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Hometown: Albuquerque,
NM
Junior Welterweight
Born: 10-17-81
Stance: Southpaw
Height:5:8
Trainer: Mike Winkeljohn
World Titles: IFBA Jr Welter;
IBA WBC WBA GBU WIBA Welter;
former IFBA Jr Middle; former IFBA Welter; former IBA Jr Welter
Record: 19-1-2 (5 KOs)
Holly Holm the 24
year old southpaw from Sandia Heights of Albuquerque, New Mexico
was born on October 17 1981. She's a preacher's daughter
and grew up in Bosque Farms.
The Manzano High School graduate of 2000 studied for a year at
the University of New Mexico. She played soccer and tried
gymnastics, swimming and diving before getting into boxing and
kickboxing. Holly's
path to a boxing career began with aerobics. "I started aerobics
to keep in shape, saw the (kickboxing) class, thought it looked
pretty cool, so
I thought I'd try it for one fight and see what it was like,"
says Holm. Her aerobics instructor was Mike Winkeljohn, who also
taught kickboxing. Winklejohn soon saw Holm's potential. "She's
got that instinct," he says, "When she gets hit, she knows it's
time to come back. I wish I could bottle (what she has) and sell
it."(Boxing) came easier to me than I thought it
would," says Holm. "When I first started, my punches seemed real
clumsy, but Mr. Winkeljohn is a great instructor. He helped me
with my technique, and he felt ... he could work with me." Her
pro boxing debut came on January 25, 2002 at the Isleta Casino
and Resort south of Albuquerque. Holly weighed in at 141 lbs and
won by a TKO over debut fighter Martha Orozco (141¾ lbs) of
Denver, Colorado at 1:38 in the third.
On June 21, 2002 at Sky City Casino in Acoma, New Mexico, Holly
won her second pro fight by a TKO over debut fighter Terrie
Carillo at 0:24 in the first
round.
August 26, 2003 at Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, NM, Holly moved
up to 5-0 (2 Kos) by handing unbeaten" Golden Girl" Stephanie
Jaramiillo 3-1 (2 Kos) her first loss with a majority 4 round
decision.
October 3, 2003 at Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, NM, Holly (142
lbs) and Stephanie Jaramillo (139¾ lbs) battled to a six-round
(58-56 Holm, 58-56 Jaramillo, 57-57) draw in a rematch of their
August four-rounder. Holm dominated the opening round but
Jaramillo turned it around in the second, coming back with hard
counter left hooks and straight rights to keep her in the bout.
Holm used her jab well and out-landed Jaramillo in most rounds,
bloodying her mouth, but Jaramillo landed the hardest shots of
the fight and wobbled Holm in the fifth round to keep the bout a
tossup on the
scorecards. Holm remained unbeaten as a pro boxer at 5-0-1 (2
KO) while former US national amateur team member Jaramillo fell
to 3-1-1 (2 KO).
December 12, 2003 at Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque, Holly (144
lbs) of won a six-round unanimous (59-54,59-55,59-55) decision
over Angel Martinez (142 lbs) of Dallas, Texas. Holm improved to
6-0-1 (2 KO)
while Martinez fell to 2-1-0 (1 KO).
April 10, 2004 at the Convention Center in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, a near sellout crowd of 2220 saw Holly 7-0-1 3(Kos) TKO
Janae Romero Archuleta at 1:09 in the first round of a scheduled
six rounder that was the card's co-main event. Holm came out
like a whirlwind to score an explosive victory over the usually
rugged Archuleta, who fell to 3-4 (2 KO).
May 15, 2004 at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colorado, Holly
Holm and Angel Martinez (2-1-1, 2 KOs) of Dallas, Texas fought
to a six-round majority draw (59-55 for Holm, but two 57-57
scorecards). Holm appeared to control and out land Martinez but
Martinez's crisp rights connected enough to win her several
rounds on the judges' scorecards. Holm moved to 7-0-2 (3 KOs)
while Martinez progressed to 2-1-1, (2 KOs)
June 27, 2004 at Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, Italian Rita
Turrisi (140 lbs) fighting out of Las Vegas, won by TKO over
Holly (140 lbs) in the fourth
round. Holm's corner threw in the towel due to a deep three-inch
cut under Holm's eye. Holm was the aggressor in the first,
landing big lefts as well as
an elbow or two at close quarters. In the second, Turrisi
started to time her shots better while Holm tried to work on the
outside. After one messy
exchange, a mouse appeared under Holm's left eye. Turrisi
won the third while Holm, now bleeding from an open gash under
her eye as well as from her nose, dominated the fourth with her
big lefts. Holm might have won the bout but the cut caused her
corner to stop the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds, so
the TKO was automatically awarded to Turrisi instead
of the bout going to the scorecards pending the referee’s
decision on what had caused the cut. Turrisi improved her record
to 3-4 while Holm dropped to 8-1-2 (3 KO).
December 10, 2004 at Isleta Resort and Casino near Albuquerque,
Holly 8-1-2 (3Kos) rebounded from her first pro boxing loss by
winning the vacant IBA women's junior welterweight title with a
ten-round unanimous (99-91,99-91,96-94) decision over Terri
Blair 5-7-1 (3 Kos) of Louisville, Kentucky.
April 15, 2005 in Albuquerque, Holly 9-1-2 won a four-round
unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over veteran Gloria
Ramirez (143¾ lbs) of El Paso, Texas, who took the fight at
short notice. Ramirez fell to 9-14-5 (1 KO) with the loss.
June 26, 2005 at the Isleta Casino and Resort, Pueblo of Isleta,
New Mexico, Holly 10-1-2 (4 KOs) defeated a very tough Lisa
Lewis with an 8th round TKO win.
September 16, 2005 at the Isleta Casino and Resort, Pueblo of
Isleta, New Mexico, before a sellout crowd of 3000, Holly rose
to 11-1-2, (4 KOs) winning a clear 10-round unanimous
(100-92,98-92,100-92) decision over
37-year-old Christy Martin 46-4-2, (31 KOs) of Orlando, Florida
in the Main Event. According to Chris Cozzone of New Mexico
Boxing, 'Holm made it look easy; made the legendary Martin look
amateurish." The win for Holm had to be the upset of the year in
women's boxing.
December 8, 2005 at the Isleta Casino and Resort, Pueblo of
Isleta, New Mexico, before another sellout crowd of 3000, Holly
up ed her record to 12-1-2, (4 KOs) defeating another women's
boxing legend and former Playboy model Mia St. John 42-6-2, (17
KOs).
Holm is anxious to get back into the ring after her two major
wins in 2005 over women boxing icons Christy Martin and Mia St.
John and looks forward to an even better 2006. Holly was also
recently awarded New Mexico Fighter of the year award on
www.newmexicosportsnews.com and
www.newmexicoboxing.com.
On February 24, 2006 at the Isleta
Casino, Holly (139 lbs) TKO'd Shadina Pennybaker (5'5",138½ lbs)
of Pittsburgh in the seventh round defending her IBA Junior
Welterweight title. According to Chris Cozzone of New Mexico
Boxing: "Holm won the first several rounds at a distance
jabbing, but the fight started to heat up in the fourth with a
questionable knockdown of Pennybaker. The challenger took the
fight to Holm in the fifth, but Holm willingly traded and
started to make the fight one-sided from the sixth on. After two
cuts near Pennybaker’s eyes, opened by headbutts in the second
and seventh, started to pour blood in the seventh, the fight was
stopped at 0:57 and the TKO win awarded to Holm, who had a
near-shutout tally on the scorecards." Holm improved her record
to 13-1-2 (5 KOs) with the win while Pennybaker slipped to 9-5-1
(2 KOs). Trainer Mike Winklejohn said of the Pennybaker
fight: "Holly followed the game plan, we wanted to make the girl
miss and eventually catch her and knock her out."
On June 10, 2006 at the Isleta
Casino, Holly (145¼ lbs) had her hands full in her third fight
with tough Angel Martinez (147¼ lbs) of Dallas, Texas who had
substituted on about a day's notice for Lisa Holewyne in a ren-round
bout for the WBA Welterweight title. Holly started well but she
had to survive a late-round charge from the aggressive Martinez
in order to come away with a hard-earned unanimous (98-92)
decision for the title.
According to a ringside report from Chris Cozzone, "Holm ...
went to work at the sound of the bell, keeping Martinez at the
end of her jab and popping her with solid straight lefts while
using her footwork. Martinez, admittedly unprepared for ten
rounds with the short notice, paced herself, but timed big
counter right hands that found their mark. Holm utilized rare
right hooks in the second, and the bout heated up as Martinez
had marginally better success with her counter rights. Still,
Holm retained control of the ring—for at least seven of ten
rounds, it would turn out—and her irksome jab and lashing left
was enough to raise a mouse under Martinez’s left eye. At the
end of the round, the two went toe-to-toe in the neutral corner,
four seconds past the bell. Holm continued to put rounds in the
bank in the third and fourth rounds, jabbing and landing lefts
while Martinez had to settle for the occasional right. The
Dallas fighter had better success in the fourth when she backed
Holly into the ropes but by the end of the round, Martinez,
sporting two mice now, one under each eye, was going to have to
do something dramatic to turn the fight around. Martinez turned
up the pressure in the fifth and had her best round so far in
the sixth—but neither round could be taken from Holm, whose big
lefts scored repeatedly and whose footwork made her too elusive
for the shorter Martinez, who had only an occasional but
fleeting flurry to the body and those big right hand counters.
Martinez tired in the seventh, but in the final moments, she
landed a big right that stumbled Holm, who might’ve been
off-balance. But in the eighth and ninth rounds, it was a
different fight. Holm yielded to Martinez’s consistent pressure
and took some big shots from Martinez, who finally appeared to
be getting to the home-towner. Several times, Holm stood her
ground and the two brawled, but it was Martinez who was giving
better than getting. Holm went back to boxing in the last round
but the steady pressure—almost desperate now—from Martinez made
it a toss-up round."
“I knew she’d be tough,” admitted Holm, "she was getting that
counter-right in but there was nothing that made me go ‘whew!’
or see stars. I was tired at the end, I don’t know why, and
should’ve finished stronger—I knew she’d finish strong.” Holm
added that Martinez was much tougher than Christy Martin, who
“was easier to counter." Martinez fell to 4-2-1 (1 KO).
On September 23, 2006 at the Isleta Casino in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, a near-capacity crowd of 2500 saw Holly (140 lbs) won a
10-round unanimous (100-90) decision over Jane Couch (139 lbs)
of Bristol, England defending her IBA Junior Welterweight title.
According to Chris Cozzone's report, "The opening round was a
tactical one, with both fighters feeling each other out until
the final minute when Holm started to land a snappy left hand on
Couch. The lefts continued to score in the second and third; her
big power punches gave the impression that Holm was too big, too
strong for Couch, who sought to counterpunch, sometimes
successfully, but not often enough. In the fourth, the two mixed
it up. While Holm continued to put rounds in the bank, Couch
started to land a sneaky counter right hand. Success was
short-lived for, Holm, willing to stand in front of her
opponent, and trade, continued to land the bigger, hard
shots—and not just the straight left; Holm started to throw in
uppercuts and hard right hooks that found their mark. Holm’s
reign over the rebellious Couch took on a dominating edge in the
sixth, but in the seventh, Couch had her best round yet—might’ve
even won a round, if it weren’t for late flurries by Holm. Couch
landed nicely-timed rights for the first minute, but Holm,
barely batting an eye at the assault, stood her ground and
bombed back with heavier shots. Couch, too, took her punishment
well, despite withstanding shots that snapped her head back on
more than one occasion. At the end of the eighth, Couch
retaliated with her best shots yet—straight rights—but Holm,
again, on solid ground, showed little, or no, damage. Holm
continued to not only outbox, but outslug Couch in the ninth,
making it look easy, and in the final round, stepped up the pace
yet again with the fight’s best action, closing the show by
taking the fight to Couch, hammering her with big lefts while
Couch sought to finish up with right hands of her own. Couch
finished the fight bleeding from a deep cut over her left
eye—the result of an accidental clash of heads." Couch fell to
28-9-0 (9 KO's).
On December 1, 2006 at Isleta Casino Holly (151 lbs) became a
three time World Champion as she captured the IFBA Junior
Middleweight title with a ten-round unanimous
(100-90,100-90,99-91) decision over Tricia Turton (147¾ lbs) of
Seattle, Washington. Holm was the quicker of the two and was
able to dominate the game Turton, who was just too small,
according to reporter Andy Rivera, who wrote: "Holm came out
strong in round one landing lead left hands to the head of
Turton, but to Turton’s credit she shook it off and landed a few
left hands herself as both fighters being left-handed would use
their left as their primary weapon. In the final: 30 of the
round Holm turned it on and landed quick combinations to the
head of Turton. Holm’s speed definitely paid off in the opening
stanza. Much of the same in the second and third rounds as
Holm’s speed was the difference. Turton would try to cut off the
ring on Holm but Holm was able to move and land quick flurries.
Turton’s nose started to bleed. Turton was unable land more then
one punch at a time. Round four had Turton still coming forward
with Holm picking her apart with quick flurries. Turton showed a
lot of frustration as she was unable to land on Holm flush, but
to Turton's credit she kept coming forward and held nothing
back. Turton kept the pressure on Holm in rounds five and six,
but once again Holm countered well landing hard right hooks to
the head of Turton, who had trouble getting inside Holm’s long
arms and when she was able to get close didn’t have the power to
do damage. Holm dominated rounds seven thru nine with constant
right hands to the head of Turton with Turton being game but
unable to land anything significant. Turton looked more and more
flustered ... unable to trap Holm; in fact Holm now had Turton
going to the ropes more. Turton couldn’t get inside Holm’s long
arms missing most of her shots while Holm continued to land.
Holm looked to put more power shots in the tenth and final round
as she trapped Turton early in the round landing hard left hands
to the head of Turton but Turton would take it like a true
Gladiator." Holm improved to 16-1-2 (5 KOs) with the win while
Turton fell to 8-2-0 (3 KOs).
On March 22, 2007 at the Isleta Casino, Holly (143¼ lbs) won a
hard-fought ten-round unanimous (98-91,97-92,97-92) decision
over reigning WBC Lightweight champion Ann-Marie Saccurato (141
lbs) of White Plains, New York for six (IFBA, WIBA, GBU, WBC,
IBA, WBA) welterweight world title belts. The scoring does not
do justice to a strong effort by Saccurato, who pressured the
highly mobile Holm aggressively throughout the entire fight and
often corralled her against the ropes. Saccurato was deducted a
point in the seventh for holding Holm behind the head while
hitting. Saccurato was the aggressor throughout and often
controlled the tempo of the fight while Holm landed fast and
effective scoring shots when she stood her ground. Every round
was closely contested, and the lop-sided score did not reflect
the overall action. The card was televised live on Fox Sports
Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period”, marking the return of
women's boxing to live network coverage in the USA. Saccurato
slipped to 12-2-2 (5 KOs) with the loss.
On May 24, 2007 at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
and televised live on ESPN2, Holly (139 lbs) won a 10-round
unanimous (100-90,100-90,98-92) decision over Chevelle Hallback
(137½ lbs) of Plant City, Florida for the IFBA Junior
Welterweight world title. Hallback, ranked #1 in the world at
junior lightweight by WBAN, was stepping up in weight to face
Holm and also coming off an almost 18-month absence from
competition. She appeared tentative for much of the bout and
rarely closed the distance to Holm for long enough to shake
Holm's confidence. Hallback fell to 25-5-1 (11 KOs) with the
loss while Holm improved her record to 18-1-2 (5 KOs).
On September 21, 2007 at the Santa Ana Star Casino in
Bernalillo, New Mexico, Holly (142 lbs) won the IFBA
Welterweight title with a 10-round unanimous (99-91,99-91,96-94)
decision over Angel Martinez (142 lbs) of Dallas, Texas. Holm
outboxed Martinez for the most of the first eight rounds but
Martinez stunned her with several hard rights in the eighth and
the late rounds became nail-biters as the two traded punishing
shots. "I don't take anything from Angel," Holm said after the
bout. "She's tough. Her right hands are no joke."
Martinez also praised Holm: "She's an awesome fighter, the best
in the world at welter. What can I say? I don't have excuses. It
just wasn't my night." Holm improved her record to 19-1-2 (5
KOs) while Martinez dropped to 6-4-1 (1 KOs) "What's helped me
to improve is training," says Holm, crediting Mike Winkeljohn
for his tutoring skills. "Practice makes perfect. It's a lot of
dedication; you just have to put your heart into it." She
commits to about three hours daily of training. "It's very time
consuming to train," Holm says, "but it's exciting. It's worth
all the training." Holly's hobbies are snowboarding and hiking.
Her father, who was a preacher at Bosque Farms Church of Christ
for 18 years, enjoys watching Holly but her mother is less happy
about her daughter's chosen sport.
Winkeljohn says that Holm could go to the top in both boxing and
kickboxing. "It's just a matter of getting her seen and getting
her known. She'll make more money than my guys (who box)."
"It's exciting, like an adrenaline rush," says Holm.
Holm returns to the Isleta Casino
and Resort on January 11, 2008, to defend her WBC and IFBA World
Titles against Mariem "Punchenella" Brakache. Holm was named the
2005 and 2006 Ring Magazine female fighter of the year,
2006 IFBA fighter of the year, 2007 WBAN fighter of the year.
Holm made history in 2007 by winning 6 different Major World
Titles at Welterweight and has been called by several experts as
pound for pound the best female boxer alive.
To visit her website
www.hollyholm.com |
