Chaos in Kyoto

 The fight in Kyoto on September 18, 2004 was an unfortunate occurrence and a negative experience for me. There is nothing that can be done about judges’ decisions, but we should be able to rely on a standard of rules and regulations that help to protect us and legitimize the sport.

 I have sent a protest letter to the WIBA detailing all of the violations I felt took place. The WIBA’s response has been that they are not going to recognize Yuko Sodeoka as the mini-flyweight champion (although I believe she does keep the belt from what I can tell. I haven’t gotten a straight answer on that). They have also made a rematch between Yuko and me mandatory within the next 120 days in a neutral place with neutral officials. However, the burden has been placed on the fighters to find this neutral place with neutral officials. There was some talk of us fighting in Argentina at the WIBA Annual Convention, but unless someone comes up with the money for the fight, we would have to pay our expenses and fight for free which I am not willing to do. I truly hope we do have a rematch, but I am not holding my breath. At the very least, I do hope my struggle to let the truth be known about this fight will benefit other women boxers who in the future choose to fight in Japan . I have included this page on my website to allow everyone to view the evidence and understand exactly what did happen. I would like to give special thanks to Sue Fox for getting my story out. She is truly the guardian angel of women’s boxing.

 It is unfortunate that in women’s boxing, so many of us have to fight outside of the ring as well as in the ring. We have to struggle to find opportunities to fight and to get paid what we’re worth. We have to struggle with the demands of work and family and then muster up the energy to train after we have handled these other demands. Oftentimes, the only opportunities to fight are in places where we have to go to struggle against hometown crowds, referees, and judges. All of this, when all we want is to be given a fair chance to compete in the sport of boxing. There are, of course, success stories. Laila Ali, Kelsey Jeffries , Mary Jo Sanders, and Regina Halmich come to mind. Women who have risen to the top and have found acceptance, a fan base, and a promoter who will feature them regularly on their cards. But most of us aren’t as fortunate.

 I love the sport of boxing. I love the training and I love it when I have the opportunity to compete. However, being a boxer who has three strikes against her- 1) good fighter/bad record, 2) small stature and 3)female, the opportunities have become fewer and fewer. I plan to continue in this sport and pray that I will have another opportunity to fight soon. If nothing else, I hope that my efforts have helped pave the way for the next generation of female fighters.

Open letter to WBAN

Protest letter to WIBA