Female Boxing Tournament in Grenada
By Jillian Russell
Comments to jillian37dd@yahoo.com

I needed some time to recuperate and reflect after my loss to Jennifer Woo and the athletic department at the university was the perfect place. My cuts and bruises had healed nicely and I was back to working out everyday in the gym. I had fought a couple of 4-round matches to get me back into honest boxing. My topless match with Jennifer had shaken some of my convictions about boxing. Had I gone too far and made a mockery of the sport of woman’s boxing, something akin to foxy boxing. Mr. Chung had already made me another offer, a no holds barred match against Ms. Woo or another opponent if I thought that Ms. Woo was too much for me. The monetary reward was good. I told him that I would consider the offer in the fall.

I received an e-mail asking me to participate in an international welterweight tournament which would include junior welterweights so would run from 135 to 147 pounds. I had fought comfortably in both weight classes with my normal weight being about 138-140 pounds, which put me in the upper weight for junior welterweight and at the bottom end of the welterweight range. I was off for the summer and needed some excitement so decided to go.

The tournament was to be held on the Caribbean island of Grenada at a resort on the south west coast just 4 miles north of the airport. Most of the ladies arrive late Sunday or early Monday so that they have almost 5 days to train before our first match. Each fighter and her team are assigned to a cottage. The temperature is in the 80’s with some humidity but a light ocean breeze usually cools down the evenings. I find the island very relaxing.

Monday afternoon is our first formal get together. We receive a list of the other fighters and the local rules. A few of us are surprised to learn that we will be fighting in a bikini but then “The Bikini” is the normal dress of the resort. The first weekend will see 6 matches fought, two per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. These will be 6 rounds bouts wearing 10 oz. gloves. We draw names to determine our opponent. I fight the last match on Saturday evening against the Italian lady, Alexia Bogana. The matches and schedule are as follows:

Friday’s Matchup

Jitka Zabrzova - Czech Republic
181 cm (5’ 9”)
63 kg (138lbs)
91c-63-91 (36c-25-36)
vs
Danielle Coulthard - Australia
178 cm (5’ 10”)
64 kg (140lbs)
86b-71-79 (34b-28-31)

Irina Khoklov - Russia
184 cm 6’ 0”)
66 kg (145lbs)
88d-63-90 (35d-25-35)
vs
Alessandra Sophronia – Greece
171 cm (5’ 7”)
64 kg (141lbs)
90d-65-93 (35d-26-36)

Saturday’s Matchup

Renata Dias – Brazil
173 cm (5’ 7”)
58 kg (128lbs)
85b-64-90 (34b-25-35)
vs.
Chantel Montpellier - France
173 cm (5’ 7”)
63 kg (141lbs)
89d-64-92 (35d-25-36)

Alexia Bogana - Italy
173 cm (5’ 8”)
60 kg (132 lbs)
91c-66-94 (36-26-37)
vs.
Jillian Russell – USA
173 cm (5’ 8”)
63 kg (139lbs)
93d-73-91 (37d-29-36)

Sunday’s Matchup

Elena Magnusson - Sweden
180 cm (5’ 9”)
60 kg (132lbs)
91b-60-91 (36b-24-36)
vs
Alexandra Witherspoon – UK
175 cm (5’ 7”)
61 kg (134lbs)
94c-64-94 (37c-25-37)

Tekina Tavares – Jamaica
175 cm (5’ 7”)
60 kg (132lbs)
90c-70-95 (35c-28-37)
vs
Francesca Gonzalez – Mexico
171 cm (5’ 6”)
58 kg (128)
90b-65-95 (35b-26-37)

Most of the ladies train in the morning and then go to the beach in the afternoon to soak up sun. Topless and even nude are common sites on the beach. Meanwhile the teams are working hard in an attempt to find out all they can about our opponents. Finally it’s Friday evening.

The first match will feature Jitka Zabrzova of the Czech Republic against Danielle Coulthard of Australia. These ladies are closely matched and the fight goes to the judges after 6 rounds. Jitka wins on a unanimous decision. Danielle, we learn, could return in the third heat in a wildcard position.

The last fight on Friday night has Irina Khoklov of Russia against Alessandra Sophronia of Greece. There is only 4 pounds difference in weight but Irina has a 3 inch height advantage. Alessandra takes a hard right to her face late in the 3rd round. She finishes the round with her nose bleeding profusely but doesn’t answer the bell for the 4th round due to a badly broken nose. The tournament has produced its first casualty.

The first fight on Saturday night is Renata Dias of Brazil against Chantel Montpellier of France. I’m in my dressing room watching the fight on TV as I prepare for my fight which is next. The ladies are the same height but Chantel has a 13 pound weight advantage. Chantel is also one of us “D” cup girls and Renata goes after her breasts immediately. A combination of three punches in the opening minute of the 3rd round leaves Renata Dias spread eagled on the mat. It is a beautiful knockout by Montpellier. Now, it’s my turn.

I’m not ready to go to the ring as the first fight finished so early but the officials are soon at my door urging me to hurry. We leave the dressing room and take a short golf cart ride to the ring. The official asks me to remove my robe before entering the ring. I’m wearing a pale green silk bikini and I can feel my nipples explode as soon as the cool evening sea breeze hits my near naked body. Alexia Bogana is already in the ring and is anxiously shadow boxing in her corner. I dance in my corner to stay warm as the announcer introduces us to the audience. The referee calls us together in the middle of the ring for final instructions. It’s fight time.

My stomach is doing flip flops as the bell rings and before I know it Alexia is raining punches on me. I quickly go defensive and get my mind on the fight. I get my jab going to setup some combinations. I miss with a right and Alexia spots an opening, sending a right just under my belly button. Ohhh, the air rushes from my lungs and my knees tremble. I’m hurt. I latch onto her to tie her up and prevent me from going down. She almost seems surprised as I clinch with her. The ref calls for me to “not hold” as he puts it. The bell ends round 1.

I flop down in my corner after a poor showing, still trying to catch my breath. My trainer gives me hell for not being in the fight as my second sponges me off, she holds the waist of my bikini away from my tummy so I can breathe more freely. She squirts cold, ice cold, water onto my breasts. That wakes me up. The buzzer sounds and my second inserts my mouth guard into mouth. Alexia is on her feet and pounding her gloves together.

Round 2 saw us go toe to toe for about a minute. Some of her punches hurt but I kept fighting and forgot the hurt. There wasn’t much damage done to either of us. Alexia had a little blood under her nose and the inside of my mouth was bleeding. She caught me again near the top of my bikini with a hard left. This time I couldn’t stay up and she almost caught me in the head with a looping right as I was going down. I could hear my corner screaming for me to get up but I was doubled over in pain. I beat the count but was still gasping for breath when the ref called for us to box. I remained defensive for the rest of the round.

I’m still gasping for breath as I flop down in my corner. My trainer goes ballistic about me not sticking to our fight plan. My left eye is swelling and I have a mouse under it. I get sponged off by my second who tries to rub the soreness from my tummy. She gives me a shot of ice water in the top of my bikini which gets my adrenaline flowing. They remind me that I’ve lost both rounds and that the last was a 10-8 round for her. Alexia is up on her feet and ready to go.

I attempt to box her as we planned but she is hell bent on brawling and before I know it I’m fighting her fight again. I stagger her with a right but she keeps on coming at me. We hurt each other a couple of times with a few punches to the head. I can hear her corner yelling at her in Italian, and then she goes back to working on my body. My corner is telling me to box, not brawl. Alexia catches me with a low solid left into my bikini, the pain; I think that I just about passed out. I pitch forward knowing that I’m going down again, next I’m on the mat and I hear “4…5…” I get to my hands and knees and pull myself up with the ropes. My legs are rubbery and my head is still spinning. She had connected with a right to my chin as I was going down. The ref is looking in my eyes and yelling. I keep nodding yes. He steps back and Alexia is punching me. I clinch to stop her and buy time to clear my head. The bell ends round 3.

I stagger to my corner still in a daze. My trainer must be worried as he asks if I’m ok. My corner team works franticly on me. The concern now is not how many rounds she has won but if I can avoid being knocked out. This rest is a blur to me and as they stand me up for round 4, my head is still fuzzy and my legs shaky.

There is no doubt that Ms. Bogana intends to finish me off this round. I could see that she was letting her defense slip as she pressed to KO me. I find an opening for my left and drive it into Alexia’s face. It not only hurt her but starts a trickle of blood from her nose. She is tough though and immediately pursues me to the corner. The exchange in the corner is brutal and one of us is going out. I score with a left/right combination to her head. Alexia is hurt and I have to make my move. She is guarding her chin so I go to her body with a combination which causes her to scream out and her hands dropped to the source of her pain. She bends forward slightly and I unleash a three punch combination to her head and chin. Ms. Bogana’s legs collapse and she falls heavily onto her back. I knew right away that she wasn’t getting up. I had won a tough fight.

Sunday afternoon’s first match saw Elena Magnusson of Sweden against Alexandra Witherspoon of the UK. The Swedish lady had trouble protecting her 180 cm body from the hard body punches thrown by the Brit. Magnusson was visible hurting after the first round. In the second round Witherspoon floored the Swede twice with brutal body punches. Magnusson did come out for the 3rd round and was floored again at the 34 second mark. The Swede’s hubby had seen his wife take enough punishment and tossed the towel in the ring.

The second match saw the unknown Tekina Tavares of Jamaica against the tough Francesca Gonzalez of Mexico. The first round was non stop action with both ladies getting battered and bruised. Gonzales was stunned by the power and tenacity of the young Jamaican. The money was on Gonzales but a big Tavares right hand found the Mexican’s chin at 0:42 of the second round. Francesca Gonzalez one of the tournament favorites was out cold. It took several minutes to revive the Mexican lady.

The next round of matches was now set for the following weekend as follows:

Friday Evening

Jitka Zabrzova - Czech Republic
181 cm (5’ 9”)
63 kg (138lbs)
91c-63-91 (36c-25-36)
vs
Irina Khoklov - Russia
184 cm 6’ 0”)
66 kg (145lbs)
88d-63-90 (35d-25-35)

Saturday Evening

Chantel Montpellier - France
173 cm (5’ 7”)
63 kg (141lbs)
89d-64-92 (35d-25-36)
vs
Jillian Russell – USA
173 cm (5’ 8”)
63 kg (139lbs)
93d-73-91 (37d-29-36)

Sunday Afternoon

Alexandra Witherspoon – UK
175 cm (5’ 7”)
61 kg (134lbs)
94c-64-94 (37c-25-37)
vs
Tekina Tavares – Jamaica
175 cm (5’ 7”)
60 kg (132lbs)
90c-70-95 (35c-28-37)

This would mean changes. The bouts would now be 8 rounds with not only smaller gloves (8 oz.) but also briefer bikinis. I would fight the French lady Chantel Montpellier on Saturday evening. I have 5 days to recuperate and I’d better tighten my tummy up.

The week sailed by quickly and it was Friday evening with the bout between Jitka Zabrzova of the Czech Republic and Irina Khoklov of Russia just minutes from starting. Most believed that one of these ladies would win the tournament.

It’s a warm evening with the typical cool ocean breeze blowing across the outdoor ring. Both ladies seem eager to get the fight under way as they enter the ring within seconds of each other. Each lady removes her robe as she is introduced. The cool breeze has Irina’s nipples sticking out from her bra like two wine corks. The briefer bikini bottoms leave 4-5 inches of tummy exposed below the belly button. Irina with her 6 foot frame has a lot of body to protect. Jitka is slightly shorter at 5’ 9” but then has a shorter reach.

The fight begins at a furious pace with the ladies standing toe to toe for a full minute. This one will never see 8 rounds. The pace slows a little near the end of the first round but both are still throwing power punches. Both ladies are slightly winded and breathing hard but visually undamaged as the round ends.

Round 2 sees Jitka take the fight on the inside landing brutal body shots on the tall Russian. Irina forces the Czech back in the last half of the round, landing some heavy rights to the left side of Jitka’s head. Jitka’s left eye is noticeable swollen as the round ends.

Jitka resumes her body assault in round 3 with Irina seemingly content to defend against the Czech’s attack. Irina’s corner can be heard shouting instructions to her in Russian. Irina goes on the offensive late in the round, splitting Jitka’s left eyebrow open with a tremendous right hook. Blood is streaming down the left side of the Czech’s face as the round ends.

Jitka’s corner has stopped the flow of blood between rounds. It’s a nasty gash that’s almost an inch long. Irina begins round 4 very aggressively, head hunting in an attempt to open up the cut. Jitka makes her pay the price with a devastating combination to the body. The Russian is hurt and Jitka drives her to the corner with a flurry of body punches, most landing just above Irina’s bikini. Irina is down, gasping for breath as she struggles to her feet. Blood is now trickling from Jitka’s eye as the round ends.

Round 5 is an outright war. Jitka begins with a body attack, hurting Irina, and then goes for a knockout. Irina’s is cut deep under her left eye. Irina turns it on opening up the cut on Jitka’s left eyebrow and splitting her left cheek open just under the eye. Jitka stuns Irina with a vicious body punch leaving the Russian all but helpless. The Czech bangs the 6 foot Irina into the corner, breaking her nose and then knocking her unconscious. The tall Russian lay flat on her back in the middle of the ring, breasts rising and falling with each labored breath as the referee called out 10.

I’d be in this ring in less than 24 hours. Would I also be lying where Irina now lay? Only time will tell.