The Glowing Edge

Tag: Ren Cancan

  • Women Have ALREADY Accomplished Olympic Boxing Goals

    Women Have ALREADY Accomplished Olympic Boxing Goals

    I’m still reeling from the sheer pleasure of watching 17-year-old Claressa Shields (USA, pictured above) light up London’s Olympic boxing ring in her semifinal bout against Sweden’s Anna Laurell. The two were 12-12 after three rounds, and I’d love to know what happened in Claressa’s brain and body that caused her to launch into high gear and take down the very worthy Laurell with a blur of blistering punches in the fourth.

    To see that fight was to absolutely fall in love all over again with women’s boxing.

    My hope for the women’s Olympic boxing this year was that we would raise awareness (“Hey, women can box!”) and respect (“Hey, women can box really well!”), and finally get some long-deserved media coverage and attention.

    I believe we’ve already achieved those goals, and more besides. And the games aren’t even over!

    My own journey into boxing

    I never even knew there were women who boxed until five years ago, when I stumbled into a local LA Boxing on a friend’s recommendation. Even then, I was boxing for fitness, and only ventured into the ring when I realized it was an avenue open — and in my case, positively welcoming — to me. For that I repeatedly thank my very first trainer, pro fighter and world champion Bonnie Mann. Not everybody has someone of that caliber to welcome them into the ring.

    As I began to find my feet in boxing, I searched online for boxing friends, news, and reports about women’s fights, and was shocked at the lack of coverage and overall low media interest. Although I found WBAN right away, it seemed crazy to me that my little blog was one of the few places publishing regularly about the journey into women’s boxing.

    It took years, but the small blogroll you see on my site is the full list of people and places I’ve come across that are writing primarily about women’s boxing. Short list, but great people.

    And there are even more people supporting women’s boxing via Facebook. I only opened a Facebook page for The Glowing Edge eight months ago (please click over and gimme a “Like!”), and I’m just now starting to discover those boxers, trainers, fans, filmmakers, writers, and others who simply love women’s boxing and are helping keep the conversation and cheers going.

    And now the Olympics

    All these years women have waited to be allowed into the Olympic ring, and now look at us! I wanted so much for us — and by us I mean ALL the women boxers, from every nation that sent them, as well as those who tried but didn’t get their fighters in — to win some attention for the very real sacrifices we’ve made, the long hours we put in, and the beautiful, powerful way we pursue our sport.

    And it is our sport, too. The inclusion of women’s boxing in this year’s Olympics offers the first real world-wide validation of this reality, and while we still have plenty of battles to fight (the big one in my mind right now is to be granted more than 3 Olympic weight categories) before there’s real acceptance, it’s a tremendous step in the right direction.

    What thankfully didn’t happen, and what did

    My fear was that the women’s fights would be riddled with scoring controversies (see here for more about the atrocious computer scoring system, which is thankfully on it’s way out), or widely ignored by the media. But that simply hasn’t happened.

    While we’re not finished with the final rounds, the press coverage has been great — a flood of attention and big, fat, emails from my Google alerts every day, as opposed to the anemic once-a-month-at-best mentions that were often in an article about a male boxer as sort of a “if I have to” attempt at gender equality.

    And here comes Team USA storming out of the gates, swooping up two medals already, out of the three women we sent.

    This stands in stark comparison to the nine men on the US boxing team, none of whom were still in the running for a medal until Errol Spence’s results were overturned, putting him into the quarterfinals for the US team’s only shot at having one of the men on the stand. The utterly unexpected series defeats in the men’s squad originally sparked lots of media trash talk about how the US amateur boxing program is riddled with problems — then here come the women, who perform like the boxing powerhouses they are. I haven’t heard any yet, but I hope to hear stories of how the guys were there supporting their female teammates all the way. That would be a real gift, wouldn’t it?

    And still to come

    All of this is happening, and we still have more to go.

    Interestingly, the Associated Press noted that the volume in the ExCel has been it’s loudest so far for today’s women’s fights, in particular when world favorite (and number one in my picks of the top 5 women to watch) Katie Taylor systematically took out home crowd champion Natasha Jonas for a 26-15 win.

    Just imagine what it will sound like during the Finals!

    SO. If you missed today’s fights, definitely check out Alex McClintock’s fantastic recap. And my picks for the rest of the Olympic boxing matches are as follows:

    FLYWEIGHT Brackets:

    1. Marlen Esparza (USA) will beat Ren CanCan (China)

    After seeing Marlen’s sizzling speed and style today, in comparison with Ren’s slower, less technical fight, I’m thinking Marlen will take it, despite having lost to Ren before the Olympics.

    2. Mery Kom (India) will beat Nicola Adams (GB)

    This one is tough, but I absolutely have to cheer for Mery (I’ve been spelling it Mary, but the London Olympics site spells it Mery, so I’m switching).

    LIGHTWEIGHT Brackets:

    1. Katie Taylor (Ireland) will win over Mavzuna Chorieva (TJK)

    This one is too easy. Wish we’d had a different draw, but there you have it.

    2. Sofya Ochigava (Russia) will beat out Adriana Araujo (Brazil)

    Hard to call, as I’m not very familiar with either fighter, but I’m expecting Sofya to simply have a higher punch count. Sofya is also a former kickboxing champion, with a long history of competing.

    MIDDLEWEIGHT Brackets:

    1. Claressa Shields (USA) GOTTA win over Marina Volnova (KAZ)

    I’m pinning everything on this stick of US dynamite, especially after today’s incredible fireworks. C’mon young lady, you can do it!

     2. Jinzi Li (China) will defeat Nadezda Torlopova (Russia)

    I didn’t see Nadezda’s fight, but she is fresher by virtue of her first round bye. Jinzi is still my favorite, and did a great job against Mary Spencer (Canada) today.

  • Top 5 Women Olympic Boxers to Watch in 2012

    Top 5 Women Olympic Boxers to Watch in 2012

    History in the making

    While big names like Pacqiao and Mayweather kept men’s boxing in the online conversation during 2009, women’s boxing finally got some press with the August 13th announcement from International Olympic Committee chair Jacques Rogge, telling the world that the 2012 London Olympics would be the first to feature women competing in every single sport, including the final holdout sport of boxing.

    In general, it’s fairly exciting news that the entire 2012 US Olympic team will have more women competing this year than men; that’s a first, and a proud tribute to the 40-year anniversary of Title IX, the landmark law that assured more athletic opportunities for millions of girls and women across the United States. In all, there will be 286 boxers, with 36 of them women. The U.S. will be sending a total of three female fighters: Marlen Esparza, Claressa Shields and Queen Underwood.

    The limitations opportunities for growth

    Yes, the women have only 3 weight divisions — flyweight (106-112 pounds), lightweight (123-132 pounds), and middleweight (152-165 pounds) — to the men’s 10 weight divisions.

    No, we won’t be required to wear skirts in the ring.

    Yes, the men’s Olympic boxing tickets will cost you 53% more than the cheaper women’s tickets.

    As of today, shortly before the Olympic competition begins, there is still only  one photo of female contenders on the official Olympic website boxing “featured photos” page. Maybe that will change soon; this is history in the making after all.

    And in a related note, one hopes that the women’s boxing teams will not have to fly coach while the men’s teams go first class, like Australia’s female soccer and basketball teams and the Japanese women’s Olympic soccer team. Sigh.

    Finally, while I was thrilled to hear that Afghanistan was working to field a team of Olympic hopefuls, I was deeply disappointed when top favorite Sadaf Rahimi lost her only chance at a wild card invite (a special berth granted to nations that would not otherwise be able to qualify). Her performance at the women’s world boxing championships in China was not promising, with her fight being stopped short a minute and 20 seconds into the first round because she was doing so poorly. Next time, maybe these incredible women will get more resources and have a better shot at qualification.

    The schedule

    The women’s Olympic boxing rounds begin on August 5th (Round of 16), and continue on August 6th (Quarterfinals), August 8th (Semifinals), and end on August 9th (Finals). NBC will will televise 73 total hours of boxing coverage over 16 days, from elimination bouts to the men’s and women’s finals. Same-day coverage will air from 2 to 5 p.m. during the week, with six hours of live coverage airing each day on the weekends.

    To satisfy cable and satellite operators, NBC is requiring viewers to prove that they have a cable or satellite subscription in order to access the online options. Which sucks for people like me, who don’t have a television at all. You can bet I’ll be looking for other options.

    You can find the full boxing schedule as well as the fight results on the London 2012 website.

    The women to watch

    I’m hard pressed to narrow this down to only 5 fighters, and for me the real battle will be in the flyweight division, as you’ll see.

    Katie Taylor, Ireland

    26-year-old lightweight and four-time world champion Katie Taylor from Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, started boxing in 1998 and has represented her Irish fighting people with pride and glory ever since.

    Taylor first made Irish boxing history at age 15 in the first officially sanctioned women’s bout ever held in Ireland (she won). She’s the top seed in the women’s competition, and has a bye straight into the quarter-finals.

    She’s picked up plenty of media attention — including a Lucozade commercial that shows her tearing up the heavy bag. That commercial came out shortly after she first came to my attention, and she’s been my fave contender the whole way.

    She’ll be carrying the Irish tricolor flag in this year’s Olympics, and is the third boxer from her country to do so.

    Click here to see the Katie Taylor Fanpage on Facebook.

     Queen Underwood, USA

    Definitely an Olympic underdog, 28-year-old lightweight fighter Quanitta “Queen” Underwood won her berth in the Olympics at the last minute.

    Underwood is a five-time national champion who won the first US Olympic boxing team trials in February. But she dropped a one-point decision to Norway’s Ingrid Egner in the world championship prelims, falling just short of Olympic qualification.

    However, on June 18th she finally learned she had been chosen for an Olympic spot by AIBA, the international governing body of amateur boxing. She’s ready and eager for her shot at glory.

    She came up rough, with few advantages. A father in prison, running with the wrong crowd, a failed suicide attempt. At the age of 19, she began the process of becoming Queen, the boxer. She racked up loss after loss, but boxing kept Queen away from her self-destructive lifestyle. In 2007, her persistence paid off and she captured her first championship.

    She loved that first taste of victory, and she hasn’t stopped drinking from the cup of champions since.

    I hate that she’s fighting in the same weight division as my top favorite, Ireland’s Katie Taylor. But the chance for glory is there, and Queen certainly has the capability and heart to grab it.

    Join Queen on Twitter: @QueenUnderwood

    Mary Kom, India

    29-year-old flyweight Mary Kom, born Mangte Chungneijang Merykom, is a mother of two and the only woman boxer from India to qualify for the London Games. Kom is from a tiny village in a remote area of India, but she’s the only boxer in world to have won a medal in each one of the six World Championships (five gold, one silver), and she’s currently ranked world no. 4 in her division by AIBA.

    Experienced in life and in boxing, she exudes the kind of calm confidence rarely seen among the younger fighters. In addition she trains with men heavier than her own weight, both orthodox and southpaw, in order to get a wide range of fight skills and style.

    Kom has already defeated Ren Cancan (see below), but will have a major challenge on her hands if the two meet in the ring again during the Olympics.

    “I believe the World Championship is more competitive than the Olympics,” she said, and she is confident of winning a medal.

    Mary Kom’s website: http://www.marykom.com

    Ren Cancan, China

    24-year-old flyweight Ren Cancan is a product of the powerful Chinese athlete creation machine, and she’s the one for Mary Kom to beat, if she can. (Cancan has already beaten Marlen Esparza, also on my list below.)

    Cancan is already in the record books for becoming the first woman to win an Asian Games boxing title in 2010.

    She started boxing late, after switching to boxing from hurdling in 2002. She’s a police officer in China, from a very small southern province of Guizhou, and has made her way up in a very cold climate for women’s boxing. Her trainer Tian Dong noted “Women’s boxing entering the Olympics will have an impact on the sport here and there, but I don’t think it will affect overall conditions.”

    Marlen Esparza, USA

    While Queen Underwood is my personal favorite from Team USA, the rest of the nation’s eyes are probably more focused on 22-year-old flyweight Marlen Esparza, who has won 7 national championships and was the first to qualify for an Olympic slot for the U.S.

    Esparza grew up watching Julio Cesar Chavez fight on television, and she has much of his lightning-fast speed. She knows that when fighting outside the U.S., boxing styles differ, and she’s ready for the challenge. “In the U.S. you stay flat and hit with power. Outside the U.S. you try to bounce and be quick,” explained Esparza.

    Esparza is definitely the media darling of the bunch, with a McDonald’s commercial, story in Vogue magazine, and sponsorships from CoverGirl, Nike, and Coca-Cola.

    Click here to see Marlen Esparza on Facebook.

    Also watch out for Claressa Shields

    Claressa ShieldsClaressa “T-Rex” Shields, the third fighter for Team USA, is not in my top faves, but she might just surprise the watching world by snagging a medal.

    At 17, she’s the youngest on the U.S. team, and she boasted a 26-0 record until suffering her first loss on the road to qualifying for the London games. But she prevailed against the odds, and now she’s bouncing determinedly in her corner, waiting for her shot at victory.

    Contribute now to the Kickstarter campaign to help fund the documentary about Shields currently being proposed by LA team Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari, and Sue Johnson.

    Top Image: Natasha Jonas of Great Britain against Cheng Dong of China during the Test Event for London on November 27, 2011.