow inductees and all the people who where honored during this event.  I am humbled and honored to be a part of this resilient, brave community of boxers and professionals in the sport.

When I started boxing back in the '90s, one of the places where I learned the most was at the UC Berkeley boxing gym.  UC Berkeley has the longest continuously running collegiate boxing program in the US.  It started in 1916 which is an impressive feat.  Unfortunately, while I was attending UC Berkeley, the boxing program was not coed as women's boxing had just been allowed by USA Boxing.  But I was definitely welcomed there despite a lack of competitive opportunities and it is the place I attribute to really being able to hone my skills with the help of two fellow students, Raymond Joshua and Porfirio Garcia.  We had a beautiful gym and I met my first coach there Mr. Thomas who volunteered time there even though he wasn't affiliated with the college program.  After I graduated, they gave our beautiful gym space to gymnastics and put us in two squash courts.  It was a step down, but I am happy to report that I was able to start a women's team with 7 members and one of those members was able to compete with NCBA in the first ever women's collegiate match and then again for the nationals.

Fast forward to 2024 when I decided to start a collegiate program for North Carolina State University.  We had 6-7 students who were coming to our gym regularly and I felt that supporting them to compete in collegiate boxing would be a great opportunity for them. The students got on board  We had a member at our gym, Chris Osburn, who is a professor at NCSU and volunteered as our faculty advisor.  One of our most talented boxers, Razi Sayyed, and sophomore at NCSU agreed to be president and got the club enrolled as a student organization.  Several other students(Bailey Patterson, A.J. Beckmann, Logan Phillips and Max Baumgartner joined in to run bi-weekly classes at NCSU and run fundraisers for the team.  They also worked hard to prepare for the competition season.    We have had a wonderful first year that would have not been possible without the amazing efforts of the students both in and out of the ring.

I signed up the club to be a member of NCBA and what I remembered about the NCBA is that the military schools tended to dominate because they are well-funded and supported by their schools.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for many of the other universities and colleges.  There were no nearby NCBA shows for us to compete in during the season and I only felt comfortable sending Razi to the regional tournament due to the possibility of having to compete against someone who might have a lot more experience.  Everyone I dealt with at NCBA was great.  I was especially impressed with Nat Shineman who is the Midwest Regional Chair.  When I reached out with questions about entering students with limited experience, he responded promptly with thoughtful answers to help me make decisions about whether or not to enter my athletes in the regional tournament.  Then when one of my athletes asked about accommodations for the fact that he was fasting during Ramadan, he came up with reasonable and equitable accommodations.  My boxer was so happy, but unfortunately, we were not able to make it to the regional tournament.

However, what I did learn about was another collegiate organization, the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association or USIBA.  There was a fundraising show in Richmond, VA at the beginning of February, so we decided to register for it.  We got matches for all 5 of our boxers even though only 4 ended up fighting.  The venue was a bit strange with a lot of cigar smoke, but it was a great experience for our boxers.  We came away with 3 out of 4 wins and it was a great team bonding experience where our boxers got a sense of what it feels like to compete.  USIBA held their national tournament in Macon, Georgia which was a bit closer than the NCBA regional tournaments held in Ohio.
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One of the highlights of the trip for me was to meet Terri "The Boss" Moss who had 17 boxers compete from Georgia Tech.  I have always admired the work she is doing with her boxers and as a promoter.  It was nice to meet her in person.  After the tournament, I wandered around downttown Macon where everyone was wearing pink for the Cherry Blossom festival and even spotted a pink poodle.  I am excited to see where next year's tournament will be.

In December of 2024 I started my journey of being a Coaching Clinician for USA Boxing.  I was selected to attend a week long training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to prepare for this role.  Gil Garza ran the training and I got to work with 8 talented coaches who were also going through the process.  I was excited to see that there were an equal number of women and men coaches as I've always felt that there needs to be more women in leadership roles and as coaches.  I shared a dorm room with Krysti Rosario who was a talented amateur at the same time as me.  She has made a name for herself as a professional judge and referee and also teaches boxing classes in Southern California.  It was great to catch up with her and share our experiences in the sport.  I also got to work with Alex Love who resides in Colorado Springs and was a high performance athlete and it was wonderful to learn about her experience and even visit her gym.  

Photo source:  USA Boxing

The 2024 Women's National Championships in Lafayette, Louisiana did not disappoint.  I flew in to New Orleans and after a day of sightseeing there and dinner with my dear friend Tasha made the two and a half hour drive to Lafayette.  It was hot and muggy in Lafayette and New Orleans and it was the Jazz Museum and Cafe Du Mond that saved the day during my time in New Orleans.  For only $8, I was able to cool off and see a number of art exhibits in the 3 story building down by the river.  Cafe Du Mond has the best beignets in New Orleans and for $10 I was able to have 3 delicious, warm beignets and a refreshing ice coffee.  I had lunch at Cafe Fleur de Lis and dinner at Luke's in the French Quarter. Crawfish etouffee for lunch and gumbo for dinner were my choices and they both were fabulous. There's nothing like New Orleans cuisine.

The Women's Nationals started for me with a two-day coaching clinic to receive USA Boxing Silver Certification.  It was taught by the fabulous Julia Gshwind.  She runs the Austin Women's Boxing Club and in addition to teaching the clinic, she had 5 boxers competing in the tournament.  I truly enjoyed the clinic and learned a lot about planning a year of training for a boxer depending on their goals.  It was a nice mix of information about USA Boxing training principles for high performance, hands on activities, and reflecting on one's own practice and what you can do to improve it.  One of the reasons I wanted to go to this certification was to meet and learn from Julia.  She is definitely an inspiration for me.  She had the vision and persistence to start an all women's boxing club at a time 17 years ago when there was no guarantees it would be successful.  But she made it so and is also a successful coach trainer at USA Boxing.   It's rare you get to meet another woman who is so invested in the sport of boxing and for so many years.  We are few and far between.  On Friday of the clinic, Julia asked if I would be interested in helping as her second as she had four fighters competing on Saturday and was there alone.  I felt humbled and honored and took the necessary steps to get registered as a coach.  Her team of boxers was equal part talent and sweetness.  Julia has done a wonderful job creating a sisterhood in boxing.  I had a blast helping in the corner.

On Friday, I went to the Mitt Competition and met up with Kim, a Raleigh fighter who came down to the tournament by herself to help her train.  I also ran into Coach Font and Coach Tasha from Fontaneaux Boxing in Fayetteville who had three fighters entered into the  tournament.  The most impressive thing about this tournament was that it was all about getting the women who came to the tournament as much experience and as many bouts as possible which is critical for developing female boxers and a program that grows.  The women who came were entered in the tournament by weight division, age and experience level with a novice and elite division.  But they also had additional matched bouts so women could get additional fights with boxers around their experience level and weight.  Even if they lost their fight early on in the tournament, women could continue to fight additional fights with some women fighting every day of the tournament. There were also a number of impromptu sparring sessions.  You really can't underestimate the value of a female boxer to be surrounded by other women who have the same passion for the sport.  I got to watch the first session of boxing competition session on Saturday.  The skill level was impressive.  There are some really talented boxers from all across the country and the talent coming from the under 18 competitors speaks to the future of women's boxing.  I realized at the tournament that the boxers who were the most talented and experienced were the ones whose coaches had a plan to travel to get their boxers the fights they needed to grow.  It's a tough thing in boxing.  There is not a traditional season or pathway for competition.  Coaches have to actively seek out matches that are the right ones for their boxers and find a way to pay for the travel that is required.  No easy feat.  This has especially been a barrier for female boxers as the local competitions in any given region can be few and far between. The Women's National Tournament hosted by USA Boxing is an important step in building women's amateur boxing.  I hope it continues to grow and be a space where female boxers get to shine.
​Webpage: https://www.usaboxing.org/events/2023/july/22/usa-boxing-womens-championships
Photos: https://geosnapshot.com/e/2024-womens-national-championship/

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.  
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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.
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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.