vs. Giovanna Camacho – Gleason’s Gym – Brooklyn, NY – April 30th, 2011
Oh man, this fight was so much fun. I’d been training boxing with Ray Velez, head boxing coach at Tiger Schulmann headquarters in Jersey (and one of the best teachers I’ve ever seen), to whom I was introduced by Robyn Klenk who also helped me immensely. I took up boxing to help my hands and work on defense and head movement.
I didn’t have a lot of boxing experience before this fight, but fighting in a ring is fighting in a ring. And Ray just wanted me to get in there and get my confidence up, stand my ground. This was an all-female event at the famed Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. My opponent is a cadet at West Point Military Academy, which happens to be right near where I lived in New York and having a sparring partner so close was a chance not to be passed up. So while we were standing in the ring, waiting for the announcement we were exchanging numbers to get together to spar later. Awesome.
After the fight, while I was changing in a bathroom stall Gio came in and said to my friend Melissa (who told Gio “good job” on her win) that, “that bitch is crazy!” referring to me. Best compliment ever. And Gio is awesome – we did get together about 6 months later for a few sparring sessions.
